DONIS CASEY: Write Errant

I shall quote my niece, Abby. “There’s only one thing I can say about 2011 – oy!” It’s been tough but we got out alive. Now I’m girding my loins for 2012.

Yesterday I finally finished reading Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening, which is written in the form of a day book, one spiritual reading for each day of the year. I thought the entry for December 29 was particularly to the point, especially since that day was my birthday. It’s entitled “Sing, Then”.

“…it has become very clear that giving voice to what is inner is essential to surviving what is outer,” he says. “When everything in life presses from outside of us, we have no choice but to sing like scared children relying on their song to stop the pain…This is the secret of all spirit, why it cannot stay inside, but must be brought from within us into the world.”

I thought that was a very good description of why I write.

I had a nice birthday. I bundled Don into the car and we went to see Sherlock Holmes. It was great fun to get out, go to a movie, buy a pretzel. It was a beautiful day. Don sat upright with minimal problem for two whole hours. I stopped by Coco’s on the way home and bought three pieces of pie – apple, cherry, and banana cream, which we both ate on that evening. Don even ate a fair amount of supper. He was either having a pretty good day or he was pretending to feel better than he did for my sake.

Last week I mentioned that Don is down to two alternatives – immune-suppressants or an operation. On December 27 and December 30, he had sessions with an acupuncturist. I chose this woman for her education and experience, and as a bonus, her office is pretty close to us. He actually enjoys the treatments. You lie there and listen to relaxing music for half and hour, which can’t be bad. However, he says there’s not much change in the pain so far. He’s going in for another session late next week.

If we make it that long. Don talked to the GI doctor on Thursday and said he thinks he’ll go for the operation rather than the immune suppressing medication. The doctor said he thought that was probably best, since it could take three months for the meds to work, and take it from me, I don’t think Don could last another three months.

So he has a call in to the surgeon, who is scheduled to call back on Jan. 4 to make arrangements. It may be a couple of weeks before anything happens – the holidays have delayed things. It may even be a little longer, if the surgeon wants to try and build him up before chopping on him. In the meantime, I’ll be happy and joyful if he doesn’t have to get another transfusion before then.

When New Years 2013 rolls around, my only wish is that we’ve all survived another one and enjoyed it a lot more than last year.

And if I may end with a bit of Blatant Self Promotion: Did you get an e-reader for Christmas? If yes, I have a suggestion for you. Poisoned Pen Press is featuring the first title in ten different series as e-books you can download on any e-reader for 99 cents, including my first Alafair Tucker mystery, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming. What a great way to introduce yourself to some great mystery series! You can read part of the first chapter of any or all of my books by clicking on “About this Book”, to the right under the thumbnail picture of the cover.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 1st, 2012 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Writer Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.