Category: Uncategorized

The Good and Bad in Goodbye

There are many ways to say “Goodbye”.  It can have many different undertones.  It can be sad or even happy in some cases, and other things in between.

My brother has hit a milestone in recovery from his work accident. After 46 days in the hospital, he has been transferred to rehabilitation in Boston. There, he will get his first prosthetic and soon start walking again.  We have been preparing for this day since he was out of the ICU.

J.J. doesn’t remember much of the ICU.  How could he?  When they first brought him in, he was hooked up to multiple machines and had 19 different bags of fluids hanging from what the nurses called his “Christmas tree”. As they days went on, and specifically after the amputation, periodically the nurses would come in and trim the tree. And soon enough he was down to barely a shrub.  During his stint in the ICU, those nurses were his lifeline.  They were our lifeline.  They barely left his room.  We relied on them for everything.  And they never did disappoint.

The day that J.J. was moved from the ICU to a regular room was one of those confusing types of goodbyes I’m talking about.  We said goodbye to our lifelines, and cried a little.  It was tough.  The uncertainty of it. What this new floor, with the new nurses was going to bring.

These men and women were every bit as amazing as the last bunch.  The nurses seemed to love J.J. like a member of their family.  Some brought him in homemade food. They hung out with him in the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep.  They checked in on him even when he wasn’t assigned as their patient.  J.J. loved them too.  He had a system, how he liked things. Certain pillows in certain places on the bed.  All the nurses knew this secret, sometimes unspoken system, and obliged.  If they were ever bothered or annoyed by his requests, they certainly didn’t let on.

On Friday November 18th, J.J. was told that he was ready for Spaulding. He would leave Monday morning.  I asked him a few times if he was excited.  He response was always the same.  “Yes and no.”  I know the decision to leave CMMC was a hard one for him.  But his case worker assured him that Spaulding was the place to be.  That Sunday, we said goodbye to a couple of our favorite nurses.  Shelby, Kristen and Abby.  I started to cry, and so did they.  J.J. said “way to go, Darc.”

Monday came, more goodbyes were said.  I’m sure there were fewer tears considering I wasn’t there. They loaded him into the ambulance and headed to Boston. He’ll be at Spaulding for about 4-6 weeks.  The facility is amazing.  It’s a state of the art, futuristic looking place right on the harbor.  While the first day was tough, just getting accustomed to their way of doing things, J.J. knows this is where he needs to be.  And in time, saying goodbye to the people here will be just like before.

To all his nurses at CMMC, we miss you terribly!

 

 

Bravery in the blogging world.

Well well well.  Today marks 2 weeks of blogging.  To most that doesn’t mean much, and I’m sure in a few months, it won’t to me either.  But today, right now, it feels like an accomplishment.  I’ve gotten over the initial hurdle of nerves and worry about putting myself out there.  I feel like I’ve set a stride that’s comfortable but challenging.  I don’t post if I have nothing to say. But try to take a few minutes everyday to just sit and think.  Think if there is something that I’m going over that I could put down here, and if that would help free up my mind a little.  Today, there is.  There is this one thing I’m kind of hung up on.

How much is too much info?  How personal can/should a post be?

I had lunch yesterday with a friend and I mentioned the blog to him.  Like I have done to literally anyone who would listen to me these past 2 weeks.  We started talking about how difficult it is to write about some personal experiences. And about how much bravery it takes to write about your life.  At first, I thought, it doesn’t take that much.  It’s not a big deal.  Then I thought about how this  populates to my Facebook account.  While that’s a setting I have chosen, it does cause me to second guess somethings.  I hesitate before writing and posting.  The fear that people you know may read something very personal about you is, in fact, really scary.  It’s not the strangers or the once-in-a-while glancers, but the people you are friends with, or even the people you see on occasion.

That leads to the next question that I’m surely over analyzing.  How much bravery in the realm of blogging is an acceptable amount?

I certainly would never write something with the intentions of offending someone or to purposely make someone feel uncomfortable.  But one of the primary purposes of a blog is to share your life with others. Not just the pretty surface stuff, but the tough stuff that can sometimes be ugly and heavy.  The kind of stuff that maybe could help someone through a difficult time or situation.  Or even sharing a particular story that could potentially connect you to someone who’s been through what you’re going through and offer insight.

I’ve had a post in the hopper now for a few days that I’ve been wanting to publish (I hate that term, it makes so unnecessarily official.  But that’s what they call it).  And every time I’ve looked at it and wanted to hit the button, I’ve hesitated.  And I’ve gone back and forth on whether to post it or not.  I worry that it’s too much.  Too personal. As people and social media evolve things that were once taboo, are becoming the norm.  Things that would once send a religious person straight to confession are commonplace and barely warrant acknowledgement. 

