An update on my daughter’s blog (three years and waiting) but I’m so proud of her. I can’t wait to here her perform again.
Tag: family
Protected: Old World Countdown
Protected: Moss Family Christmas eLetter for 2012
Protected: Vroom Vroom
Protected: My Daughter’s Senior Recital
The Odds Are Against Me
All I have to do is look up my family tree to find plenty of incentives for fighting heart disease. None of that crossed my mind initially when I signed up at work to participate in the KC Heart Walk next month. I just thought it would be fun to walk with some coworkers.
But the more I thought about my inherited medical hodgepodge, the more concerned I became. I decided to take a closer look here at my previous couple of generations of blood related ancestors to get a better picture of why staying active and eating healthy is the best prescription for the rest of my life.
My father and mother, both born in 1942, are both still alive and kicking. In fact, you can’t keep my father out of the trees. His hobby lately is helping a neighbor cut down trees and split it into firewood and stack it for drying, storage and eventual sale. My mother started taking blood pressure medicine last year after a couple of scary trips to the E.R.
My maternal grandmother died in June 2005, of congestive heart failure, but she still managed reached the age of ninety. Granted, she needed bypass surgery for a decade before she died. I spoke to my aunt Saturday and she also told me her mother was diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis before she died, which could have been treated with surgery (and a valve replacement) but Grandma didn’t want to have any surgery done.
I never met my maternal grandfather. He was born in 1888 and died in the mid 50s … of a heart attack.
I did meet my maternal great-grandmother (in the late 60s or early 70s). She was born in 1886 and died in February 1973 at the age of eighty-five. According to my aunt, my great-grandmother passed very quickly, her body basically shutting down (not specifically heart related).
My mom was one of six children, three boys and three girls. Her oldest sister passed away in 1987 of congestive heart failure at the age of fifty. I’ll turn fifty in just a couple of years.
Her younger sister received bypass surgery (quintuple) in the fall of 2001 and is still doing very well eleven years later. My Aunt Melody continues winning the battle against cardiovascular diseases, becoming a nearly daily regular at her local YMCA.
And that wraps up the maternal side of my genetic heritage. Moving on to my father’s family …
My paternal grandmother died two years ago in June, also of congestive heart failure, but she passed very quickly within a week or two. Up until a month before she died (at the age of eighty-eight), she had been living on her own in an apartment in an assisted living center. I believe arthritis proved her greatest bane for the last few years of her life, but she did also fight the usual suspects (heart disease).
My paternal grandfather (not shown in the above photograph) passed away in March of 2003, but his death was not specifically heart related. He remained active in his community, as a Shriner and a musician, until the day he died.
My great-grandfather, a much loved pastor in the small Kansas town where I grew up, died in the Summer of 1975, from a heart attack. According to my dad, Grandpa Hodge wouldn’t admit he was having heart trouble; he kept insisting it was the flu, because he had been an athlete and stayed active most of his life. Strangely, he died in the same hospital where I was born a decade earlier, in Winchester, Kansas. Grandpa Hodge loomed large in the first decade of my life. His passing devastated his church, the community and especially his family.
His first wife, Marie, passed away in 1949 of cancer. She immigrated (during or shortly after World War I) from the town of Stallupönen, in East Prussia.
***
I am encouraged that many of my female ancestors made it successfully into or through their eighth decade. If I can stay ahead of the genetics with healthy eating and living and regular exercise, I just might be around to annoy my great-grandkids over the next two or three decades.
I joined the American Heart Association‘s Heart Walk to promote physical activity to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and to beat the odds I’ve been dealt by those who’ve gone before me. Your support greatly appreciated.
Did you know that heart disease kills more people in America each year than any other disease? And that stroke is a leading cause of disability and the No. 4 killer?
Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity can lead to a stronger, healthier body. Take a small step toward better health by being physically active just 10 minutes 3 times per day.
Initiate Insightful Intuition
As I pulled into the Hallmark Corporate circular driveway, I realized, with some dismay, that the Mayor’s Christmas Tree had disappeared from it’s featured spot at Crown Center. And as I walked one of the rider’s to the lobby entrance, the two Christmas Trees that had graced the corporate lobby were also missing. Another Christmas season packed away. No more twinkling lights on trees or houses. No more hopeful, joyful carols on the radio nor piped through the overhead speakers at the grocery store. I felt deflated.
At least Hallmark waited until the official end of Christmas. Yesterday marked the twelfth day and today is traditionally celebrated as Epiphany. On January 6th, we celebrate Epiphany as a Christian feast day commemorating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians observe principally (but not solely) the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles. Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God.
The Revised Common Lectionary for today, the Epiphany of the Lord (Year B), suggests reading Matthew 2:-12 for the Biblical narrative of the Three Wise Men:
1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Other definitions of epiphany include:
- an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.
- a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
- a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.
“epiphany.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 06 Jan. 2012. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/epiphany>.
So here I sit, disillusioned by the passing of another Christmas season. I know that when I get home tonight, I need to pack away the Christmas decorations and dismantle the Christmas tree, storing both in the basement storage room.
Yet I am trying to initiate some enthusiasm for this new year. I continue to persevere in my quest for living healthier. Five days and counting now. It helps that everyone else in the family (including the dogs) has joined me in my Wii Fit adventure.
What I’m truly looking forward to won’t happen for nearly half a year. Rachelle will graduate from college in late May (or early June). Sometime between now and then, she’ll give her senior recital, which I plan to attend (in person instead of via live streaming).
