Update 3/11/10 Day 122

Dear friends,

It's a bit late. Here's why:

The man won the tickets on the radio in June. They cancelled in July. He almost died in November. They rescheduled for December. (Stephen was a bit tied up in December). They cancelled in December. They rescheduled for March. So tonite, we went to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert and Smitty didn't need handicapped seating. As far as I'm concerned, all those people (and there were many), should have clapped for Steve! Even though he's not well known for his musical talents...

As for me, well, all I needed to hear was "New York State of Mind". ("Me, I'm takin' a Greyhound, on that Hudson River line...) But the real nostalgia was when Elton John played "Crocodile Rock". I was transported back to 8th grade, in my friend's room, listening to the 45! That was a very difficult time in my life, and it was then I really began to wonder about all the big questions. Why am I here? Will God help me? Will I survive in high school. It's sort of good to remember what that age felt like. I want to be an understanding mama, and not dismiss the undeveloped but powerful feelings of my teenagers. So the Great One even uses "Crocodile Rock" for my good. He's ever surprising me.

Here's some news to rock the funhouse: Northeast Health came today and took away the wheelchair. I get kind of misty thinking about it actually. I remember Stephen struggling just to get into the thing at Sunnyview, and the night we both were up at 2am, so thankful that it was only temporary for him. But I will not, can not, forget those who will continue to live in their chair. I will always look at them in an entirely new light, with respect in my heart and a prayer on my tongue. That is not the road Hercules has to walk down. He has his own limitations, but they pale in comparison. I am again humbled by the profound mercy.

We finished watching an old Jimmy Stewart picture, Destry Rides Again. How I rooted for young Tom Destry, struggling to bring justice to a corrupt wild west town! Marlene Dietrich is the tough saloon girl with a soft heart, who turns out to be quite a hero. And my favorite scene involves a bunch of women wreaking havoc on the bad guys. I give this one 2 thumbs up. Jimmy Stewart is pretty hard to beat any day of the week.

Also reading 2 books right now. One is by John Ortberg called "The Life You've Always Wanted". Sounds like a self help book, but it's not. The author looks at the ancient disciplines people of faith have always practiced, and how relevant they are for today. It's a book you chew on, piece by piece. The other book I'm in right now is "Screwball: Hollywood's Madcap Romantic Comedies" by Ed Sikov. I'm finding all sorts of movies to rent through Netflix. I feel like I'm back at NYU film school, sorting through the author's opinions about which movies fit the bill as a screwball comedy, and which don't. Kind of fun. Especially since I don't have to write a paper on it.

Tomorrow is Friday, so I know I will be called upon to make either pizza or tacos. We call it "Fun Food for Friday Fare". I'm so grateful to the One and Only that all five of us are here for these Fridays of our lives. I'd be happy eating mush and liver, just to be eating it with these incredible, dearest, treasured 4 people. Of course, they wouldn't touch mush, so tacos it is.

So hurray for New York, and Crocodile Rock, and wheelchair removal and screwball comedies. Hurray for tacos and Fridays. Big, giant hurray for my husband and children, who mean more to me than life itself. And an epic, cosmic hurray for the Great One, to whom I owe it all, and who took the fall for my deliverance. "His ways are beyond searching out..."

And a big hurray for you, my fabulous friends.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann