Comes the Dawn

Tonight one of my husbands friends lay dying.

Just last Saturday, he felt short of breath, and people convinced him to go to the E.R. He has very good insurance, so going in wasn't an issue. While there, the E.R scanned his lungs when they couldn't figure out what his problem could be -they thought they saw something and told him he should see his family Dr. the next day. or on Monday.

On Monday, he felt worse. He still was having a bit of trouble catching his breath, and his side hurt. He had more X-rays, and then he heard the news. He had lung cancer. He not only had lung cancer though, it had migrated and spread to his liver and kidneys.

My husbands friend had a death sentence on Monday, and he 'disappeared' from sight- he didn't go have a drink after work as he wasn't going to work. He was on painkillers, he was dying , and he wanted to be left alone. There was nothing modern medicine could do as the cancer was quickly spreading from organ to organ.

It has been exactly one week, my husbands friend hasn't been in touch with anyone and tonight he was admitted to the ER once again. His kidneys are failing he is shutting down. His wishes are he have no visitors except his family, no friends as he doesn't want them to see him 'this way'.

My husband is frantic. He called the likely hospital - and was told no visitors. My husband isn't in control and went to the bar with other friends to remember and think. He is hurt his friend doesn't want to see him, that he can't tell him how much he liked his company and enjoyed their time together.

His friend wasn't the 'likely' suspect to be taken over first by lung cancer and have it spread so quickly- he is 54, doesn't smoke, is a light drinker, is trim and looked to be in good health.

Tomorrow, come the dawn, I think my husband will lose a friend, I hope he is able to remember him with a smile.

Surprise, I like Blogging!

Maybe it is the outlet, perhaps it is the freedom to write almost anything I feel, but in any case, blogging is pretty alright !

At some point I hope to do reviews... and I want them to be geared to women not so much who would fall into a "Mommy Blogger" category- but something for those of us with grandchildren, gardens, crafting inclinations . I would also like to do reviews for things men -goodness knows after 25 years of being married, I might not understand them more but can certainly give an opinion.

As the wife of a carpenter, and one who has co-owned for over 25 years, reviewing building materials, software, or things related would also come naturally.

I also have done cat rescue for many years and am well versed in TNR and animal advocacy. I also volunteer my time at the local food bank and can certainly give a voice to people in need.

All in all, I think age gives you wisdom, and I hope to share my opinions someday!

Memory is a Funny Thing

Today August 10th is one my best friend's birthday from grade school. I remember her birthday, but, couldn't tell you what her married name is now, or how many kids she has. Every August 10th I think of her though.

I still recall another best friends phone number, she has long since moved away from there, yet it is stored away in my head.

I often wonder why it is you can recall older things and yet can't remember what you had for dinner yesterday.

Maybe it is age............

More about Tannawings -or the name anyway!

    Some folks out there have inquired about my screenname tannawings. Most mispronounce it saying 'tan' like tanning ! The right way is actually a rhyming with the name DONNA  except with a "T" instead of a "D" of course.  So , it it is pronounced 'ton-na-wings' rather than tan-na-wings.

   The name comes from a siamese cat who owned me. His name was Tan'na. He is who inspired me to go into cat rescue. He was my faithful companion for 17 wonderful years. I still think of him and miss him dearly although there are many cats in my life now.

  Even my avatar of the siamese with a halo is in his honor. A friend made that for me close to five years ago, and I still use it everywhere. If you see tannawings, it is always me... after I reup my photobucket account there will be pics of some of the great animal who have left pawprints on my heart.

Yes, I am a 'contester' !

  Betcha wanna know why I would feel compelled to blog right? It was to enter a contest! Now, it's not what you're thinking for  extra entries, it was the only way to enter. So world, here I am.

  While I am here, might as well tell a bit how I got into this whole contesting thing.... I volunteer at a food give away center through the week, and  it is also the main distribution for Christmas giveaways. Always kept entering into sweepstakes through various sites and would win here and there- not alot but around September I won a Corelle doll. I don't have children (young) and about that time, people were already planning the Christmas season (yes that early) The doll was put away, and  I decided I would start concentrating on toys and kid things to see if I could possibly help out.

 When everything was said and done, I ended up donating some wonderful things to the kids. Things that were 'just out' , things to make some child's eyes shine. Dolls, skateboards, trucks, things for Mom and for Dad. Through the bloggers and Twitter contests, alot of people were made very happy -including me. It was nice to be able to do something like that as normally it wouldn't be anything we could ever afford!

  Today, I continue to enter both blog and twitter contests. I have ended up with things our budget wouldn't allow. Each and every win, I have been grateful for. My 'favorite' win of my own I guess was one of my first wins- a simple box of nectarines in the winter!  And I love winning things for the cats (maybe more on them later) and our dog Odin. I have ended up with fun and crazy things, and throughout the year, boxes are also filled for the upcoming Christmas season.

   So thank you to all the bloggers out there who run giveaways, and all the businesses on twitter who are promoting. Your generosity reaches further than you think!