Just Before Thanksgiving

The Holidays are upon us!  How grateful we are to be here and to look forward to welcoming family on Thanksgiving day!  Our family is large, and there are other families involved, so we will not have all of our children and grandchildren here.  Today, Lee and I put two leafs in the dining room table and it is now ready to seat fourteen.  I know for sure that there will be twelve of us seated at that table, and there is a possibility that as many as five more will show, bringing the total to seventeen!  We can, as we have done many times spill over into another area, or close the space tighter and add more chairs! 

There was once a time when having seventeen or more would always involve three tables.  One in the dining area, one in the breakfast area, and one in the sunroom.  This year I was thinking that would be the seating again, until grandaughter, Lillie, visited me a week ago.  She asked if I would be seating everyone at a long table this year like I do on Christmas Eve.  I realized that she had outgrown the "kids Korner" seating, and was in a casual way letting me know how much she enjoyed being seated with the entire group.

It has been the custom in our family (begun by daughter, Julia) to review the true story of the pilgrams in the 1600's.  Julia will remind Greg to read the descriptions of the harsh winter, the starvation that followed and the many hardships our forefathers endured.  We will try once again to grasp how difficult it must have been, even though it is hard to understand in view of our own wealth of comfortable housing, abundant food and the life we have in this modern digital age.  We do need to remember that we have these things because our forefathers and their families were courageous enough to come to a new land where they could be free.  Lee will lead in the grateful blessing, and we will include a silent thankfullness from our hearts for him as we listen to his prayer.

So, this Thanksgiving, thanks to Lillie, we will all be at the same table.  That is a good thing too.  We will enjoy the food that has been prepared and served by all participating. Everyone will be able to contribute in some way as we gather around the long table. Someone always has an announcement to make or a memory to commemorate.  We will remember those whose absence will remind us of another time when our table was filled with their family.  We will eat too much turkey, sweet potato koogle, vegetables, cranberry salad, and of course will top it off with either apple pie, pecan pie, or pumpkin pie.  By the end of the meal we will all be miserable!  The teens will go to the downstairs to play a game of pool or weather permitting, will enjoy being outside. Greg, Cathy and Julia will take their usual afternoon stroll around the drive, and the rest of us will suffer from our vantage point of the recliner, sofa or too comfortable chair.  The guys will tune in to the football game, and as soon as we can, Donna, Julia, Cathy and I will tackle the mountain of dishes, etc....

Until next blog..................Happy Thanksgiving and Blessings to you all..............

More Later...........................Brenda...

 

Master of Ceremonies

Looking back over this blog and the newest picture of Lee, I realize that I should explain the circumstances surrounding that fine looking gentleman in the photo.

This picture was made on Saturday evening, September 15 at son Greg's 50th birthday bash!  You may have seen the pictures on my facebook and also on daughter Julia Knight's facebook page.  Greg's super wife, Cathy surprised him with a "Club 50" party in his honor at the community house in Morganton.  The community house had been decorated to look like a New York nightclub in the 1950's.  The decor was in black and white with red accents.  Pictures of Greg in a tux had been framed and were hanging on the walls. The tables were skirted with long white tablecloths and the centerpieces were long-stemmed red roses.  Pictures of Greg at various stages of his life filled each table.  Our teen-age children functioned as waiters and Lillie, age 14 was resplendent in her short tux attire with red bowtie and top hat!

Following a catered meal, we were entertained by music from Grandaughter, Michaela, 16 as she sang and accompanied herself with her guitar with  music from the 1950's.  Lee was selected to introduce a special guest from the past, Marilyn Monroe, alias, Cathy's sister, Linda.  She made her grand entrance in her slinky, fitted gown, fur stole, lovely blond wig and long cigarette holder as she stopped at each table to embrace friends. Her rendition of "Happy Birthday" Mr. Gregory was sexy and reminescent of long ago when Marilyn sang to then President John F Kennedy!

So now you know........Lee was part of this memorable party, and in addition to introducing "Marilyn", he enjoyed throwing a few over-the-hill jokes Greg's way.  All this from our amazing Lee, who two and one-half years ago could not walk more than twenty feet without oxygen.  Truly, a miracle man!


More Later....................................Brenda

THE MEASURING TOOL

It sits in the corner of the room, an unassuming and odd piece of equipment. I suppose at another time I would see it as something to be removed from the room and placed in its proper storage. Today, however, I see this little piece of metal with one wheel as a symbol of hope and encouragement.

It is a simple tool, consisting of one adjustable handle that is connected to one small wheel. Located adjacent to that wheel is a small red box. A closer examination of the box reveals a small window with three separate areas. Inside the windows are numbers. This is a portable measuring device. As I gaze at this little tool that is directly in my line of vision, I am moved to tears. How can this be? It is only a tool, not alive, just sitting there propped in the corner. This tool, you will see, holds a story.

In March, 2010, Lee came home by ambulance from Duke University Hospital. He was given no hope of a lung transplant because he was too weak and debilitated. He had been sent home to die. That is what the doctors at Duke decided. Lee Kanipe did not accept that. He was determined that he would come home to walk again and then return to Duke for his lung. At that time, he could only walk 10 feet with a walker and lots of oxygen.

