Sunday Night

Hi to all - thought I would give you an up-date of what's been happening around here. Don't get excited - nothing spectacular. I think making it from day to day is a pretty big accomplishment. I didn't get to go to the town hall meeting. My dear friend, Jill, did and she was so very impressed. She said it did not really matter what your politics are, you can't help but be uplifted and encouraged by President Obama. He appeared to her to be genuine, gracious, and even if he makes mistakes (don't they all), he is dedicated to making it better for us.

I spent yesterday with Becca. We had a lovely time. I'm afraid I have created a monster. She fell in love with pedicures and she told me she intends to ask her mom to take her when she returns home. Sorry, Monica! She will be coming back here in April, and I already have plans for getting another for her and one for me. We also went shopping. Didn't buy anything but we had fun trying stuff on and laughing at the silly looking stuff. Trust me, there was a lot!

On March 22, here in Naples, there is an event sponsored by Avow Hospice. It is their 5th annual butterfly release. I will be taking part and will be asking that they include Mark in their memorial service. It seems to me to be a wonderful way to honor his memory and to share his story with the other attendees. I understand this may be a nation-wide hospice event. If you have a hospice in your area, I encourage you all to see if they will be doing something similar. If you can go, you can say a silent prayer for Mark and all the others whose lives are being remembered. I am having several of our friends go with me and we will use this as our own, private memorial. It is also a chance for all to sponsor hospice's wonderful works by making donations. I think there is even a ball the night before, as a fund raiser. I won't be attending that - my glass slippers are a little dirty.

I love you all and hope this finds you all doing well. I appreciate finding your little notes on here. Nothing new on the book front - I just checked with the software people and they still don't have the bugs worked out of the program yet. I'll keep you up-dated. In the meantime - NEVER GIVE UP!

Sunday Morning

Been a while since I've been here - to post, anyway. I still come by frequently to read some old posts, smile, tear up and leave with a warm feeling. I thought I'd up-date you guys on some developments around here. Mark would have been so excited. President Obama is coming to Fort Myers (about 1/2 hour away) on Tuesday to do a townhall meeting. I'm going to try really hard to go, but I don't know if I can get the time off. We had such high hopes for this administration and it was very important to Mark that he vote this year. We turned into political cable tv junkies and we watched non-stop pre-election coverage. The health care platform of Obama was very important to us. We rejoiced at his election, but fully understood that just getting elected wasn't going to be enough. I still have high hopes for meaningful healthcare reform. I would love to go to the meeting, as my own silent tribute to Mark and to show that I support the chance for change.

Have my beautiful granddaughter here for a visit. She and her dad are camping this weekend, but next weekend, she and I will be having a "day of beauty." I have a hair appointment booked, and then Becca and I will be going for pedicures and manicures. After that, perhaps a late lunch and a little shopping. We should have such a good time.

I hope this finds all of you well and surviving this brutal winter. We've had the coldest four weeks I can ever remember down here. It was below freezing twice (disaster for the local orange, tomato and strawberry farmers). My doggies were shivering! Not to mention me!

My love to all of you - stay warm, be safe and remember to NEVER GIVE UP!

Mark's Birthday

Today, January 21st, is Mark's birthday. Today, he would be 61. Man, he really hated getting older. I think he wore his "old hippie" days as his badge, and it made him feel really old when they talked about how long ago Woodstock was. But, the lucky devil had very little gray hair. When I would point that out, he would do the imaginary surfer-dude head wave and "swish" back his hair. He could always make me laugh.

I spoke last night with his mother. She is weathering this with quite a bit of grace. At the same time Mark was being taken to Hospice that last week, Mark's father was taken to the hospital and given a very small chance to survive more than a few days. His dad is 93. His mom is 83. Dad has rebounded, and is now resting comfortably in the hospital's on-site nursing facility. All of this has really been an ordeal for his mother. She has not been alone for the sixty years of her marriage. She is now all alone in her little house, snowed and iced in. But she is resilient and optimistic. She knows that his dad won't be coming home, but she's also thankful for the care he is receiving that she was no longer able to give him by herself.

She told me last night that today, Mark's birthday, she was not going allow herself to think of his being gone. She was going to celebrate the sixty years she had her son. That helped me today, because I too celebrated. I am grateful I had eight years with Mark. We had some tough times, but he made a determined effort to always make sure I laughed. He was a huge softie and "leaked" at the chick flicks we watched together, but denied it loudly if I pointed it out. He was a huge teddy bear. He'd be furious if he knew I was telling you this. He never wanted anyone to know that under his gruff exterior, there was gold and marshmallows. I am a lucky woman to have found and had the love of this man. I wanted to share my birthday memories with all of you.

The book idea will be slow going. The website I am using is experiencing some problems transferring the materials over, but they tell their users they are working on the problem and that a patch will be available soon to make the transition much easier. It is giving me time to work on scanning and adding some pictures so that when the book is made, it will have more and more memories. I'll keep you all posted! Good night all - My love to each of you!

Saturday Afternoon

I wanted to let all of you who still wander by that I have made plans for Mark's blog. With the help of a couple of computer-savvy people, I will be turning this blog and the subsquent comments into a book. Once I've got that accomplished, I am going to close down the blog. I want to remember each and every post and comment, and I want to honor all of you who came diligently during Mark's struggle. I don't know yet if I will start my own post. I suspect it would be theraputic, but I haven't made that decision yet. To each and every one of you, my thanks for all you have done during the nine months Mark blogged, and for the love and support you have shown me since his passing. The blog will be up for a little while longer. I'll let you know when I've accomplished the book and when I'll take down the blog. I remind all of you to visit the blogs of each other and to check once in a while on www.loriannbecker.com. You are all special people in my life.

Sunday Night

Hi all - I wanted to thank you all for stopping by. It does my heart good to see your messages of encouragement. I got the chance to go over to North Miami this weekend and I stayed the night with Mark's cousin and his wife. We had a wonderful relaxing day today. We visited the Viscaya Museum. The gardens are beautiful and the weather was perfect for a day outdoors. My condolences to all of you suffering with snow, ice, wind and freezing temperatures. It was 82 today and magnificent. I am holding up well, and the chance to go over there and be with Mark's family was great. My love to you all . . . R

Tuesday Night

Tonight I got the pleasure and priviledge of honoring one of Mark's last wishes. When December came around, he and I discussed how much we could afford to set aside for Christmas gifts and who would be on our very short list for gifts. He got a very sweet look and asked, if it were at all possible, we could include the three ladies from Hospice who gave him so much tender, loving care. I told him we would make sure we did. I was able tonight to write each of them a heartfelt thank you and to send along a little something he had decided would be appropriate. He wanted to get each a card for a tank of gas. He said that would let them know he loved them, and would let them keep going out to the homes of the people who suffered as he suffered, to minister to them with the love they had given him. He was a special person, and though one of his favorite things to say was "I know nobody loves me," he was so very wrong. To Marie, Josie and Lori, I can't thank you enough. You are the angels everybody says that walk among us.

Sunday Afternoon

I didn't realize this would be so hard - the clothes have gone to a good home. I was very emotional, watching them go down the driveway. I know I did the right thing, but it really hurts.
Thanks for the kind words about my decision. I value all your support.