Oh my, the list is much longer than what I have put down. Here’s a start:
* Drugs!
* Whining constantly to my wonderful loving wife, and having her always listen and respond with all the empathy in the world (thankfully I am not at the stage where I have to burden her with assistance...the verdict is still out on whether or not she packs her belongings and drives away early one morning for good when I really need her assistance
)
* Being so thankful I am still able to go for early morning walks with her and our crazy sheltie Rosie 17 months after diagnosis
* still sleeping well (thanks to Trazodone and THC/CBD oil)
* having our incredible daughter (and her sweet, caring boyfriend) living here in town and always coming over for a weekend dinner
*feeling so honored that she still asks for my thoughts on her grad school papers, and helping whenever I can
* picking lemons and oranges off our citrus trees, and veggies from our garden
* Having a couple of beers and a cigar on the back porch every afternoon (no freaking lectures, please)
* looking at the photos of our incredible trips around the country in our RV from 2013-2019 (always good for a therapeutic cry)
* a day or two without any GI issues or limited muscle/joint aches and pains
* computer games
* old Gunsmoke episodes (don’t ask why...I was a baby when most of those early episodes were made. They make a nice bridge between early evening and my nightly news shows)
* writing a history of my side of the family for my wife and daughter
* listening to old (poor quality) recordings of me playing guitar in various clubs (I was a pretty fair solo acoustic finger style player, if I do say so myself
)
* being the neighborhood “snake guy” that rescues my more fearful neighbors by relocating (mostly) harmless snakes to the woods. It’s a Florida thing
* still able to walk around our property appreciating the beauty, blooming foliage, and lushness that my wife and I have cultivated over the past 27 years
* bonding with our 17 year old gray tabby Lily. We are both needy and adapting to either age or Increasing infirmities
* filling our bird feeders with sesame seeds (their favorite) and watching the excited stream of chickadees, wrens, finches, sparrows, cardinals (the little bullies), and others fill their little tummies
* giving money to my favorite causes, and to the homeless at stop lights
* having a peaceful plan in place when I have reached that line in the sand (hopefully not for a long time) that is supported by my wife and daughter
* did I mention drugs?
Kevin (presently enjoying an earlier than usual beer on the front porch on this picture perfect 75 degree day in north Florida)