On The Road Again - Although A Short One!!

Well, dear followers, I certainly hope your Christmas was wonderful!  Although, a little lonely and sad, it was wonderful to spend Christmas with Scotty, his wife and children, my sisters and their families.  Out of everything there comes a little (if only tiny) ray of sunshine!  There was snow on the ground, it was cold, but it was Cleveland, so it was normal.  On to Columbus and the New Year.  I have spent the last 6 1/2 months feeling pretty sorry for myself.  So, 2011 will be dedicated to travel and celebrating Mike Maratea.  With the tidbits here and there, I am certain that you will wish you had had all that time with him, too.  Meanwhile, have a wonderful New Year and I'll write again on Jan 1.  Thanks for following.  Ricci

BUON NATALE

Here it is already - Christmas Eve!  Actually, it is Christmas morning, and while a very happy day because another Christmas is here, a very, very sad one because Mike is not.  I am sure I have mentioned that his real name was Natale (which means Christmas in Italian).  It certainly was not presents, it was just that he really knew what Christmas was and loved to share it with everyone.  Not to push his own religion on anyone, just to share the spirit of the season!  So, there were 26 lovely, lovely Christmases!  So, very sad that I am, I wish you Buon Natale, Natale, wherever you are.  I love you now and always.  Erica

Watch Those Christmas Parties

A week ago today, my friend, Janet, was taking me to a Christmas party for Chico's employees.  She was trying to be nice, since I was going to be driving her husband, John, back and forth to work while she was in California visiting her new granddaughter!  However, that was not what was to be.  When I arrived to pick her up, she was having difficulty getting on her new boot and asked me to help her.  Good samaritan that I am, I said of course.  The boot was stubborn and Janet said I would have to push harder.  Unfortunately, I did exactly what she said, she lost her balance and we both went down.  Because she hit the rim of the bar stool, I was worried that she might have hurt her head.  Not so; when she tried to get up she said she thought she had broken her ankle.  "Don't be silly", says I -  "We're just old, and you need to walk on it!"  When we finally got her up, her right foot was at a direct right angle from her right leg. (Good thing I don't practice medicine!!)  So, instead of a party, we spent the next three hours in the emergency room, where they straightened out her foot so it would be okay until she saw the surgeon.While we did not get to attend the Chico's Christmas party, we did manage to provide a few laughs for those attending to us in the ER!  They actually said they had not had so much fun with patients in a long time.  So, I guess we served a purpose!  Saturday, they performed surgery to repair her dislocated fracture and she should be back in full gear in about 10 -12 weeks!  Needless to say, I have spent quite a bit of time with her, so it has kept me occupied! The ironic thing about this is that John's right foot is also out of commission due to achilles tendon surgery.  I guess the good thing is that the cars will get a rest!

The times she was napping, though, I was keeping up on my reading.  And speaking of reading, before I left North Carolina, Amy gave me a book to read.  It is a novel by Wm. Paul Young called "The Shack".  I can only tell you that it is how we all want the Holy Trinity to be, and, perhaps is, so,  I highly recommend it, and actually think Oprah missed the boat not putting this on her book club selection.

Now, all the presents are wrapped, half of the groceries for Christmas dinner are bought and the kids are typically wild waiting for "Santa"!  The only thing missing (and the best part of the last 26 Christmases) is Mike. Well, also missing, because Mike isn't here and they won't all fit in the Honda Element are 15 different Nativity Scenes.  He loved having a manger in every room and we got a little carred away collecting them.  They are safe, though, in the storage unit, to be used again whenever I figure out where to settle.

Almost Merry Christmas.  Ricci

P.S. Jamie, don't worry, I won't get caught up in and stuck in Cleveland.  A month of cold, gray and snow is quite enough of a reminder of why I didn't want to live here forever in the first place.  Thanks for the concern. R

Silly Me!!!

Well, I thought I was so well adjusted; however, I guess I was wrong (one more time!!)  Just when I thought I would be able to get through Christmas so easily, grief has reared its ugly head one more time.  Absolutely EVERYTHING reminds me of the last 27 Christmases.  This week I even dreamed Mike came to meet me at the theater - and he was in a red sport coat, tie, shirt and his ever present penny loafers.  And, best of all, he was as fit and happy as he was in the 80's.  One can only hope that wherever he is, he is that well and happy.  I know I said I would not be whining, and I am not - just expressing how much I don't know about the grieving process!

On the lighter side, last week I went to visit a friend and, of course, took Gina with me.  Now, Gina will be three in February and has been house broken for a long, long time.  After agreeing with my friend about what a basically good dog, she is, Gina promptly went upstairs and pooped on the rug!!  Just like children, they will make liars out of you every time!!

Of course, we are still in northern Ohio and I just want to tell you all that there is nothing about this lousy cold that is attractive.  It just makes you crabby!!  Talk to you all later.  Ricci

OMG - It's Cleveland and it's COLD

Yesterday, Gina and I arrived safely in Bay Village, Ohio.  We had a wonderful time in North Carolina.  Friday night there was a Christmas Parade on Pleasure Island (which consists of Carolina Beach Kure Beach).  The amazing thing was that probably half the town participated in it and the other half attended it.  It was a pleasure to see everyone enjoying it so much!!

Today, however, was a little more difficult.  Tuesday, it will be six months since Mike's death and it is ever present in my mind.  Last Sunday, I attended the first Sunday in Advent on CB with Amy and Auri and Simon.  It was a very nice service and I was happy to attend.  This morning, I went to church here in Bay Village and could barely contain myself because of the upcoming reminder date.  To be perfectly honest, I really thought I could think about Mike and not break down, and most of the time it is possible due to so many happy years. However, today was not one of those days.  Surprisingly, I guess, this kind of day will just pop up and the only thing to do, it seems, is to let it happen.  There just doesn't seem to be a way to express how much I miss him, but, oh, how I do!

On the lighter side, I really forgot how cold, cold, cold it is here.  It is hard to believe that we used to go ice skating outside in just jeans and hooded sweatshirts!  Today I even bought a coat for Gina because  the poor little thing is a Florida dog.  You can tell, because she wastes no time outside - it is take care of business and run, run for the door!  I  can't say that I blame her, either.  Scotty has been informed by me that he might be running a lot of errands for me so I don't have to face the weather!!

Staying inside will be great, too.  Shannon made a new guest room for me in yellow and blue, so I feel quite comfortable and at home.  My granddaughter, Emily, wants to learn to sew, so we will be setting up the sewing machine and testing my teaching abilities.  A purse is first on her list, so the first test might be a little easy.  Cross your fingers for me.  Thanks for tuning in.  Ricci