Making Plans.....

Today I told the Beast that I wanted to go to Chicago for the reunion with the girls that I hung out with during HS (and for a while after we graduated).  One of the girls has been my closest friend for all these many years.  I've been through the four times she was widowed (the last time she was just forty) and her current marriage which has lasted longest of all the others combined.  She had married older men.  Two were murdered, one died of natural causes and the fourth, the one she truly loved, had a heart attack.  It was so sad.  But, when she married her current husband, he was much closer in age to her and they have been a happy match.

Christina is the type of friend that you can go without talking to or even seeing but, when you meet up again, it's as if we were just together last week.  She has the funniest laugh and I love it.  I just wish her current hubby, we'll call him Denny, was healthier.  He has gained a LOT of weight over the years and he is an uncontrolled diabetic (Type 1).  He also now has a problem with atrial fibrulation (but does not have a bad heart valve).  It just seems he gets worse and worse.  Even with a LOT of insulin, his blood sugar reading is seldom below 500 and that is horrible!  It is slowly killing him so Christina will probably be widowed again.  She is now 70 years old but, if you met her, you wouldn't believe it.  She not only looks good but she is also very vibrant and active.  She never had any children so she is the *neat* auntie to her nieces and nephews.

She came from a truly poor family and is one of eight children.  She lost one of her sisters a couple years ago to cancer and she is the one that spent the last couple of weeks with her sister before she died.  It was truly sad.  One day I must tell you her history.  It's extremely interesting.  She has been married to a doctor, a mobster, a movie extra, a pie king (his family is one that is well-known in the midwest and is the husband she loved the most, I believe) and her current husband, Denny, was a car salesman (top seller at all the different dealers he worked for) and....get this...he's extremely dyslexic and can't read).  She actually filled out all his forms for him when he had a sale.  But they made a good living from it and she sold most of her jewelry from her husbands and they bought a house that they've owned now for over 30 years.  It still looks like new, inside and out.

Anyway, the Beast wants to drive up to Chicago and then rent a car for me so I can get around without asking someone to pick me up or bring me back to where I am staying.  I have to call my former sister-in-law to find out if I can stay with her again.  I love her to death and we girls (my sisters and I) decided after the divorce that she would remain part of our family and we would disown our brother if we had to.  She is the sister of our hearts.  We also encouraged her to date the man she is now married to.  We love him a lot and he's been wonderful to her and the kids.  They have also done a LOT of traveling in other countries.  Life is good for them.  My brother was a real jerk.

The Beast wants to go to visit his sister and brother that live up there.  His brother has MS that manifested itself when he was in his early 20's and married just a few years.  His wife, thankfully, has a wonderful (and high paying) job.  Since his brother is mostly confined to a wheelchair (he has good times and bad) and shakes a lot at times, he hasn't been able to work since shortly after the MS showed up in him.  I gather the kind he has is genetic and there are others in the family that have had it.  The really sad thing is that he is a very talented artist.  I am amazed at some of the things he has built (models of old sailing ships he made by hand) and the paintings and drawings he's also done.  It's incredible because of the way he shakes but....when he concentrates, that seems to disappear like magic.  From what I've read, that seems to be something that is not unusual for MS victims.  

His sister is the one that lost her husband to cancer.  Not unexpected because it's something that's rampant in his father's family.  His father and a couple uncles died from various forms.  The family was even studied by some university because they felt it was genetic.  Her husband was only in his late 40's.  The Beast and his sister are 19 years apart in age.  She recently sold her home in Bolingbrook (5 bedrooms and she never had any kids!) and bought a condo in a town called Downers Grove.  It's where she grew up so she was happy to be back in a familiar place although Bolingbrook isn't far away. 

If I stay with my sister-in-law, she lives further south in a really nice area.  She has a house with a heated pool, two stories and I just love it.  She deserved something really nice and a husband that adores her.  

I can hardly wait until tomorrow to call my gf's and let them know I will be coming.  I already have the notice that Jamie sent out to all of us and know where we will be meeting.  I can hardly wait now!  We all get a bit wild and crazy when we get together and the years just fall away!  I haven't seen any of the girls for three years now.  It will be wonderful to see them all.  We normally meet up in late June (and they did but I had just had my surgery and the doctors wouldn't clear me to fly).  But they decided that, since we are all getting to be old broads now, we should meet together more often.  We've already lost a few of the girls that were part of our crowd.  We are down to almost the core group of us that have been meeting yearly since our 25th reunion....and that was over 25 years ago!

Time to close this for now and get some sleep.  I love you all dearly and hope to see my siblings while I am in Chicago and maybe even a cousin or two.  Be good.  Be kind.  Remember that everyone has their own kind of troubles that they are bearing so kindness goes a long way and costs you nothing!  ***Hugs***

HINT#1:  If you find sitting at your desk is causing lower back pain, try slightly elevating your feet.  An old phone book is perfect for the job.  (Unless it's one of the small ones that many areas have...like our area.  *Sigh*)  But a nice thick book works, too.  I sometimes use a nice firm pillow.

HINT#2:  Making turmeric....a Southeast Asia relative to the ginger root...part of your diet can pay off in many different ways.  It reduces cholesterol, and lab tests have indicated that it may also inhibit tumors.  It's also a natural antibacterial agent and helps detoxify the liver.  You can mix the powder into drinks or baked goods, or even sprinkle it on ice cream!