So, here I am.  Asking you.  What’s your opinion on the matter?  What are you comfortable writing and reading?  I need some guidance.

“Writing is both a mask and unveiling” – E.B. White

 

Decision 2016: What’s my blog about.

I’ve only told a hand full of people about this blog.  I’m nervous.  I am my own worst critic and I’m concerned that my writing isn’t particularly good.  All of my friends and family would be very kind and probably far too generous with their critiques if I were to send the link. But I’ve told a few close friends.

This is how my interactions with people have been so far.

Me  – “Hey So and So, I started a blog and I’m super excited about it”

So and So – “Awesome, what’s it about?”

Me – ..…blink…blink. “Dear god, I have no idea”

or

Me – “Well, it’s kinda hard to explain. I’ve got a lot of things going on that I’m wanting to write about.  So I think I’ll be whittling it down as I go.

or

Me – “Lots of things.”

From the research I’ve done, none of these are acceptable answers in the world of successful blogging.   There are so many resources out there for new bloggers. I mean, a treasure trove of info at our literal finger tips. And then you have to keep in mind successful tags and categories, and which are trending at that very second and this and that and other things and whats SEO, and I don’t know how to creat a page let alone what to put on the page.  It’s intense and intimidating. But here I am.  Blogging til my heart’s content.  However, I did think it would be helpful if I made a list of things that I’d eventually like to focus on within this blog.

  • Home and lifestyle – My husband and I recently bought a house.  It was quite my style and we’re slowing working towards making it our own. We are also planning on starting a family soon but just about any legal means necessary.
  • Food and Recipes –  Because of a recent medical situation, our household needs to focus on more of a plant-based diet.  For someone who doesn’t love veggies, it should be interesting.
  • Writing and Blogging – While I’ve only been doing this for a short time, I am really enjoying it.  The other night I got 2 new followers, my adrenaline was through the roof and it took hours for me to fall asleep. It is a thrill!
  • App Building.  I’d really like to learn how to do that. I’ve got some idea’s.

This is the short list.  I could come up with lists within these lists. But that’s for another post.  For the time being, I’ll just send this message into the blogosphere.

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Sincere

Sincere

“Are you being sincere?” is a thought I often had when I would come upon a “Please pray for our _____” post on social media.

These “plea’s for prayers” (thats what I call them) are seeming to become ever more present. I can’t get more than one scroll down my news feed without seeing a request for prayers for a family member, dog, new job or for a stain to come out of a beloved sweater. The cynic in me rolls my eyes and keeps scrolling.  Not reading as to why the prayers were requested.   I, myself have never been in a situation that warranted asking the general public for their thoughts, vibes, prayers or whatever else.  Until 28 days ago.

My little brother was in a terrible work accident.  He is an arborist and got wrapped up in some line that pulled him into the mouth of a wood chipper. He has 2 broken femurs, severed arteries from his knee down which has led to the amputation below the knee of his right leg and has had over 107 units of blood and blood products. At this very moment he is in having his 14th surgery.

Since October 6th our family has been the recipient of what I estimate to be 1000’s of prayers, well wishes, good thoughts and vibes.  Some of which were because of family members posting their very own “pleas for prayers” on social media.  And as I read each and every one several times over, I not only believed it but felt it.  I felt it in everything I did, wherever I was.  I felt the sincerity in every letter, in every word, in every sentence.

A couple of weeks ago, a nurse came into my brother’s room with a stack of papers and asked if she could show us something.  We said “of course”, and she sat down.  She said “each one of the pieces of paper represent a blood product order that you received.  I stopped counting at 107”.  I asked her if she had ever seen that many, and she replied very quickly with a short “No”.  We don’t know why or how he is still here with us, but we are very grateful that he is.  And we believe that he is here because he is meant to do something powerful and great.  And for that, I am very.  truly. sincerely thankful for all of the prayers.

New kid in town

Hi there,

My name is Darci, and new to blogging.  I’m 32 and live in the beautiful state of Maine.  I asked my husband last week “if you could have any job in the world, what would it be?” and he didn’t know.  He asked me the same question, and I said “a writer”.  It was the first thing that came to me. I didn’t think about it, it just spilled out.  As we drove along I thought about my response.  What does it take to be a writer?  Who decides if you’re a writer?  Anyone who can spell words can write. Am I now a writer because I started a blog?  Probably not, but I’m going to string some words together that hopefully make a sentence that turns into a paragraph that someone somewhere might like to read.   Wish me luck!pexels-photo