There is a lot of change heading my way, most of it in the next few weeks. I close on my house next Friday. NEXT FRIDAY - which means I've got to get on the ball, get organized and start packing!! I'm really excited about the new house - painting, floors, decorating, fixing everything up the way I want it. Its gonna be a lot of fun. It also makes me want to throw up a little...
A few weeks later my sister will have had the baby.I'm pretty excited about meeting my niece!! Aunt Cookie! When Lizzy gets here there are gonna be a lot of trips to Roanoke in my future.
"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
...story of my life!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
One of my favorite memories
Have you ever seen the movie Heartbreak Ridge? If you haven't you should watch it sometime. It stars Clint Eastwood as a Marine gunnery sergeant who gets stuck whippin this platoon of spoiled boys into shape. Clint had sooo many good movies (Any Which Way You Can, 2 Mules for Sister Sara, Dirty Harry, Hang Em' High, Pink Cadillac, Bronco Billy, In the Line of Fire the list goes on and on). Heartbreak Ridge is my favorite Eastwood movie and i'll tell you why....
When I was in elementary school, I had to have been 6 or 7 years old, I felt sick at school and the school nurse called my mom to come pick me up. Susan happened to be home from the hospital (I don't remember if she was in remission or if they had just let her come back home for a little while) and since I didn't have anything contagious that would hurt her my mom dropped me off with her and went back to work. Already I was feeling better! Since there were 5 kids between my mom and aunt we didn't get a lot of one-on-one time with Suz when she was home, so needless to say I was excited to be home from school and spending some time with her. After my mom left we were sitting in her bedroom floor watching Clint Eastwood movies. Susan was a huge and I mean HUGE Clint fan. I think she had every movie he ever made and had probably watched them all a dozen times. Anyhew, whatever we were watching ended and she put in Heartbreak Ridge. Needless to say, I hadn't watched it before, its not exactly a child friendly movie. I guess she thought I was young enough not to really pay attention to the stuff I shouldn't be hearing. Boy was she wrong!! Later that evening I walked to the market to see my mom and I let out a mouthful! I don't remember what I said (knowing me it was probably the cadence or something equally as catchy) but I do remember getting in trouble for it!
Its a bittersweet memory, but something I'll never forget. Every time I watch Heartbreak Ridge (or any of his other movies) I cant help but remember Susan and how much she loved Clint Eastwood. She eventually got to meet him through the Make A Wish Foundation through Brenner Children's Hospital. A white stretch limo came to the house and picked up Susan, Stacey, Samantha, Julie, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Gary (years later I asked why I couldn't go since everybody else got to. Mom said I was invited but she was afraid I'd get homesick since Mom wasn't going and they would have had to head home early...which was probably true). They were put up in a nice hotel in Washington, D.C. and taken to meet Clint (she also got to meet Barbara Walters who happened to be there interviewing him) and watch him film part of In the Line of Fire. He was really nice to everybody and took the time to visit with her and the rest of the family and sign me an autograph :) There are lots of photos and a video too (I guess Make a Wish sent someone to do all that stuff). If you know my family at all, you know we are a weird group so of course we sent a box of fruit and a B&B hat that there's also a pic of him wearing!
I guess we were too young and innocent to realize that they don't give Make a Wish trips to kids that are gonna be OK, it never crossed my mind that she wouldnt be. Other than losing her hair (she would always wear her favorite UVA hat) she always looked fine to us. Later I realized that she wouldn't come home to us until she looked good and healthy, she didn't want us to see her any other way. I wish I could be that strong. Strong enough to know my fate, own it, and be brave enough to deal with it the way she did.
When I was in elementary school, I had to have been 6 or 7 years old, I felt sick at school and the school nurse called my mom to come pick me up. Susan happened to be home from the hospital (I don't remember if she was in remission or if they had just let her come back home for a little while) and since I didn't have anything contagious that would hurt her my mom dropped me off with her and went back to work. Already I was feeling better! Since there were 5 kids between my mom and aunt we didn't get a lot of one-on-one time with Suz when she was home, so needless to say I was excited to be home from school and spending some time with her. After my mom left we were sitting in her bedroom floor watching Clint Eastwood movies. Susan was a huge and I mean HUGE Clint fan. I think she had every movie he ever made and had probably watched them all a dozen times. Anyhew, whatever we were watching ended and she put in Heartbreak Ridge. Needless to say, I hadn't watched it before, its not exactly a child friendly movie. I guess she thought I was young enough not to really pay attention to the stuff I shouldn't be hearing. Boy was she wrong!! Later that evening I walked to the market to see my mom and I let out a mouthful! I don't remember what I said (knowing me it was probably the cadence or something equally as catchy) but I do remember getting in trouble for it!
Its a bittersweet memory, but something I'll never forget. Every time I watch Heartbreak Ridge (or any of his other movies) I cant help but remember Susan and how much she loved Clint Eastwood. She eventually got to meet him through the Make A Wish Foundation through Brenner Children's Hospital. A white stretch limo came to the house and picked up Susan, Stacey, Samantha, Julie, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Gary (years later I asked why I couldn't go since everybody else got to. Mom said I was invited but she was afraid I'd get homesick since Mom wasn't going and they would have had to head home early...which was probably true). They were put up in a nice hotel in Washington, D.C. and taken to meet Clint (she also got to meet Barbara Walters who happened to be there interviewing him) and watch him film part of In the Line of Fire. He was really nice to everybody and took the time to visit with her and the rest of the family and sign me an autograph :) There are lots of photos and a video too (I guess Make a Wish sent someone to do all that stuff). If you know my family at all, you know we are a weird group so of course we sent a box of fruit and a B&B hat that there's also a pic of him wearing!
I guess we were too young and innocent to realize that they don't give Make a Wish trips to kids that are gonna be OK, it never crossed my mind that she wouldnt be. Other than losing her hair (she would always wear her favorite UVA hat) she always looked fine to us. Later I realized that she wouldn't come home to us until she looked good and healthy, she didn't want us to see her any other way. I wish I could be that strong. Strong enough to know my fate, own it, and be brave enough to deal with it the way she did.
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