Birthday

Today was my birthday.  I've made it through another year, and what a year it has been.  My last birthday, which seems to have been about two decades ago, was spent in New Mexico and I was in the middle of a full court press to get a house I was remodeling finished up. 

We had just gotten a diagnosis from Carolyn's doctor and it changed all of our plans.  Have you ever had to stop everything and switch horses, saddles and reins in the time it takes a crocodile to snap?   Most people have, and to tell the truth, so have we.  This was just the first time we tried doing it in our mid sixties and, believe me, that makes a difference.  So, all my buddies knew I was in trouble and volunteered their time to help finish the remodel project so it could be sold.  Thanks, guys.  I hope someday you will know how much it means to be rescued.  The only way you'll know just how grateful I am is to be there yourself.

All the other anchors holding us in the safe port of Los Alamos were cut and the ropes that tied us to them were allowed to sink.   We bought a new house and started saving boxes.  I retired and when the time finally came to load the truck, a different set of buddies stopped in to help.  The first bunch who helped with the remodel weren't able to pitch in.  Most of them were still in physical therapy and the others were limping badly.  There was such an abundance of assistance I was beginning to think all my too-old-to-be-rowdy-friends were trying to kick us out of the state!   The emails and phone calls we have been getting from them on an almost daily basis remind me of just how wrong I was to even imagine that.

A friend of 20 years jumped into one of my cars and drove it to Oregon so I would not have to leave Carolyn alone.  I climbed into the truck, which had another car on a trailer behind it, and we were gone.  As we were on the road between Chama, NM and the Colorado border we saw a double rainbow.  I've seen these before and usually the second one is a little indistinct.  This one was for real.  Both rainbows were vivid and bright.  New Mexico, a state that had been so kind to us, was saying goodbye and wishing us well in our new home.

All the belongings were piled into the new garage, weeks were spent trying to untangle the pile, we have located new stores to fill our needs, and new Doctors and diversions have been found.  All in all it has been a very good year.  Our friends made sure we survived.  The next year will be another challenge, as will the  ones that follow.  We will muddle through them the best we can, knowing just how many are rooting for us. 

To everyone who said "Happy Birthday" to me today, and to all who have held our hands during this last year, THANKS!