Terry’s right hand is progressing well. The orthopedic surgeon saw him for a second followup visit this afternoon and prescribed some physical therapy and wants to see him again in six weeks. We’re still ecstatic the biopsy came back negative last week for cancer. Now begins the long grueling road to recovery and the welcome return of guitar riffs reverberating through the house.
I look forward to the ruckus with relish.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas
I did not have to drive the van today. I thought I might need to, since Hallmark decided the Monday after New Year’s Day would NOT be a holiday (day off from work) for it’s employees. But I spoke to my newest rider (a second Hallmark person) and she said she had already planned to drive herself to work today, so I got to sleep in (by about ten minutes, since I forgot to silence my alarm before falling asleep last night). I brewed some tea and finished composing the previous blog post (the one I forgot to finish last night and publish before falling asleep).
I woke Rachelle up just before nine o’clock since she had an eye doctor’s appointment after ten o’clock. On the way to Leavenworth, we detoured to Dillons so I could fill up the Bonneville, taking advantage of the eleven hundred points I earned in December. I opted to use five hundred points to save fifty cents per gallon. It still cost over $45 to fill it up (because I had waited too long and only fumes remained in the sixteen gallon tank). While at Dillons, we picked up a half dozen items we needed to make brunch after the doctor’s appointment.
I read about half of the January 2012 edition of Astronomy magazine on my Nook Color while waiting for Rachelle to finish her eye doctor’s examination. The prescription for her contact lenses wasn’t ready yet, so I told them to just mail it to me. We stopped at Walgreen’s so I could get a second ‘backup’ arch bandage to help my left foot heel and arch pain, especially since I’m attempting to increase my physical activity. We also stopped at K-mart to price other Wii game titles, but decided not to purchase anything at this time.
Back at home, Rachelle and I sifted through all of her jewelry boxes and separated out the jewelry she does not want. Some of that may end up as donations to our local Good Will store. We also stripped the pantry bare, wiped down the shelves and re-organized the contents. We did this prior to our ‘real’ trip back to Dillons to stock up for the coming week. Rachelle’s Christmas gift to her father included cooking meals for him over the next week or so. Tonight she cooked Garlic Honey Chicken with Sauteed Asparagus. My contribution included Parmesan Garlic Bread (made with the Italian bread I made last week).
I learned a couple of Yoga positions today, did a couple of strength training exercises and got better at the step aerobics programs via Wii Fit today. Both Terry and Rachelle are also using it – Terry to help maintain his current weight and strengthen his muscles and balance. Rachelle makes us all feel old, of course, since she’s twenty-two and in great shape.
Our after-dinner relaxation includes watching Ironclad, a movie about the aftermath following the signing of the Magna Carter. Not sure how historically accurate it is, but it’s gritty enough. I’ll review it in a separate post later this week.
On the Eighth Day of Christmas
I wished everyone I met a very Happy New Year! 2012 has arrived, whether I was ready or not. I even forgot to photograph the first sunrise, but at least according to my dad (who arrived at my house just minutes before said sunrise), the photogenicity of the dawn was suspect (i.e. no clouds).
Dad had dropped by so early on New Year’s Day to say goodby to Derek and Royna, who planned to return to North Texas. I was the only one awake in the house (normal even on non-holiday days). I woke Derek up so he could say goodbye to his grandfather and soon after Dad returned north to his home in Leavenworth.
Very much later in the morning, everyone finally woke and began packing. At ten ’til noon, they boarded their rental and left Lansing. They had lunch with their friends and eventually headed south towards their home. I received Royna’s final Tweet a bit after ten o’clock while I was drifting off to sleep when they finally made it safely home.
I treated Terry to Planet Sub at a ‘new’ location I was previously unaware of on Johnson Drive. He often complains about my easy access to Planet Sub (only a block from where I work). After enjoying our Super Heroes, we drove back to the Legends (we passed it on the way to lunch) and enriched Nebraska Furniture Mart by purchasing a Wii (with Super Mario Kart for Terry) and the Wii Fit Plus bundle (and an extra controller) for me. We spent the rest of the afternoon setting up the Wii and fighting my Denon AV receiver (which doesn’t automatically convert Composite video to HDMI so I had to find an RCA cable in the black hole we call a basement storage room). I spent some time trying out the balance board only to discover, once Rachelle got home, that I had the board facing backwards (so no wonder all the balance activities kept failing for me).
We finally took a break from Wii Fit and sat down to relax and watch the latest episode of Leverage on TNT. I wondered off to bed soon after, forgetting to finish typing up this blog entry that I started at the crack of dawn on New Year’s Day. I will publish it before the crack of dawn today, no doubt.
My New Year’s Resolutions:
- Increase my book reading goal. Last year I read 75 books. This year I have challenged myself to read 80 books.
- Increase my activity level.
- To this end I accepted the January Jumpstart Challenge at SparkPeople.
- Use Wii Fit plus as an added incentive to exercise.
- Walk the Rotts (especially Roxy)
- Healthier eating habits: While I eat a good portion of vegetables routinely, I have a hard time consuming fresh fruit. So I am making a concerted effort to eat fruit daily.
Happy New Year!
I pray 2012 brings all of us peace and prosperity.
On the Third Day of Christmas
I got the best gift of all . . . my family. My daughter flew in from North Texas this morning. My son and his wife arrived on Christmas Eve, so today I had all of them together, as well as my father. We enjoyed dinner and then opened all of the presents. The dogs got a treat as well, since both Derek and Rachelle got down on the floor and played with them.
But tomorrow I return to work (for the rest of the week) so Terry will get to enjoy their company exclusively.
Merry Christmas!