desperately seeking encouragement...

Pat - good job on your soapbox. I agree, those that are depressed should also seek counseling and not just treat with meds. I knew what my problems were and needed to keep myself from being overwhelmed by everybody elses problems. I wouldn't suggest to anyone else that they treat with just meds but it worked for me. Being under a doctor's care is crucial to treating depression. I also had lots of spiritual help and guidance during those tough years. Eleanor

I may not have a suggestion for long term relief of depression, but I may make you smile for a minute. Last night we went to a friend's house to watch the game, and I had a couple beers. Decided to switch to soda, went upstairs to get it and on my way back downstairs, slipped and fell on my butt on the steps, and continued sliding down the steps hitting my butt on each step. I now have a 3" by 10 " bruise on my butt. At least I had a couple beers in me to dull the pain and embarrassment.

Lesson - soft drinks are dangerous. Stick with alcohol!

Hope you feel better.

Gee, your backside must be sore! Have another beer. ( you can have mine, I hate beer!)

psychw2 - hopefully I have learned my lesson and will not arise without the specs in the middle of the night for something like that again. I think I was more worried about my "cat" getting hurt than me. The entire event has left me a bit traumatized and I find I am hyper-reactive now at night. With 6 pets, something is always happening.

bbrookrd - I totally understand your choice. People don't realize the problem. Makes me amazed at what totally sightless people can navigate.

amethystsm - Hope you are doing ok. I think NY's is way over done as well. I think the winter solstice is a MUCH better focus for mankind :O) especially gardeners

thanks, sparkie!
um, er, thanks (?) debilu... i don't know if smile is the right word for my reaction, more like wince. ouch! Being now and forever a klutz myself, i truly feel your pain... When people ask if i'm ok, i usually say, "I'm mostly ok, but i think i sprained my dignity."

What a great line, amethystsm!

i borrowed (stole) it from somewhere, but so long ago i don't remember where...
i have had many opportunities to use it!

Haven't we all!

Amy - if you don't mind I would like to borrow the quote you borrowed. I usually don't bother but just laugh at myself when I'm being clumsy and ungraceful - I look funny enough without adding a comment!! A couple of years ago when we were having siding put on our house the young contractor came out into the backyard just as I got my feet tangled up in the hose and fell flat on my back side!! The look of fear on his face was priceless!! I guess he thought he was going to have to transport me to the hospital!! I may be a bit on the old side of life but I still bounce pretty good when I fall!! Eleanor

Yes, I've sprained my dignity more than once!

It's your "backbone" that I appreciated so much last night.

Pirl, you are a class act yourself.

One of my dearest friends was going blind in the early 70's and was told she needed a dog and a cane. Her reply was that she already had a three year old and that if she walked into a tree she would just have to figure out how to get up gracefully.

She still has no cane, but has since sailed around the world. No one has more sense of the wind in a storm at the helm the she. She is still an artist. Though she sees images when there are an inch from her eyes, the rest of her world is gray and black. She has an acute sense of shape and sound. She always can find me in a crowd. She has currently taken up riding in a big way. Fell in love with a cowboy in Wyoming and is out on the range where there aren't many trees. Patti

Patti, what a wonderful and brave person your friend is! I love the last line "aren't many tree's". I almost spit out my coffee!

Isn't it great there are people to inspire us! Thanks bbrookrd. :-)

LOL - Range & Trees - its supposed to be where deer and the antelopes play.

Thank you, Debilu!

I listen to talk radio most days and a sightless person called in to say how dangerous the electric autos are for those without sight since they make no noise to warn them as they cross the street.

You'd think the drivers would recognize the difficulty and stop to allow them safe crossing but far too many people don't or won't show courtesy that should be mandatory.

schickenlady, I think he ( the cowboy) wants us to go out west hunting with him. I suggested fishing and riding. I grew up on a quarter horse and DH has spent some time aboard a horse, so I think that would be great. We both fish.