Thus began a journey of wills. Lee was willfully determined to walk, and I was willfully determined that he would progress with his number of feet. This little measuring tool was brought into the house from its storage place in Lee’s shop behind the house. It quickly became a visible beacon of hope to determine how close Lee could get to the 1000 feet he would have to walk to be accepted by Duke. I measured the distance from his bed to the hallway. This was the first challenge: 12 feet to the hallway, and 12 feet back again to the bed equaled 24 feet….it was a beginning. Each accomplishment ended with a new challenge: If he could walk 24 feet, he could walk 44 feet. If he could walk 44 feet, he could walk 88 feet. Each accomplishment was met with the challenge to double the walk by the end of 3 –five days. Measurements were taken with the tool, and we were able to determine exact measurements of feet to add.

It wasn’t long until the little measuring tool was used to determine how many feet it took to walk from the bedroom, through the hallway, through the living room, the kitchen, the den and back through the hallway before returning to a resting area. Within six weeks, we knew that the measured distance in the house with several turns round and round would be equivalent to 300 feet. Jubilation! At the end of each day, the measuring tool resided in the corner of the Den where it is today as I write. That little corner became known as “where the measuring device is” by the Home Health nurses, the physical therapists, the many neighbors, family members, and friends who came by to help Lee on his many daily walks.

When the weather became warmer, I measured the distance from the back door, along the driveway to his shop at the back of the house. 200 feet there and 200 feet back again. He was ready! When he could walk 800 feet as measured by this handy little tool, we were told to return to Duke to prepare for the lung transplant! You know the rest of the story………………Success!

So now you understand why I have a connection to this little tool…..a simple measuring device. It is so much more! This little tool became our hope and guide by helping us set goals. Those goals of exact footage gave us the courage to go a few steps further, to believe that the goal could be reached, and that life could return to Lee if he could just walk the number of feet that would put him on the road to recovery.

Slowly, I walked across the room and picked up the measuring tool. I carefully lowered the handle to the shortest position. I rolled the wheel and gazed lovingly into the little red box with the numbers in the windows. I couldn’t help but feel gratitude all the while knowing that it was just a little measuring tool. It has not been returned to the shop at the back of the house. This little tool deserves a special place in our home, so I placed it in the closet, grateful for the hope it inspired and contented that it now resides in its special storage corner of the hall closet.

More Later..............................Brenda

Newsy November

Wow!  Where did October go?  Seems the months enter briefly and whoosh, gone!  This time travel at warp speed is becoming a bit overwhelming!  I suppose one of the biggest surprises post- retirement is the realization that we spent so much time during our career, working years looking forward to all the time we would have in retirement.  Not so!  We continue to use every minute of the twenty-four hours alloted to us each day.  Now we have departed October (which to us still seemed to continue to remind us of days still in late August!)  Of course, you know what November has been already.....Nor Easter, Polls, Election, and we have only begun.  We are fast approaching the Holidays........Whew!

In  the Kanipe family, we are anxiously awaiting the birth of another great, grandchild.  Oldest Kanipe grandson, Jeffrey & wife Pricilla are preparing for the birth of their first child on November 13.  Lee and I watched as the moon became fuller and finally waned with no word.  I suppose the old saying " when the apple is ripe, it will fall from the tree", holds true for birthing of babies!  Along with that, in the Knight family, grandson, Daniel has announced his engagement to Stephanie.  Not sure when the wedding will be, but the next year holds the promise of a marriage.  Also, on the Herman side, nephew, Stephen and Lauren have announced their engagement and plans for a wedding in the year 2013!

Son Greg Knight, and his son, Daniel (recently engaged) will be completing their posts-graduate degree with Master's in Computer Engineering Softerware Technology from ECU in December.  Our congratulations to both and good wishes toward completing their thesis on time.  Donna Kanipe, Todd's wife, will be completing her second year in post-graduate toward Master's in Psychology.  Wow!  All our "middle-agers" are pushing forward!

My sister and her husband, ages 81 & 82, are finally getting back to a more normal life, since he had a total knee replacement on October 17.  He is now in outpatient rehab, doing great, and I hope she is finally able to get some much-needed rest and sleep.  She is a retired nurse, so he has been fortunate to have the great care she provided.  My concern now is for her! Hopefully she will get her routine back to normal again.

Lee and I have desperately been trying to find time to return to the beach with some of our close friends.  We have canceled once and now that both of us are battling this cold, therefore, we are not sure we can go anywhere before the first of the year.  Lee has had little resistance to this, and it now appears to be moving into his chest.  We are in touch with Duke and will keep a close watch to make sure he does not get a complication.  Both of us know that being pro-active is the key to his successful recovery from a simple cold.

So many things to do since November is here, that I have to make myself slow down to keep from being  overwhelmed!  I know all of you are experiencing the same.....Food preparation, entertaining, enjoying family......then shopping for Christmas................decorating....Food.....entertaining....family......cleaning...cooking....baking.......

I must sit and rest a while........................

More Later...........................................Brenda