A stroll down memory lane .... part one ....

Greetings all and happy Sunday! Hoping all my Canadian family and friends are enjoying their long weekend. It was a misty, cool day here today - perfect for catching up on ... well ... lazing about, really ... my humble confession! OK, I admit that I had hubby drive me to Target and I was expecting to do my usual thang at Tarjay, which is to weave my cart leisurely down each aisle, check out the sales and new products and greeting cards and pajamas and scarves and just be the quintessential Tar-jaaay customer. And, well ... after 30 minutes, I was quite simply done. This svulst/itsnotta/THANG/condition/yadda yadda yaddda thing that is happening really HAS changed my view on things. No, seriously. Ask hubby. I would spend hours on end in Not-Wal-Mart...and today? Bleccchh ... just not interested. A true turning point. And although it may seem trivial, it was indeed momentous for Yours Truly. Alright. Enough of that Oprah-style stuff.

As Mio Marito and I get ready to head up to Canada next weekend to see my friends and family (YEAH!!), I find myself reminiscing - I came across a link for a web site that hubby had set up waaay back when - in the days before Facebook. Seems hard to believe that such a time even existed. Makes me feel old suddenly. Like really old. Perhaps even mildly of the "do you remember when {cough cough} .... ?" ... and "wasn't life simpler when {wheeze wheeze}...?" variety. Oy vey ... no way. I have NOT turned into THAT old broad. No way. In fact, I washed that grey/gray right out of my hair today (hence, my trip to Tar-jay) .... so technically, I don't look old and thanks to my dear, departed mother (thank you, Mama!) whose skin I also inherited, I humbly think that I don't look my (ahem ...cough cough ... ahem) 51 years ... oy ... seems surreal to even say that - i.e. that I'm 51 years old. S**t. OK .. I digress yet again.

Right - so I came across this link that Hubby set up back in the day and if you folks want to giggle, check out some of these pix ... they were even taken on a camera, and some of them were even developed into photos! (some of you are even in these shots....)


http://drewbuchanan.tripod.com/index.html

And ... as a reprise of the old porn 'stache wedding pic, check out this shot, taken just two years later (1993) ... I mean, this thing used to cast a shadow. Dude had moss growing on the tops of his shoes because of this EPIC 'stache. Simply epic. Gargantuan. That, and his channeling of Dale Earnhardt (his hero). W.O.W.

So, the reminiscing and looking at these old pictures, and our trip next weekend naturally, made me think of my dear family, my dear departed parents (God rest their souls; they were my age when they passed away - f**k ... I mean, that's young! I was kidding about being old) ... and of my dear, sweet brothers (more on them tomorrow ...). My mom and dad were sick with brain cancer and lung/throat cancer, respectively from 1970 to 1977, off and on...my mom got sick first, then within two weeks was back driving, taking care of us, and being a mom/caregiver/awesome woman! I still remember her coming home from the hospital with a major head bandage and saying she just didn't have time to be sick. Go MAMA! She is my inspiration. She really is; in fact, the day we went to meet with the neuro-oncologist to review the results of my biopsy - April 25 - was the 36-year anniversary of her passing. How's that for a sign from the heavens? She was absolutely there in spirit - I just know it.

Then, my dad got sick in 1972, and the docs removed a lung because it was just ... well ... gone. As a sidebar, if any of you readers are smokers, here's a tip. Quit. Please and thank you. Smoking WILL in fact kill you. Just sayin'. My mom got sick again in 1974 and when they operated, she was just never quite the same afterwards. Instead of putting her in a home, my dad wanted to care for her at home, so he started working nights so that he could be with her during the day, and by the time he left for work, we would be home from school and Dan would be home from work (my oldest brother Dan was a letter carrier). Papa got sick again in 1976, and we had to put Mama in continuing care then, because we just couldn't leave her on her own....our father passed away three weeks later; my mother, eight months after that. A shot of my mom and dad ... weren't they beautiful? I still miss them ... in fact, the older I get, the more I miss them. I know they are with me, though, so although this may sound sad, it's really not - the moral of this story is that love does in fact conquer all. More in a bit...

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, Dan - my oldest brother - was literally, overnight, thrust into the role of mother/father/big brother/caregiver and I used to joke with folks that we were the original Party of Five without the designer jeans and good hair. We were also blessed with two uncles - my dad's brothers - who lived down the street and they looked in on us as well, so we had lots of support. One uncle was made our legal guardian and this, with five small kids of his own (God love him!). All that to say, thank GOD for family and for the love of family. I just feel so blessed, truly, because in all these years, my family has always, always been there ... always... that's not to say that we have not had our ups and downs; of course we have - I think that's a normal part of any family. But, I came across a quote and it just sums up my feelings towards my family so perfectly:

"Being deeply loved gives you strength. Loving deeply gives you courage." Lao Tzu

I have droned on long enough ... tomorrow I will tell you about my brothers ... here's a picture in the meantime... a happy shot. Thank you in the meantime for humoring/humouring me with this stroll down memory lane.....


On that happy note, I will sign off and send lots of love and hugs your way. Tonight's closing courtesy of Uncle K (thanks Uncle K ... ) ...


Radiating Love,

Cancerella and Her Amore (aka Porn Stache Dude - Thank GOD he shaved that off!!)
xoxoxoxox