Why this blog?

Around 25 years ago, I convinced my grandmother to write a memoir. Naturally, it was in pen on (gasp) paper. That, of course, would never do. I was blinded by new technology. I was an idiot. I convinced (read "paid") my daughter, Miriam, to type Bubbie's manuscript up on my Commodore 64. Then, to make matters worse, I edited the typescript. Then I printed it out and had it copied and bound.

Now, the actual original manuscript, what Bubbie actually wrote with her own hand, is lost forever. It's probably somewhere in the house, but that pretty much counts as lost forever.

Now, I'm at that age. My kids have not asked me to do this, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm still amused enough by technology that I don't want to do a handwritten manuscript. I also don't think I can achieve the kind of dramatic impact that Bubbie managed with a formal autobiography. So, instead, I'm doing a blog with random memories from the past and the present scattered in a disorganized way.

This blog is linked to my two other blogs.

http://henryandcarolynsecondhoneymoon.blogspot.com/ is the blog I started when I came down with cancer and pretty much stopped when Carolyn died.

http://henryfarkaswidowerblog.blogspot.com/ is the blog I started after Carolyn died; when I decided to continue blogging.

For what it's worth, there's a search engine attached to this blog right below this intro. That won't be worth much initially, but if this blog gets long and stays disorganized, then my kids and their kids will be able to use the search engine to find stuff if they're interested.

Search This Blog

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Hope and Goals

I seem to add to this blog when I get a writing assignment from one of my writing/cancer support groups. This assignment came from my on-line writing group. The prompt had something to do with hopes and goals. I forget the exact wording of the prompt. In fact, I'd forgotten the exact wording of the prompt when I wrote the assignment. Good thing this isn't for college credit:
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Hope can get you through the night, or it can distract you from achievable goals. Hope is never having to say, "Fuhgeddaboutit, I'm just going to watch TV and vegetate until I die." Be careful what you hope for. You may get it, and it may not be enough.

OK, so much for the pithy philosophoids. (Philosophoid--n. made up word signifying a concept expressed in a sentence or two that pretends to be philosophical, but isn't.)

What am I hoping for? I'm kind of hoping to be an outlier. 99.9% of people diagnosed with stage IV non small cell lung cancer are dead within five years. I got that diagnosis in the spring of 2008, and I was finished with my treatment with "curative intent" by 9/25/08. It's been three years, and so far, no recurrence. I'd knock on wood, but I'm not sure anything is made of actual wood anymore.

Goals. My wife died in Sept. of '09. I liked being married. I want to be in love again. Other than that, I want to enjoy my life and enjoy my family. We can entitle this, "The Goals of a Lazy Man."

Henry
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