H. Potter eat your heart out

Passion got excited last night when we had a visitor hit the window. She was stunned for a few minutes, just enough time to get a good photo. The away into the night she flew.

friends

It has been a bad year for my families friends. Mother and I lost our best friends this year, so it is important to keep and nurture the friends we do have. Lynda and I went to Florida with our friends Tim and Cheryl Lee. As it turns out Tim's brother and family was also there. The house was wonderful and just a short walk to the beach. The beach was beautiful white sand and warm gulf water. We went fishing on Tuesday and I hooked a 7ft 200+lbs Tiger shark. I fought it for one hour and was so tired I let Tim bring him in the last 20 minutes before we landed him. The guides said it was the largest fish they had brought in there. We had a lot of fish to freeze, even after Tim and I grilled some. It tasted like a mild swordfish, with the same texture. It was good eating, but not nearly as good as Thursday nights meal. Lynda bought dinner as my birthday present at Commander's Palace in Destin. The restaurant overlooks the bay, and there were fireworks that went off just as they were bring out our entrees. I asked if everyone gets fireworks when celebrating birthdays at Commander's. The last couple of days it rained, so the women of our group decided to go shopping. I can't complain when I got to spend time with friends, see the ocean, and eat good food. I have learned friends are important to a happy life. My goal is to be a good friend to those I call friend.

I have lost a friend whom I chose to be my best man at my wedding 26 years ago. I didn't make a mistake when I asked him. I was best man at one of his four weddings. Johnny Wommack was the definition of a true friend to me. When I got sick he came to see me. There are so many memories I have with Johnny, and all of them are happy memories. His twin daughters were the light of his life, and his son was his proudest achivement. Johnny will be missed by many and by me for the rest of my life. There is a hole left in my life with his passing, simply because I can no longer pick up the phone to call Johnny and ask how it's going.

At the funeral there was a song they played that said "I cry for me". It sumed up how I felt, in that I am losing a friend like I will never have again.

It

It

has been an interesting time for me the last month or so. I got to go to see two of my nieces win a state championship in lacross. Hopefully they know how special it is for sisters to get to play on the same team that wins a championship. Way to go Lacey and Jodie!

I also saw my nephew Luke get married to a lovely lady, Kelsey. Then Noah and Kayla announced their engagement(finally).

Lynda and I went to Las Vegas for three days, and I got a call from Beth that mother had a heart attack. She is doing well with no loss of heart function, but she is going to have bypass surgery on the 17th. We are all praying she will come thru with flying colors.

My best friend came to town because he found out he has liver cancer. I have known him for 30 years so he is like my own family. I only hope I can give him some encouragement to fight his cancer like I had to.

With every joy there seems to be sadness, I hope we can all look back to remember more of the joys in our lives than the sad times. I want to always remember the joy everyone has given me over the years. Thank all who read this blog, all of the friends and family I love so much.

Here is my "new" baby!

It has been a long time since I posted anything. I have been enjoying not going to doctors offices as much as the past year. I still go to get IV drugs once a month to help build up my bones. Pictures are of the crazy weather we have had the last few weeks. I rode my bicycle two days before the snow, and the dogwoods were blooming three days later. After the past year of battling Multiple Myeloma, I guess I have a bit of mid life crisis. I bought a "new" car. I had a Buick Grand National back in '87, and I always regretted selling that car. So, I found and bought another one. It only has 13,000 miles on it, since the owner kept it as a classic. I love having a car that I get comments about everywhere I go. Lessons learned going thru chemo seem to have been to enjoy life and if you can get what you want, go for it!

Al Gore lies! I haven't seen this much snow since a ski trip to Snowmass. We lost electricity for about 6 hours but stayed warm. It looks great but we lost a lot of tree limbs. Hopefully we will be able to get out of our driveway sometime today. I am feeling well, and get to go have another bone marrow biopsy on Monday. They are just checking to make sure everything is still OK.