[Magdalen] another phase

[Jon Egger]

Since I've gotten ill, I've gotten great comfort in the oddest place: the
prose and poetry of Charles Bukowski.  He can be brutal and ugly, but his
words keep me going.  A few:

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death
will tremble to take us."
"What matters most is how we walk through the fire."

This quote from James Baldwin means a lot to me now, too:

"For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed;
the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does
not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we
are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The
sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling
to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the
light goes out."



+++
Grace & peace,
jon


On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 10:38 AM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Prayers with you and Dawn as you go down this path.  Confronting one's own
> mortality is one of the hardest things we can do.
>
> Eleanor
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 9:47 PM, Jon Egger <revegger at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Listmates,
> > Yesterday a mutual friend of ours, Deacon Beck Schubert, one of our
> senior
> > deacons, stopped by to see us.   What happened when she visited was a
> small
> > surprise, but one that Dawn and I had talked about.  Beck works for Grace
> > Hospice as a chaplain:  http://gracehospicellc.com/
> >
> > After much talk and tears I agreed to hospice.  Beck assured me that
> she's
> > had hospice patients for nearly four years...and please know, I don't
> think
> > I'm anywhere near death.  The Nurse Practitioner visits us tomorrow for a
> > medical intake and to get the ball rolling on their services.  This was a
> > huge relief for Dawn, and now ornery me is accepting it as well.
> <grumble
> > grumble>
> >
> > My main issues are mobility.  I use a cane because I get very dizzy
> > sometimes when walking and have fallen a lot.  Their on-call people would
> > come to help Dawn when I fall...but when I have fallen I always get up.
> >
> > Beck had a 'come to Jesus" meeting with me about how difficult it is for
> > helpers to ask for help.  Of course, she was right.
> >
> > I'll have more to report after the intake tomorrow.
> > +++
> > Grace & peace,
> > jon
> >
>