Monday, June 18, 2018

I'M BACK


Well my company is gone and it is back to posting but first I want to tell you a little bit about what a good friend really is.

Elaine and I have been friends from the second grade. That was 70 years ago in case you are wondering. Though we have only lived in the same state for about 10 of those 70 years, we have kept in touch. Sporadic snail mail and some summer visiting kept us linked but the Internet has really made it easy lately.

She arrives in an RV so she brings her own house which is really convenient.
I seriously tried to discourage her from coming this year for I have been a bit puny lately with bad shoulder, bad hip, back and a relatively new case of costochondritis.  Love those fifty dollar words for odd ailments. Costochondritis is new to me and basically means painful rib cage. Not life threatening but really annoying. 

I was worried I wouldn't be very entertaining all banged up but Elaine insisted on coming anyway. Normally we would do things like canoe trips, horse back riding and hunting for diamonds but I knew this year, not much would be happening.

Also since the shoulder and sciatica have been with me several months, a lot of my chores, especially those regarding gardening just fell to the side.  My yard, except where I could mow on a rider, was totally over grown. I had thistles as tall as I am and weeds everywhere.  Trees and shrubs desperately needed pruning.

Elaine eagerly jumped in and zealously attacked the overgrowth, swearing she loved doing it.  At least she really got to see dramatic results for her efforts.  I just wish I had taken before and after pictures but I really had no idea she would be so committed and thorough.

She wouldn't let me lift anything or do much more than fix meals and sit on the couch.  It took a while but she really whipped my place into shape in between doctor and chiropractor visits.

Thanks to getting all my chores done and her not letting me lift so much as a gallon of milk, I am 98% better. Wow does it feel good to feel good. I think I have it now.

I know my neighbors were marveling at the white tornado whizzing about my property and I can't wait to tell them---she is the same age as I am, but has taken way better care of her self.

Elaine is on her way back to Ohio now.  I so enjoyed seeing my dear friend again and am ever so grateful for all she did for me. Thank you so much Elaine, you are the best. Thanks to you, I think I can take it from here.

Do you have a friend like that or just as neat, are you such a friend yourself?

45 comments :

  1. Wow, we should all be so lucky to have an Elaine in our lives! I have a friend who I've known since we were five, best friends from then until college when she moved out of state. Then like you and Elaine we kept in touch and visited in summers every since when she'd come home to see her folks. She knows I hate cooking (and she loves it) so the last time she came and stayed with me she did all the cooking. My husband and I used to take care of all the yard work and snow for a couple of elderly women for free if that counts.

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    1. Jean,
      Oh yes, that counts big time. What cool neighbors you were.
      Isn't it interesting how some friends just become memories when we move on while others stay in our lives for a lifetime. So glad you have one of those lifetime ones also.

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  2. Could you send Elaine to new Jersey, I could make room for her RV and we have lots that can be done at my place.

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    1. joeh,
      Ha ha, She works for food and an RV spot so there is a possibility there.

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  4. WOW! That was a good visit all around.
    I just heard from my oldest friend. We see each other about once a year but it’s always a special time.

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    1. smartcat,
      I so agree. So glad you have one also. Isn't it amazing how you can go a long time apart but when you get together, it is like yesterday?

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  5. So nice reading your post! Spending time with our best friend is the best way to relax ourselves. You are so lucky to get such a wonderful friend:)
    Take care of your health:)

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    1. Weekend-windup,
      It really is relaxing isn't it, especially when they do all the work:))
      Yes I am lucky and know it. I think my health got the boost it needed. Thank you.

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  7. Oh how special... Elaine is such a great friend... I'm so glad that she visited you because you NEEDED that visit from such a fabulous friend... I have gone through some of the same health things as you (little things but very bothersome) ---and the weeds in our yard and the trimming of shrubs isn't getting done this year. George takes care of the mowing and watering and the roses--but he can't do it all. AND now that I can't bend over without getting very dizzy, I need Elaine to visit us here. Do you think she'd come????? ha ha ha....

    Hang in there, Friend... Let's both get well --and be able to get back to the things we used to enjoy doing....

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Betsy,
      I know you too have been struggling a bit. Frustrating isn't it? Lets see, she has had an offer for NJ and now Tenn. Think we can keep her busy all summer except I am pretty sure she has play time scheduled:))
      Thanks, I also hope you and I both see some better days soon.

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  8. I so look forward to your posts, Patti, and I know you've been under the weather lately. It's wonderful to have friends like Elaine who just storm into our lives and make things all better. What an uplifting post! So glad to hear you're feeling a little better. :-)

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    1. Djan,
      Thank you. I know for a while there I was getting a bit depressed seeing all the work I just couldn't do as I walked out the door each day. What a boost she gave me.

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  9. you are very blessed to have such a wonderful friend! And I'm glad you are feeling better now.

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  10. What a wonderful friend Elaine is. It's lovely and loving to have such a friendship for so long. She sounds like the best kind of friend to have. Glad you are feeling better. I've been missing your posts!

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    1. robin,
      Yes she is and I am lucky. I missed visiting with you and will enjoy catching up.

