EPITOMES, REALIZATIONS & ACTIONS

Last year when I began my food blog, Always Eat On The Good China, I developed the name after reading a letter that Erma Bombeck wrote after she knew she was dying from cancer.  I even put a quote from her on my side bar from that I found extremely poignant.

It was around that same time that I had an appendicitis attack - I still have my appendix and it had been chronic since I was 9 years old.  Or at least I thought I was having an appendicitis attack.  We now know that I was having pain from my ovary that was growing into a cantalouped size mass.

Fortunately for me at my well woman exam the doctor noticed what she thought was an enlarged uterus and she ordered an ultrasound.  That was on the Tuesday after Christmas.

As I write this I'm preparing for the battle of my life, but as you read it I am, God willing, laying in a hospital bed preparing to go home in time to watch the superbowl with hubby and recover from an ovarian cancer tumor reductive surgery.  We won't yet know the extent of the pathology until sometime next week, but we are prayerful that it was all contained within the tumor itself and that the abdominal surgery recovery is the worst we need to overcome.

It did make me think though about the letter Erma Bombeck wrote entitled, If I had My Life to Live Over and decided to offer up a short piece of my own to ponder.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER

I would make changes as I'm sure we all would, but they would be small changes - everyday changes.

I would use my favorite fruit infused soap everyday instead of trying to stretch it to last forever.

I would eat more salads, fruits and veggies despite the additional cost.  I eat quite a few now, but more are always better.

I would take a nap when I really want or need one instead of thinking I needed to fill every moment of every day with productive business.

I would take more time to slow down and truly smell the roses, listen to the birds sing and children laugh.  

I would  take more time to help stray animals and lonely elders.

I would forgive more readily and love even more often.

I would strive to make a difference in more than one child.  I know I have tried to live by this quote; “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” I also know I made a difference, thank you Amber for telling me that often enough to bring tears of joy to my eyes. I love you as if you were my own.  But, I know I can do more and more often, my talent is not yet used up.