[Magdalen] 2014

[Joseph Cirou]

God grant you many BLESSED years na mnohaja I blahaja lita!

Such a beautiful summary

Joe

On Thu, Jan 1, 2015 at 12:34 AM, Georgia DuBose <gdubose at gmail.com> wrote:

> God bless both of you, Jim.
>
> Georgia+
>
> On Wed, Dec 31, 2014 at 8:14 PM, James Handsfield
> <jhandsfield at icloud.com> wrote:
> > As we bid farewell to 2014, I have a few observations of the year.
> >
> > I’m grateful that Marcy is still with me.  Dealing with her illness has
> been trying, but as I look back there have been some wonderful moments as
> well.
> >
> > 1. We had a wonderful trip to Key West in March.  We took two days to
> drive down and back, stopping in Orlando both times.  Key West is a
> community that is delightful - street performers in Mallory Square,
> President Truman’s Little White House, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.
> Interesting restaurants.  One of the interesting things is it seems that
> most hospitality establishments seem to have become an industry home for
> Russian immigrants.  They did a wonderful job.
> >
> > 2. We started having home care aids come in.  In a way, that’s something
> neither Marcy nor I wants, but they are here to help me (and in many ways
> keep me sane).  We’ve been through several, but it looks like we’ve finally
> found some that like us and we like them, so we hope that will make for a
> better 2015.
> >
> > 3. In September I took a respite trip to Hawaii as a guest of my
> brother, Hunter Handsfield and sister-in-law Patricia McInturff.  It was a
> good trip for me (but not really long enough).  I was able to gain some
> perspective and make some decisions. That part worked well.  OTOH, it was
> not a good time for Marcy and our first home care aid.  Marcy’s sister
> turned out to not have the self confidence to do what I know she could have
> done, so Marcy ended up most nights starting sleep in bed, but when she had
> to get up to use the bathroom, she’d spend the rest of the night in her
> lift chair.  Granted her lift chair is very comfortable (I have an
> identical one and have slept in it several times), but it was disappointing.
> >
> > 4. We started out the year thinking Marcy might not survive the year
> because of her respiratory capacity.  It turned out to not be the case,
> TBTG.  That doesn’t mean there haven’t been issues.  Over all, Marcy is
> weaker almost day by day, and needs assistance with most of her daily
> routine.  She takes all of her medications and most of her hydration
> through a G-tube.  But a couple months ago, she agreed to see a
> psychiatrist who diagnosed her with depression disorder and offered her a
> prescription for Prozac.  A few days later, Marcy accepted it, and the
> difference has been night and day.  Where before she was getting upset over
> little things, now she still gets upset but only when it’s appropriate.
> Her personality is more like she was when I fell in love with her -
> playful, caring, and a little more self sacrificing (going back to bed so I
> can have some alone time at breakfast, for example).
> >
> > 5. A couple weeks ago, we had an inaugural appointment/meeting with the
> Palliative Care team at Kaiser Permanente Georgia.  It was a good session
> with a physician, an RN, an LCSW, and a chaplain.  A pharmacist is also a
> member of the team, but that person wasn’t present.  This is also the team
> that will oversee hospice care when the time comes.
> >
> > 6. Finally (for this email), is Matthew.  He graduated Cum Laude from
> Tulane University in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political
> Science and a minor in History.  He immediately went to work (actually
> being paid!) for the Louisiana Democratic Party as the volunteer
> coordinator for Sen. Mary Landrieu’s reelection campaign.  She was not
> expected to carry Jefferson Parish where Matthew was assigned, but ended up
> gaining the plurality there, largely thanks to Matthew, and recognized by
> the state Democratic Party.  When Sen. Landrieu lost her bid for
> reelection, he was released.  He then successfully landed a short term job
> (with a significant pay increase) with Brass Tactics, a progressive
> political consulting company in DC.  He’s assisting people who are
> interested to sign up for ACA coverage during the open season in the Kansas
> City metro area (both MO and KS).
> >
> > It’s been an interesting year.  Let’s see what 2015 brings.  We’re
> celebrating Marcy’s 60th birthday with a dinner party at the Capital Grille
> in Dunwoody on her birthday.  There’s a good chance this birthday will be
> her last, so we’re doing it up big for both reasons.
> >
> > Happy New Year, everyone.
> >
> > “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the
> world.” — Nelson Mandela
> >
> > Jim Handsfield
> > jhandsfield at att.net
> >
> >
> >
> >
>