Goodbye Nora

Nora Ephron died yesterday.  I didn't know her personally but I feel as though I did.  That was part of her amazing talent. She wrote about life as she saw it and we saw ourselves in her descriptions. She made me smile with her appreciation of life.

I laugh out loud everytime I watch When Harry Met Sally. Sleepless in Seattle makes me feel warm and fuzzy and I mourn the loss of the bookstore while cheering the romance in You've Got Mail.
Her movies made me laugh and cry. 

She didn't like growing old but wrote such hilarious accounts that she made all of us feel a little better. Since growing old is better than the alternative, she not only made us laugh, she made us feel like we were all members of the same club.  I Feel Bad About My Neck is best appreciated by those over 45 and I Remember Nothing is still one of my favorites.

These are some of the movies that came from this brilliant, funny lady:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-nora-ephron-greatest-hits-video-compilation-20120626,0,3304097.story

Nora was one of those people who played a quiet, indirect role in our life. Her humor, her joy, her love of life and her talent to share all of that became a part of our culture, a part of our collective history .  Thank you for making me laugh and thank you for showing me the foolishness of taking myself too seriously. I will miss you. God Speed Nora.

Avery's Bucket List

Sometimes I think the universe whispers to us and other times I think it shouts.  I read a post earlier today about a little, 5 month old baby girl with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy.) Her name is Avery and her parents started a blog called Avery's Bucket List  http://averycan.blogspot.com/ . They (and friends) made a list of all the things Avery would like to do before she dies. Babies with SMA type 1 rarely live to the age of two. A tiny little baby should not need to make a bucket list, she should have days and days and months and months and years and years ahead of her. Alas, Avery does not. The disease is progressing. . .

She has already lost the ability to move her legs, her parents know her time is limited but they are working to put a face to SMA. Perhaps Avery's beautiful little face will be the one that inspires someone famous to take up the cause of SMA, maybe a brilliant mind will see this pretty baby and take an interest in the disease and that mind will be the one that starts the research that eventually will find a cure for SMA.  At present there are no clinical research studies looking for a cure for SMA. Avery's parents know that help can not come soon enough to save her, but by putting a face to SMA, they hope it will help a child in the future.   

 

None of us have any magic answers but we all can do something to help - please look at Avery's blog and read her bucket list. Is there anything you can help with? At the very least we can help spread her story, we can help make her the face of SMA. The universe shouted today: SHARE AVERY'S STORY! I listened, I'm sharing. I hope you will too. 

Better than yesterday. . . .

I wrote this a month or two ago and then posted to the wrong page. I have lost and gained the same two pounds several times since writing this. So this person who does not like to exercise and does like to eat has decided on a new approach. I need to lose one pound. My goal between now and Saturday is to lose a pound. I'm going to exercise, cut back on sweets and make it happen!

I think I mentioned a year ago (okay, I whined) that I quit smoking in April of 2010 and have since managed to gain 30 lbs. Last year I said, enough, I'm going to lose the weight and basically spent more time thinking about it than doing anything. 

So today is the first day of my "Stop whining and take off those pounds" program. I know I need a consistent program but first I'm just going to start moving every day. I am so out of shape that everything tires me out - walking just a short distance makes me want to take a nap. Stretching and doing exercises is awkward and uncomfortable (not to mention I hate exercising.)

Still, I need to get in shape and I need to lose weight so I am starting with ideas that work with my current physical fitness status. I typically have the TV on in the morning while I clean house so today, for one of the hour morning shows, everytime there was a commercial break - I stopped cleaning and exercised - most of the breaks are between 3 & 1/2 and 4 minutes for a total of 18-20 minutes. Okay, not the longest work out, but better than not doing anything.

Then I happened on the 5 minute workout on the Dr. Oz website todayhttp://www.doctoroz.com/videos/jorge-cruises-5-minute-workout  and decided to add that to my routine. Ouch - still, I can do 5 minutes. I then decided to do 5 minutes twice a day, once in the am & once in the pm. Okay, I can do this.

Probably should not have eaten that jelly donut for breakfast but the chicken fajita for lunch was a good choice. Hey, it's a start. It's not perfect but better than yesterday and that's how I'm going to get back in shape. Doing a little better each day - one day at a time.

2012 has certainly started with a roar. My brother-in-law passed away on the 2nd from a heart attack. The week that followed was a blur as family members reconnectd via the phone and shared a lifetime of memories.  They talked about growing into young adults, parents, then grandparents and now the shock and the inevitable surprise of losing the first sibling.

