Day 147 of 365 Days of Being Thankful

        I am thankful that my close friend and former next door neighbor Linda's daughter Amy  had a beautiful and wonderful wedding on Sun night.

The wedding was beautiful and Amy was so happy.  I wish I would have gotten to see her but the pictures are lovely.

 I was still in the hospital and unable to attend. Sadly, my friend Linda died several years ago.  She was a loving mother, great wife, and wonderful and loyal friend. Linda and I both had daughters within a year of each other.  And we both named our daughters AMY. Amy and Amy were best friends. Amy Y loved to have my Amy over at her house.  She would talk her mom Linda into buying Twizzlers because it was my Amy's favorite candy!  I rarely had candy at my house. My Amy was a candyholic!  Amy Y would call my Amy and say "my mom bought Twizzlers and my Amy would tear out the door and go over there!  Whenever I went over to get my Amy, Amy Y would block the door and not let her leave!  It was so cute! This started when they were little girls, maybe 2 and 3.  Amy Y's dad , George, mentioned that story in his Father of The Bride speech.  I wish I would have been there.  When my Amy went to first grade at a Catholic elementary school, she became a holy roller! She toted her Bible over to Amy Y's house and asked her if she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior.  Amy Y said, "I don't know, I'm Jewish."  My Amy told her that if she couldn't accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior, that she was going home.  Amy Y said..."Ok, Ok, I believe, now can we play?" Linda called me laughing and saying.......your daughter is over here trying to convert  my daughter to Christianity and my daughter is willing as long as your daughter stays to play!" I miss Linda so much, she was one of the most loyal  and funniest friends I have ever had.  She always talked about Amy to me and remembered stories of when the girls were little. It was so easy to talk to Linda about my Amy because I know Linda truly loved my daughter. I am so thankful that Linda chose me as one of her best friends, it was an honor to be part of her life. I know she would have been so proud of her daughter Amy and she would have been beaming at the wedding! Since I couldn't go to the wedding, I sent Olivia in my place.

Olivia LOVED Linda so much. Olivia came with me to visit Linda several times when Linda got sick and when she was in hospice.  I didn't realize that Olya was upset that Olivia was going in my place.

  Out of the blue,  George and his now wife Sue invited Olya because they had a few last minute cancellations. Olya was beyond thrilled!  When we first adopted Olivia, she .loved being around my friends Linda, Jackie, and Nancy! She would refer to them as her friends too. Whenever they came over, she hung with us and whenever I went out with them without her, she went crazy! One day, Nancy accidentally emailed Olivia about our dinner plans, and Olivia came tearing down the steps yelling  " I told you, I told you, they want me to come because they are my friends too!  They were nice enough to switch our plans to a pizza place and included her too!  When Oliva was at the wedding, she sent me a picture of herself, Jackie, Nancy, and Olya and said  "I'm hanging with my friends!"

  When I was in the hospital, the floor I was on was mostly empty for a few days.  It was very quiet for awhile there.  The things changed drastically!!!!!!! I got an across the hall neighbor, an elderly gentleman.  All of a sudden, I would hear several nurses feet running down the hallway yelling, "Hey, where are you going?"  Apparently, he was prone to wandering and leaving.  He would say, "I'm on my way home or going for lunch, etc."  This happened several times a day, usually in the late afternoons and evenings. One of the nurses told me that they get all of the "special" cases on their floor!  Maybe that's why they put me there!  At least the guy kept his clothes on!  When Olivia was in the intensive care neurology unit, there was a guy who stripped several times a day and ran around the hallways!!  I am sure he was brain damaged or suffering from dementia.  It cracked Olivia up!  the unit was locked so he couldn't get out, but he loved stripping off those clothes several times daily.  We would hear him running and laughing and then all of the staff would be chasing him! Olivia cracked up every time!

I realized while I was in the hospital that I LOVE FOOD!!! I didn't get to eat for 7 whole days, not s cracker, not a piece of bread, not a teeny morsel. I was on a liquid diet for two days but that was it for 7 days and nights.  You would have thought that I'd have lost at least 10 pounds, but I gained 4.5 lbs.! I got on the scale several times, I mean I thought I would have a wonderful new number!  I had a new number, but it was far from wonderful!  I was getting bags and bags of highly concentrated sugar water.  I have heard the old adage...starve a cold, feed a fever.  I guess when one has pancreatitis, the adage is starve a pancreas, fatten up a body with sugar water!  When I was able to choose food on Fri. night, I was mesmerized by all of the food choices on the menu.  I wasn't even hungry, but I loved the idea of choosing some real food from the menu!

It was better than an orgasm! I wasn't hungry but it was the BEST chicken and rice I have ever eaten.