The Box, Four Years From Now

Some time ago I started thinking about things I want to say to people and things I want them to have after I’m gone. I decided to start putting these things together and writing letters to people. I started to gather things that are special to me that I want buried with me. All of these items were to be kept in a box to be opened after my death. As you might imagine putting these things together is not easy. I was procrastinating. Yet these things were on my mind and I felt an urgency to get them done. Terry picked up on this and went out and bought me a nice box. She pushed me to get it done and get it off my mind. She was right. The box is almost complete now and that has given me more peace of mind. Terry knows best. But I think the box will have to go into storage for a while. This week I have felt exceptionally good. I think it’s a combination of being two weeks beyond the last treatment, having the fluid drained from my abdomen and maybe even some healing. The week began on Sunday with a family celebration of Gianna’s birthday. Gianna is our niece Cheryl’s eight year old daughter. Terry’s family has been my second family for almost twelve years and in many respects they have been my primary family at times. Spending time with them is always rewarding. On Monday I went for my MUGA test, another radioactive scan, to make sure my heart is still functioning properly. I believe it specifically looks at the left ventricle which the chemo I’m presently on may damage. Hopefully I’ll get the OK to continue. Yesterday I went to the relatively new Mount Airy Casino in the Poconos. I played poker for 9 or 10 hours straight. I really enjoy poker and spending the day doing that took my mind off everything else. And I won some money which always makes it even more fun. Today I had the pleasure of visiting the NJ Division of Motor Vehicles again, this time to renew my license which apparently cannot be done through the mail any more. I won’t go into detail about just how pleasurable it was. The important thing is that I was there for about two hours. An hour and a half of that was spent standing in line. And I did it! I actually had no problem with it. My stamina was way up there. So now I’m looking forward to going back when my license expires again. In four years. I’ve been feeling so good that I feel compelled to go in next week and let the Chemo Kaiser knock me down again. I hesitate to say it but I’m expecting good news next week. Carry on. -------------------------------