Dear Reader:

Yesterday started off a little “iffy” but it changed into one of my best days yet since the first Mohs surgery for removal of squamous cell carcinomas… almost a month ago to the day.

Walsh wasn’t working and he said he wanted to take me to my appointment…it included leaving Mt. Pleasant to come to Summerville in early morning traffic, picking me up and returning to Mt. Pleasant for the comprehensive wound procedures that are done now twice a week. The forecast was for heavy rain and I worried that Walsh would get bogged down in traffic coming or returning ….but all my concerns were for no avail. Miraculously there was little traffic on the road.

It wasn’t raining when Walsh picked me up and we didn’t run into it until we started across the Cooper River Bridge…then it began pouring. I clicked this picture as we slowly climbed to the top of the bridge. I was hoping this wasn’t a bad sign for the day and it wasn’t…just a change in plans.

I never know when I will pick up a quote or saying or anecdote from a book I am reading or a movie I am watching. Sunday night one of the Hallmark movies contained a conversation in it that I had never considered…it dealt with the choices of the three wise men in the Christmas Story.

Most of us just know they saw a star and began following it…end of story. Yet…that is just part of the story. Before they saw the star they surely had other plans and places to go.

The event is recorded in Matthew 2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem.

The actual journey of these wise men could easily have taken a long time. It would appear from Matthew 2:7 that the star, which the wise men had seen, had appeared at the moment of Jesus’ birth. So the wise men  arrived after the birth.

If they saw the star at the moment of Jesus’ birth, then it would have taken at least a few months for the wise men to arrive…most theologians/historians put their arrival about two years later….unlike the shepherds who were actually there for the birth of Jesus.

The timing is relatively unimportant to the story….it is the wise men’s response to the star and their belief in the Christ Child that is central …they changed their plans, they changed their lives to worship the “new born king.”

What I am learning as I grow older is that none of our personal plans or predictions are cemented in life…they are always subject to change and it is  “wise men and women” who watch for and are open to these changes in life that alter their paths forever.

It was sunny inside the wound center…Walsh went back with me and soon we were all laughing and joking with the doctors and nurses…to the point that I even got through some scraping with little pain and a good report that the wound was looking healthier, and new tissue was filling in the gap. We just have to keep on keeping on and the foot will heal. What wonderful news!

There is no doubt it is your prayers that are healing this deep wound…since my white blood cell count still remains very low from my daily chemo regime…my little compromised immune system must be working overtime and I have your prayers to thank for this “miracle.”

I was feeling so good following the doctor visit that Walsh and I picked up Mollie and Eloise and we went to this delicious restaurant that serves truffle fries…the best thing you have ever put in your mouth. I ordered a sesame honey chicken sandwich and fries….happiness is…my appetite returned in full force.

*It is also nice to spend “alone” time with each of my adult children now and then to catch up on their lives, hopes, and dreams. Mothers always want to know their children are still following the star.

I didn’t mean to go all “Christmasey” on you today because today really was more about gratefulness and thanksgiving…but the discussion did remind me of one of my favorite Christmas poems… So if you will allow me a little lee-way in pushing the calendar a bit…I hope you like this poem as much as I do.

Kid Stuff

December, 1942

The wise guys
tell me
that Christmas
is Kid Stuff . . .
Maybe they’ve got
something there——
Two thousand years ago
three wise guys
chased a star
across a continent
to bring
frankincense and myrrh
to a Kid
born in a manger
with an idea in his head . . .
And as the bombs
crash
all over the world
today
the real wise guys
know
that we’ve all
got to go chasing stars
again
in the hope
that we can get back
some of that
Kid Stuff
born two thousand years ago—

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

So until tomorrow…Let’s all keep chasing stars while keeping ourselves open to life’s changes…because it is in these changes that some of our greatest moments will be remembered.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Honey sent this beautiful red maple photo taken at a golf course where Mike was playing  in Whittier North Carolina.

WOW!

Kaitlyn called me on her way home yesterday afternoon to ask about my doctor visit…and as we were talking she said she saw a rainbow. I walked out on the porch and didn’t see one….but a beautiful pink light infused the front yard….a wonderful ending to a wonderful day….I will sleep good tonight…relief and thankfulness…the best sleeping pills around.