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  11. Last year after having physical therapy for a bad shoulder I swore off lifting. Bob liked soft drinks a lot. A carton of those is heavy. You lift them into your basket, on the belt at check out, then into the car, out of the car to go in the house, and finally wherever you store them. I said “no more.” Joints can’t heal if you reinjure them every day.

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    1. Linda,
      You are so right. Those shoulders are a bugger to get better when you keep injuring them. It is just so hard not to reach out and lift something automatically. I will do better.

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  12. Dear Patti, I have some wonderful friends, almost all of whom live elsewhere! But two of my nieces close by are always willing to help me when i need assistance with something like putting light bulbs in ceiling fans or going shopping (I don't drive) or running the vacuum sweeper, which can be hard with a back problem. So, yes, I am blessed with "friends" who are always here for me. We are so fortunate, you and I. Peace.

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    1. Dee,
      Yes we are. I am so glad you have such willing friends and family. My problem is that I hate to ask for help so when it is just thrust upon me, it is so much easier to accept.

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  13. So happy for you sweet Patti that you have such a wonderful friend. Elaine is a dear and I know you two must have had some fun while getting all that work done. Yes, I do have a friend like that and I am so thankful...as a matter of fact I have three like that. I am glad you are doing better now and I hope you keep it up. All that pain is no fun to live with. Hugs

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    1. Maggie,
      Yes we did have fun in spite of all the work. Giggles come easy after so long a friendship. I am so glad you have so many that you can count on to do the things Shug use to do.
      So far, I am virtually pain free.

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    2. So glad to hear you are pain free...hope you keep being that way. Hugs sweet Patti.

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  15. I'm so glad you have such a long-time friend who is happy to pitch in and do what needs to be done. Hopefully you will heal and be back to normal over time, but it is so hard to wait - we heal more slowly than we did at 25, or 45 for that matter. Patience is a virtue, or so I've been told. (eyeroll)

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    1. Deb,
      I know and that is part of the reason I took so long healing. I just couldn't wait to do stuff and would set myself back. I wasn't patient but Elaine made me be so.

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  16. That just made my day to read about what a good friend you have. Right now I try to be the good friend as I have several who are going through hard times -- some with physical challenges and some with family challenges. I also know exactly who to ask that if I need help but I am hoping against hope I will never need to.

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    1. Olga,
      I had no doubt that you would be one of those friends. I am like you though in that I know who will be there---I just hate like crazy to ask. Elaine didn't wait to be asked. Lets hope you never need to and if you keep up as you have been, you most likely won't.

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  17. How nice to have a friend like that! I can't say I have a friend that would look after me like that, but maybe that's because I'm not that good a friend either.

    So glad to hear you are healing too. That's wonderful news.

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    1. Joey,
      You might be surprised to see who would come to your aid and I think you are hard on yourself about being a friend. You have been a support to your Mum even though it was difficult.

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  18. Fun60,
    Yes she is by all definitions.

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  19. Not only is it wonderful to have such a sweet friend, it was wise of you to let her help and still enjoy each other's company. Sounds like a wonderful visit.

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    1. Barbara,
      Ha ha, I am smiling now. I was not wise at all and she had to keep reprimanding me like a willful child as I kept trying to help. Only when she convinced me that she was actually enjoying herself did I back off and behave. Now I am so glad I finally let her do it all. Other wise I would have just kept re-hurting myself.

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  20. How fortunate you are to have such a friend! We all thank her for allowing you to be healthy again so we can get you back.

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    1. Linda R,
      Yes I am. She reads my posts and I am sure she got the message.

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  21. How lovely to have your friend pitch in like that :)
    I like to think I'd be such a friend, but with my own aches etc, I don't think I am.
    I met an Elaine in Grade 2 also, we were friends, but not bosom buddies, right up until I left school and she didn't.

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    1. River,
      Hope you two still keep in touch. After much thought, I am not sure I would have jumped in like she did either but now that my aches and pains are history--I'd like to think I could.

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    2. I haven't kept in touch with anybody but my sister who still lives in that town. I simply didn't think about any of them once I left all those years ago. I was never in a circle of friends, always on the outside looking in, maybe I thought they wouldn't notice I'd gone. We probably don't have anything in common now.

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  22. I have George. He's my whirlwind. :)
    If you feel that ugly again, hire a gardener. LOL

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    1. Mage,
      Always great to have a resident helper. We don't have gardeners here in tiny town and lawn services want to mow also. That I could do. All the teen boys I know are now fathers of babies. Sigh.

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  23. That is indeed a friend! Any friends I have still living probably wouldn’t be in any better shape than I am to take on the chores I need.

    I gotta tell you, when I started reading this and you named your diagnosis which I’d never heard of, I thought you were being funny and cooked up,that long word in reference to spending too many $$$ or too much time at Costco. My mind works in strange ways! Really sorry you’re having all that pain. Hope you’re better.

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  24. Joared,
    Ha ha, that is funny. It does sound like a clinical name for a Costco addiction.
    Thank you. My pain is gone and boy is it great.

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