Day +62 “As Time Goes By”

Another case of two steps forward, one step back. I was giddy over doing three laps last night… I was a little tired, but happy. The total mileage was a little over 1 ¼ miles. Also, I’ve been feeling good and looking forward to my doctor appointment tomorrow. So, today Becky and I went to PT (evaluation day)… she worked and I was evaluated. After that we stopped at the pharmacy and picked up a refill for one of the 22 or so drugs that I take. Then off to the BMT clinic for blood work… we were home by 11:00 AM.

Then the other shoe drops; the phone rang a 12:30… blood results were in and my white blood cells were critically low. It necessitated a change in meds, dropping one and restarting another AND, I had to go back to the hospital for a Neupagen shot. So, by the time we got back there, waited while they ran through patients during lunch hours (you can imagine how that was), we FINALLY got out of there by 2:30… UGH!

So the upside of the whole day was dinner. Sean came to relieve Becky (Ruth Ann had to be at school tomorrow and Becky couldn’t be out of the office four days in a row). Ruth Ann and I thought we and had another container of sauce and meatballs in the freezer, but when I thawed it, it was Bob Lombardo’s super-duper Putenesca sauce. What a treat! On Linguini… Heaven!

My cousin Rich, who lives in Eastham, on Cape Cod with his wife Judy, slipped me an e-mail today and brought back memories of another “Sunday Picnic” place… Rockwell Park in Bristol. It was a really nice place back then, and had a really nice picnic grove. But because it was a park in the middle of a city, the guys had to go at 6:00 AM to secure one of the huge, concrete picnic tables with benches. The guys would play setback until the rest of the family showed up. It’s a good thing they didn’t start drinking that early!!!

Day +60 "I Wished on a Moon"

So how stupid is this: Becky and I went out for a walk last night and I said I wanted to go a little farther than the night before. So we did the normal two and continued to the place where I got turned around the night before. I told Becky I wanted to go to the trash can up ahead. Becky, the runner, said ”Dad, that’s the halfway point, or really close.” I didn’t think so, and we turned around at the trash can and went back to the apartment. When Becky did the calculation, we found out I had done 1.19 Miles, or a smidge less than three laps (1.23 Miles)! What a dope! Next time I’ll listen to Becky.

Another thing that happened in the past few days is that I got a couple of interesting comments on the beach excursion episode. Bob, from Bonita Springs, commented that his extended family did the same thing, except on Monday’s. His Dad, his Dad’s friends, and just about all the barbers and tailors in Hartford had Mondays off (remember that!!). So they all went to Hamonassette on Mondays. Same array of food. Angela, late of Waterbury said her family did the same thing as up, but relayed that they had to leave for home at 3:30… bummer. BUT, they always stopped at a farm along the way and picked up some sweet corn. She did say that corn was the best. It’s sweet corn time in Florida now (and another harvest in November). Picked some up… can’t wait. Did I mention that growing up, Angela had the best collection of CURRENT 45’s of anyone I knew, except for maybe the family that lived next door on Granby Street. Rose, do you remember that!

The next comment I got was from Nancy in Old Saybrook. Nancy and I went to high school in Waterbury, way back when. She also being Italian had almost the same story, except she accused me of hogging the tables at the grove. Different grove… I knew Nancy then. One difference, her family would ALL go in the morning and had breakfast there with jelly donuts and fresh hard rolls with butter, the bread and pastries coming from either Ed’s Bakery or Stanley’s Bakery on Walnut Street. Oh, how I remember those bakeries. They cooked the macaroni at the grove… did the beach and (her comment) “after serious crisping and Noxzema” settled in for the nighttime barbeque.

Two cousins also piped in… Pinky, who lived next door, said she loved to come on those Sunday excursions. Leonora relayed much the same story as Nancy and me, except mentioned the Southington Rec… a place I had forgotten about until she mentioned it… and I lived in Southington to 22 years!

Day +58 "All Summer Long..."

I'm still basking in the glow of Friday's doc visit.  Wow, what a trip! I also want to thank all the folks who have commented and sent me emails of congratulations. I do apologize that I don't get to answer them right away, but I will answer all in time. By the way, thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts... they surely work.

Ruth Ann and I went on a road trip today... no, not too far away. First we went to JoAnn's (Ruth Ann needed some fabric), then Bed and Bath (Dark Raisinets) and to Petsmart for cat food. Then Total Wine for a few bottles of vino and then to an Italian deli that was recommended to us... what a disappointment! I guess I'm spoiled by Aventura's on America Street. This place was OK, but not as clean as I had expected. The deli part was less than impressive, with a limited selection of Italian deli meats. We bought some cheeses and some pasta. Finally we went to Publix to reload the larder. What a workout for me... I could think of nothing beyond my recliner and the golf match on TV.

