Empty Nesters

I cannot believe I am the only person happy to be an empty nester. I love my kids. I loved watching them grow up. I loved being around them and their friends and watching them become their own people, whether that included me or not. I'm just so proud of them both and happy that they appear to be on a path that will lead them to their goals and happiness.

Yes, I am realistic that shit will happen in their lives that no one will be happy about. Good experiences will be on that path as well, I expect, but at the end....I believe there will be no criminal activity in their future.

As a parent, can you/we not say that that is the minimum we would hope for??

....ok..when my kids pick their “career” I think the reward of their personal and professional experience is more important than the big celebrity/business powerhouse/public servant making a difference.

Of course I would hope also that there might be financial reward supporting a middle to upper class lifestyle.  

Monday Musings

I posted this “private message” on my Facebook status, on Facebook pages for the six AN groups I am proud to be part of. I'm also posting it on the Acoustic Neuroma Association Member Forum. And on my blog. Because some of you have been with me since the beginning, and some of you I have only met since starting on this journey.


I figure if you are reading this, then you are like me, a little voyeuristic (God I love spell-check.)


Through the ANA Forum, my CarePages, and the many Facebook Groups I have connected with since my diagnosis, I have been supported, and I hope, supportive.


I promised I would keep in touch with you. So, first of all, I want you, yes you, to know, that if you even considered coming to my book reading this week, I so appreciate you. Even if you didn't, just by reading this right now means you are still with me on this journey, and I appreciate you. If you don't know what I'm talking about and want to know, ask me.


And when (and if) I look out into that sea of 10-20 faces (?) and I don't see you, I know you'll be with me. And if there are faces in that sea that I don't recognize, I'll know they are there because your support and encouragement throughout brought me to this place.



Love.

Next?

A Whole New Normal.

Now what?

Ok, so the book is out*, blah blah blah, share the story, blah blah blah, thank you for your support, blah blah, blah. So what's next? I have two choices...I can stay where I am, stalking all of the AN websites and facebook pages looking for the next freshman to the class.

There's another choice....there has to be.

I am boring myself, (and creeping myself out with all the stalking) so I can't imagine what you are still doing here.

I don't know about you, but I missed you!! I need my public confessional, how many times during my journey did I quit drinking? Start eating better? And you never gave up on me.

You are the best.....

So, here's my commitment to you. I have given this a lot of thought.

I won't give up on you either. I'm going to set a better example....if you have seen me in the past few years, you know I've sort of let myself go. I have great excuses. Again with the Blah, blah blah.

Done with the excuses. I'm getting back to work. Better eating, less drinking, more moving.

Today I'm going to start to focus on balance. Mine has been better. I hear about balance issues everywhere, lots of us are falling down these days, and not just my AN brothers and sisters.

Friends, family and strangers are having the same discussion! Today on one of the websites I stalk regularly, someone was wondering if walking could really help with balance.

Here's what I think.

Everyone is different....Walking could not possibly make your balance issues worse, (or could it?)....so imagine if you did not walk? There are lots of our brain chemicals we could not possibly know about that are in our bodies. Getting balance exercise in whatever form (walking, bikings, yoga, pilates, skiing, surfing) is going to maintain, if not improve, our balance.

I don't know how old the person asking the question is, or if the questioner is male or female..I can't tell by the name. (And as for the profile shot, still not conclusive, or that would mean half of my facebook friends are cats and mountains.)

Here's what I know. I'm a 55 year old female acoustic-neuroma-suvivor who loses my balance and almost falls down at least once a week. But, so do other women my age who have not been diagnosed with a tumor!. So for you women who are still concerned about getting dizzy and falling because you had or have a brain tumor, you can't use that as an excuse anymore. I'm calling you out. I'm calling me out. So everyone, get up off your computer, get outside, or go to a gym, or move over the couch in your living room, and join me on another journey. Oh, and for you young, middle-aged and older men, Welcome to our world of light headed-ness, headaches, and insomnia!!

*Now available for sale through Village Books : http://www.villagebooks.com/book/9780615852133

And via Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615852130