Mom's cousin Lenna: a side trip

in #life5 years ago


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I'm sad that my mom's real-life cousin has gone blind,

sad that I can't show her these photos. Miss Norma is a woman after her own heart. And mine. Coincidentally, Mom's cousin Lois also owned a big white poodle, and her favorite place in the world is the Grand Canyon.


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90-year-old woman declined chemo, started to travel with her dog instead


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Chemo at age 90? Screw that!

Just days after her husband’s passing, she was diagnosed with cancer.

... Norma decided she doesn’t want to see the inside of any more hospitals, but to see the world, instead.

And so she did. The 90-year-old woman decided to hit the road with her son, daughter-in-law, and their Poodle, Ringo, in their RV.” I’m having the time of my life! I’m done with doctors,” she said.

The woman’s positivity; her energetic spirit and enthusiasm have surprised even her doctor. The Facebook page, Driving Miss Norma, recounts a conversation between them:

We explained to the well-meaning doctor and his student that we live in an RV and that we will be taking her wherever she wants to go. He didn’t hesitate to say, “RIGHT ON!” We asked if he thought us irresponsible for this approach. His reply was telling.

“As doctors,” he said, “we see what treatment looks like everyday. ICU, nursing homes, awful side effects and honestly, there is no guarantee she will survive the initial surgery to remove the mass. You are doing exactly what I would want to do in this situation. Have a fantastic trip!”

I'm with them!

I'd refuse chemo, too. Why feel so miserably sick for weeks and weeks in the final stages of your life, if the prognosis isn't that good, and you're already age 90?

This story reminded me of something I wrote in Part 15 of the Lenna story:

Lenna, in her crazy youth, used to ride her little Indian motorcycle with her beloved ginger tom, Marlin. The one who vanished at around age 18 or 20. Forty years later his mummified body was found in a corner under a pile of boards, and Lenna was never quite the same again.


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Yes. I should write Part 17.

Soon.
Maybe today.
But the grandkids are coming for a four-day weekend with us, and I don't even know how I'll squeeze in those Friday Favorites tomorrow. Might look like a quick and dirty job. Oh well!

Cheers!


Part One: She Came in through the Kitchen Window - Day 577: 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday - Prompt: window

Part Two: "You Little Tart" - Day 585: 5 Minute Freewrite: Tuesday - Prompt: tart

Part Three: Day 588: 5 Minute Freewrite: Friday - Prompt: rodeo
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-588-5-minute-freewrite-friday-prompt-rodeo

Part Four: Mom's Cousin Lenna the Tart - Part 3 or 4 -Day 591: 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday - Prompt: Rule

Part Five: Mom's Cousin Lenna the Lunatic

Part Six: Mom's Cousin Lenna, Part Six-ish - Day 595: 5 Minute Freewrite: Friday - Prompt: trot

Part Seven: Batter My Heart - Mom's Cousin Lenna, Part 7 - Day 598 :5 Minute Freewrite: Monday - Prompt: Batter

Part Eight: Mom's cousin Lenna + Rory, Part 8, Day 599: 5 Minute Freewrite: Tuesday - Prompt: yoga

Part Nine: Mom's Cousin Lenna, Part 9 - Day 602: 5 Minute Freewrite: Prompt: show me the way home

Part Ten: Mom's Cousin Lenna - Day 605: 5 Minute Freewrite: Prompt: moving to the city

Part Eleven: Mom's Cousin Lenna - Day 606: 5 Minute Freewrite Prompt: nap

Part Twelve: Mom's Cousin Lenna - Day 607: Prompt: Hippo

Part Thirteen: Mom's Cousin Lenna- Day 620 - Freewrite Prompt: Metal Butterfly

Part Fourteen: Mom's Cousin Lenna, Day 621: 5 Minute Freewrite: Wednesday - Prompt: stone rose

Part Fifteen: Mom's Cousin Lenna, Day 622: 5 Minute Freewrite: Thursday - Prompt: wet carpet

Part Sixteen: Mom's Cousin Lenna, Day 637: 5 Minute Freewrite: Prompt: hill of prairie dogs

Check Out The @FreeWriteHouse Prompt Of The Day By @MarianneWest

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I wish she could see them too!
Love Driving Miss Norma on FB. Followed the page. How nice to have such lovely news on FB, where usually all I do is argue. That's why I don't follow any of my steemian friends there - preserving my "sweet" image on steem. I get blocked a lot on FB, and do my own share of blocking, both because I won't tolerate insults.
Good luck with friday favorites! I missed faves again this week, and I was so organized about it this time, bookmarks and all. erg.

You're not too late to nominate a favorite, even if I already posted the list.
I can *edit!
Thanks for reading, and you are wise to keep your social media accounts separate. I should do that. With fake names for every account!

Oh dear now I've made you more work, just before you have a very full house and life.

Yeah it's my alter ego on FB. I make enemies. Problem is, they are people I actually run into at restaurants and exhibits. The stridently-convinced me seeps in only now and then in an impassioned essay about war and peace here on steem. I really should have done that the other way around, but who knew when FB first started? We got immediately corralled into believing one way and one way only, and I can no longer speak my mind without getting attacked.

Here only a few like-minded people notice, more like things used to be.

Enjoy the four day weekend. I look forward to your stories about it.

I hear you.
Free speech seems to have ended.
Politics and religion have always been topics to avoid, but lately.... wow.
The grandkids are here... I'll be back later. :) And fear not, you didn't cause me work!

Love them up! I know you will.

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