Eileen Loveman Daily Posting

January 6, 2008.   My first column of the new year is not the one I wanted to write, but I really didn’t have a choice.  A bad cold had me down for the count on New Years Eve, and I had to work New Years Day.  I sloshed my way through workdays for the rest of the week fortified by liquid cold medicine, cough drops and the ever present box of tissues.  A hacking cough and a glowing red nose were my constant companion, and the rumbling in my chest told me this was no ordinary head cold. 

Though not sick enough to require prescription drugs and no fever presented, I realized the best medicine was rest.  Friday night consisted of a quick stop at the local restaurant to fill myself with beautiful soup and hot tea with lemon.  Under the tender care of my husband and the ever watchful eyes of my canine children, I slept, napped, drank tea and watched t.v. til my hearts content and, until now, have not moved from my comforted oasis amongst the comforters.

It is Sunday and it is the first I’ve been at the computer, something virtually unheard of since I began writing five years ago.  Daily phone calls from my adult children were the only contact with the outside world, and the concern in their voices was enough to alert me to the fact they realized that this was indeed an unusual occurrence.

Lying in bed was a treat afforded me by my beloved, the one who has promised to take care of me and to be by my side for anything, himself not feeling all that great.  This time around, I believe it, for it wasn’t always so in the past.  In the past I was the caretaker of all and the one who made it work.  Such are the responsibilities of a mom, but one should not be the sole caretaker of a marriage.

It also got me thinking of what our lives will be like when we are elderly.  I am strong and healthy, and have no doubt that unless the Lord wants to take me earlier for his own reasons, I will live to be 100+.    It is the stubbornness and determination that was once thought as a character flaw that will determine my longevity, and has helped me get through this wonderful life to this point. 

I have no intention of slowing down or redirecting my path.   Am I taking an arrogant stance?  Perhaps.  But these are the things I think of while sitting at my computer on the morning of a January thaw in Western New York.   I know that if I am faced with a challenge, I will not be facing it alone.

Life is a gift and it is beautiful, and even more spectacular if shared.  I have no intention of missing another day of it.

Happy New Year and welcome 2008.

Bring it on.

I’m back.