There was the whirlwind of calling hours, the funeral, meeting and greeting childhood friends, seldom seen relatives, past neighbors and reaffirming who we were, who we are and acknowledging our shared history. The loss of a sibling reminds us that more sunrises are behind us that ahead of us, it gives us pause if only for a moment.

Lew & Bob July 2010

Back home, life goes on. We go to work, to the grocery store, doctors and dentist. We take our dogs to the vet, clean house, pooper scoop the yard and remind each other to "take your meds." A beloved brother is gone but life goes on, it's just a little quieter, a little less shiny, a little more lonely. We love you Lew and we miss you.

A Lesson From Max. . . .

I was watching Max our very old, arthritic, and blind Yorkie this morning when a battle burst through the quiet. Max is sometimes very loving, other times very grouchy. When another dog bumped into him there was no question of fight or flight - Max chose fight.  He reared up on his back legs, growled, snapped at his tormentor, twisted, turned and made his displeasure known.

I reached down gently lifting him up and away from the fray. As soon as Max recognized my touch he settled down. I spoke to him quietly, gave him a few gentle pets and a hug and he sank into my arms and sighed. Nikki, the other dog involved, looked at me and a kind word and gentle ear scratch reassured her that she was still loved. Off she went to play with another dog.

That's when it hit me, the lesson finally clicked. Max is old, sometimes he hurts physically. He lives in a dark world, blind, no visual cues, alone in his darkness. Voices and touch are his clues to what's going on around him. Max calms when he hears my voice or feels my touch. He immediately understands he's safe. There is no question in his mind, he relaxes knowing instinctively that he is loved. A kind touch reaches his soul to let him know someone cares about him. Max gets that who and what he is, is enough.

And it occurs to me that the next time someone snaps at me, the next time they rear up and growl, I hope I'll remember the lesson Max taught today - a kind word, a gentle voice, a soft touch may be exactly what they need.

We can't always know or even see others pain. We don't know their private battles, secret fears, or blind spots. Max reminded me today that often what is needed is a little kindness. For that moment, that instant, it' enough.

One of the best kept secrets on TV. . . .

We keep the TV on almost all the time, it's good background noise and helps keep the dogs settled down except for the commercials where a door bell rings. Sigh, that's another story we'll tell someday.  Anyway, here it is Sunday morning, the TV is on and I have to say one of the best programs on TV is CBS Sunday Morning.

It's a news magazine that takes the time to tell the story. Last week there was a segment on high tech bionic prosthetics that help paralyzed people walk - it was a simply amazing, well told story. They also did a segment on one of my favorite entertainers of all time - Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen is, in my opinion, the epitome of grace under pressure. She told a truth and was vilified by the public, yet her kindness and gentle spirit won out. The Ellen segment showcased how nice she is and yes, how funny.

I enjoy the variety of information in the program. Today, a segment on Cold Play, the music group whose lead singer Chris Martin is married to Gwyneth Paltrow. . . who knew? (Okay, probably everyone except me.) Another segment dealt with the pill factories in Florida - doctors whose practice exists to push prescription drugs for $$$$. Oh yes, and a nice  presentation about the good things found in New Jersey.

Easy going, useful information presented in a quiet, pleasant format. A nice way to start the week and probably one of the best kept secrets on TV. Turn it on next Sunday, I think you'll like it. . . .

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445.shtml

Remembering A Legend . . . .

The world lost an amazing, brilliant, innovative risk taker on Wednesday, October 5 when Steve Jobs passed.  His creative genius made a difference in the lives of millions. Who would have thought two kids putterin' around in a garage would change the world?

I've never met Steve Jobs or his Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack but they both became part of  "my" story. In my early 30's I happened upon computers and purchased my first Apple ][ Plus. What an exhilarating, heady time that was. To my delight, I discovered "I got it" when it came to these personal computers. I embraced the technology, first learning the hardware, then the software. What fun the early years were. A friend used to tell me "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is King." How true!

Over the years folks like Jobs, Woz, Gates, Ellison, Bushnell, McNealy (the list is so long) were followed, quoted and talked about by those of us in the industry. We really didn't know them but we all knew their stories. They became part of our story, they were the guys in the forefront whose innovations were something to understand and master. We weren't the innovators but we were touched by them, we felt a kinship with them. Their creations became part of our world and a whole new industry was created for us to support. We needed their genius and they needed our ability to evangilize their inventions.

October 5, 2011 marks the passing of Steve Jobs.  For many of us, a world without Steve Jobs will be a little less bright, a little less creative, simply a little less. I'm sad he's gone. Good bye Steve. God Speed.