When we got home I found another deli... big website, a "Cheese Room", and what looked like a very large selection of some really great stuff. Problem: its 30 miles away in St. Petersburg. Maybe I'll send somebody to get some stuff... I'm sure Becky will zero right in on the Cheese Room. I swear she's part mouse. No wonder she works for Disney!

On our trip I saw a sign for fireworks and the Fourth of July that was fast approaching. When the 4th comes up, I'll only have about a week and a half left here and I can go home... can't wait.

Day +56 "Beach Blanket Bingo"

Oh, what wonderful news I got today!!! I had blood work and a Dr. visit today, and I got the results of the bone marrow biopsy from a couple of weeks ago. The biggest news is that there is NO LYMPHOMA in my bone marrow, so we're beating it back. Also in the marrow, for one type of cell, 84% are my sister's, 16% mine and for another type of cell 95% are my sister's 5% are mine. So my sister's cells have taken over for the most part and are beating down this cancer. 

She was also pleased with my progress as far as my mobility and strength. I'm only using my cane now to go up and down steps and as a backup to my legs. I think that the other night when I could only do one lap, it was just that I was tired. I'm looking forward to doing a couple tonight.

The other day I was talking about family picnics and how different our food was. Well our Sunday trips to the beach were a real hoot, too. These trips were with my father’s side of the family. The day started out with a couple of the guys high tailing it to Milford to our favorite picnic grove, which was owned by a couple of families from Waterbury... about 8:00 AM!!! They would immediately start rearranging the grove by moving at least 4, sometimes more, picnic tables into position. We would be home, going to Mass and packing for the trip... phone calls from Bradley Ave. to Hill St., doing the coordination... who's bringing what. But everybody brought the main dish for Sunday Dinner... macaroni with meatballs, sausage, hunk of pork, hunk of beef and my father's favorite, pigskin seasoned like a braciola and simmered in the sauce.

When we got to the grove, the food was still hot and we all sat down immediately and wolfed it down. There was also the obligatory gallon of homemade wine contributed by each of the families... a lot of wine! While the women cleaned up and put everything away, the kids sat around, chomping at the bit, waiting for the necessary hour to pass so we wouldn't get the "cramps" and die in 6 inches of water. 

But I got to tell you about the makeup of this crew. This was the 50's and early 60's and there were still many people coming from "the Old Country", specifically from the town where my father was born, Pontelandolfo. There were always several folks who had either just come or had been here a few years and still didn't speak the kings English. The new kids were always a challenge, because they were our ages, but communicating was a bear. One year of school and they were right up there, tho'. So figure four to six (sometimes more) carloads of people most of whom spoke Italian... so they did. The men played cards (pinochle), drank a lot of wine and the women had to take the kids to the beach.


We would get back from the beach about 5, the women had to clean the kids and dress them in fresh clothes (because we had gotten the AM clothes dirty already). Meanwhile, the men were waking up from their wine induced coma, and starting to look for food... they had worked hard all afternoon. So out come the portable grills, the charcoal, the stuffed peppers (Pontelandolfo style), sausage and all kinds of food and you guessed it... MORE WINE. I sometimes wonder why I like wine so much... heck it's in my genes.

One last comment... it was in July 1961 on just one of these soirées that I met Ruth Ann... on a beach in Milford, 20 miles from home, and we only lived a 1/2 mile apart.

Day +54 "Rollin', Rollin'... Rollin' down the River"

I wish it was that easy... the rollin' down the river thing. This has not been a good couple of days. I haven't had my blood checked since Sunday, and won't have it checked again until Friday when I see my Doc. But I seem to be outta gas. Becky and I went for a walk last night and I could only do one lap. That truly bummed me out. I did OK at PT this morning... got through all of the exercises without a problem, but came home and slept until lunch, then slept after lunch for two hours. After all that sleep... Becky recons about 4 hours total... I forced myself into doing 2 laps tonight. Now I am really wrecked! Becky and I have a plan to stretch it out to 3, then 4 laps. 

I talked to Clark (hip replacement-Calif) last night and we boosted each other up. His recovery is up and down, like mine, only thing is, he'll be playing golf in about 2 months. I can't play until next spring! The mold in the dust, dirt, etc. is the problem. Anyone who has seen me play golf will attest to the fact that I spend a lot of time in sand traps and in the woods. But I do love the game. For that reason, I miss the condo we had in Sarasota. It was right on the Stoneybrook Golf Club and it was a wonderful, but challenging course. I met some really nice people there, but it was bleeding us. I figured it out, and it was costing a whole lot of money per round of golf... I could play Pebble every day for a month at that rate!!!

The other thing that I'm bummed about is that I can't be in my wood shop until next spring, too... one year from date of transplant. So many projects to do... all I can do is sit around with the tool catalogs and order new tools!