DH took him out on the ocean at Christmas here. Twas the first time he had ever been on the ocean or in a boat. He knows a lot of knots like DH so that was his hook. Plus he seemed to take to the vastness without a worry. Just like the big plains only with motion.

Pirl, I hadn't thought about the danger of silence and energy efficiency. New solution other than a horn must be found. That would be a nightmare. Patti

This message was edited Jan 7, 2008 4:13 PM

Common courtesy should prevail and the driver should stop but common courtesy is in such rare supply these days.

we have a prius..

Amy, have you ever watched Jeff Dunham? He does a stand up and there is a part about his blue pruis..it's hysterical.

don't know that one, but there was a hysterical South Park about it before we got ours - Prius owners were polluting the country with a thick cloud of "smug."

Unfortunately I couldn't find the exact part I was looking for , but this is Jeff Dunham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go

we just found out one of my DH's students is in the hospital with a brain tumor. i don't even think he is 21 yet. we don't know details, but it is all pretty shocking - he is one of the actors in a student directed show selected to perform in a regional festival at the end of January, so there is a lot of figuring out what to do by DH (the faculty advisor) and the 12 or so other students involved.

it's hard to believe.

amethystsm, too sad for words. The mask with the tears says it all to a theatre goer. Hugs, strength and hope. Patti

That is very sad news, Amy. Good luck and God bless the student.

Horrible news. Thoughts and prayers for a full recovery.

What a way to start the new year! I am so sorry. My thoughts and prayers for him and his family during this terrible time. Praying for a full recovery and strength for all.

Hoping that the student will fully recover. Every day is a gift. Sometimes I forget that.

he is not someone i know very well, but i see him around a lot, and it is just really hard to believe. i'm still waiting to find out more information.

Amy - hope he is going to be OK!! Eleanor

Amy, I'm so sorry to hear this and do hope they can treat it successfully for him. Very shocking when someone is so young with so much life yet to live!

i don't know a LOT more, but we now know that it is a benign tumor, which i guess the student and his family have known about - he has seizures sometimes, and the surgery is expected to remedy that.

For whatever reason, the faculty and staff involved with taking the show to the festival in a couple of weeks hadn't heard about his upcoming surgery until this week. He seems to think he'll be able to do the next show (in March) which he is cast in, but can't go to the festival.

So it is scary - i mean, wow, brain surgery - but not quite as bad (or sudden) as it seemed.

My cousin had a large benign tumor removed when he was about 16 or 17. The whole family was petrified but all worked out well.

I have a girl friend who had a benign brain tumor removed - and she is fine, years later. Well, she is "difficult" but she might have always been that way - I didn't know her back then.

that's encouraging. still scary, but encouraging!
now to get another actor to learn the part in 2 weeks!
(i probably sound heartless, but there are about 12 other students who are getting a great opportunity, and no one wants to see them miss out.)
(i am a bad person.)

AMY, NO you are NOT a bad person, you are simply being fair to all the students who have worked hard for this. It was not right to become involved in a production if they knew he was scheduled for surgery now. IF on the other hand, they did not know WHEN, the student and parent should have considered the possibility AND notified the drama group as soon as surgery was scheduled!

My 2nd son, Kevin, had about 2 weeks to learn the LEAD part in a one act play that the school was taking to competition. The former lead was suspended from school and was ineligible to compete. Kevin already had a big part in one play, was a player in another community production at the same time, so the addition of the 3rd commitment was crazy making for those weeks.

I'm just seeing this thead and can relate, Amy. I'm almost the same age as you and I too have really been feeling down lately about the passage of time and certain things not accomplished in my life. Part of me wants Spring to come quickly so that I can see all my plants again and get out of the house more, but the other part is freaking out, yet again, at how quickly indeed time moves. It's hard sometimes not to get overwhelmed by it. I hope that you are feeling better soon.

I actually think I felt the same way in my mid thirties, but now that I am thirty sixteen, I have found an inner peace and calm.