Subj: Mindwalkers - Happy Birthday, Mim!
Date: 4/7/01 12:11:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mim made her debut on the world stage on April 7, 1944. When my mother was told she had a granddaughter, she said, "Not possible - Kay only has boys."
The nurse called her "Little Missy" which we started using as a nickname, later abbreviated to Mimmy by Ian, and ultimately shortened to the current Mim. Do you know anyone who calls her Joann?
We were delighted to have a girl and her two big brothers were proud as punch. It was Peter who said that immortal line to me - "She will be your little hand maiden."
Mim was no one's hand maiden.
From the very start, she was different from any other baby I had known - she actually laughed. Not just a smile, but an out and out laugh. I have never seen another baby do that. Mim was aware of what was around her and connected in her own way.
Of all my children, Mim was the one who knew what she want and knew how to get it. It did not matter to her that girls did not play football - she coached her own peewee football squad when she was in her early teens. Mim's Monsters. Where other girls asked for jewelry for Eighth Grade graduation, Mim wanted a tarpoline and frame to make a big tent in our back yard. Other high school students spent the summer by swimming pools; Mim spent it working with kids, the highlight being a 4 day - 3 night overnight camp right in our own backyard, complete with a full schedule of crafts and sports and so many other activities.
Mim does things in her own time, not anyone else's.
It took her almost fifty years to pick a middle name (we gave her just the initial "K"); she chose it in time to have JOANN KIERNAN LOCKHART inscribed on her Master's in Social Work degree from Rutgers. Mim had received her bachelor's degree from New York University, part of a pilot night school program for older (she was 36), non-traditional students; she commuted from Bryn Athyn! Mim has always set her own timetables, known her own mind, what she will do and what she won't, and remains true to her beliefs.
She spent today with friends near her central New Jersey home, a joint celebration - Mim's birthday and the Seder. Very Mim.
Mazel tov to Mim from Mom!
Love to one and all - Mimmy's Mom
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
JRM Update 04/05/01
Subj: Mindwalkers - JRM update
Date: 4/5/01 11:20:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
I received several concerned notes, asking why there had not been a "John Watch" update today. The fact of the matter is that I have kept Elsa pretty busy today with doing a posting for me on the Caritas distribution list.
UPDATE:
Our dear lad swings between feeling human again and then feeling weak as a kitten. He is still sleeping semi-upright on the den couch to allieviate chest congestion. elm - how ironic; 10 years later, i sleep down there for a similar reason, different. Elsa stayed at home today - again - to keep an eye on him and to be there for me. As she says, he has to be her priority, but she still springs into action when she hears me making a ruckus with "Clappy".
I am none too happy with her own health. She has developed a nasty chesty cough. All this stress and strain cannot be good for her.
We continue to be blessed with loved ones and friends sending e-mail best wishes, phone calls, visits and generally good "kharma." We are blessed by your caring.
Nite nite and God bless - Cybergram
Date: 4/5/01 11:20:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
I received several concerned notes, asking why there had not been a "John Watch" update today. The fact of the matter is that I have kept Elsa pretty busy today with doing a posting for me on the Caritas distribution list.
UPDATE:
Our dear lad swings between feeling human again and then feeling weak as a kitten. He is still sleeping semi-upright on the den couch to allieviate chest congestion. elm - how ironic; 10 years later, i sleep down there for a similar reason, different. Elsa stayed at home today - again - to keep an eye on him and to be there for me. As she says, he has to be her priority, but she still springs into action when she hears me making a ruckus with "Clappy".
I am none too happy with her own health. She has developed a nasty chesty cough. All this stress and strain cannot be good for her.
We continue to be blessed with loved ones and friends sending e-mail best wishes, phone calls, visits and generally good "kharma." We are blessed by your caring.
Nite nite and God bless - Cybergram
Spiritual Responsibility is Not All Sweetness & Light 04/05/01
this was a posting of Mom's on the Caritas (not her Mindwalker1910) dist list
Subj: [Caritas] spiritual responsibility is not all sweetness and light
Date: 4/5/01 9:35:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Nita (Junge Holm) - you asked for more background on my thoughts about abuse of drinking and the level of spiritual responsibility our faith places on the individual. This has been a general thought in the back of my mind for many years. I thank you for the opportunity to clarify to myself what I mean by what I said.
I have long had a niggling feeling that there could be a link between self-abuse, including alcoholism, and a sense of having a "high maintenance" faith such as ours can be. By that, I mean:
>> having full responsibility for our own spiritual welfare - instead of believing in salvation through Christ or through the church (confession)
>> having responsiblity for actually reading the Writings and drawing a personal understanding of doctrine from that reading - which was what I grew up believing we were supposed to do
> the cost to those raised within the faith or who marry into the faith of moving past the New Church to a faith that more fully reflects what is in the heart - especially dealing with the potential loss of sense of place, of community and culture
>> perhaps most of all, the awesome beauty and fierce life goals defined within the Doctrine of Use, the Doctrine of Charity, the Doctrine of the Lord, the Doctrine of Conjugial Love, which could be experienced as setting too high a bar for mere mortals to ever achieve.
FYI - - I think that people can "get their knickers in a twist" about the details and forget, as I was taught, that the foundation stones of our faith are simply a belief in one God and that the Lord God Jesus Christ is that god, that we are to shun evils (first) as sins against God and do good (second), and that we are to love the neighbor as ourselves.
Subj: [Caritas] spiritual responsibility is not all sweetness and light
Date: 4/5/01 9:35:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Nita (Junge Holm) - you asked for more background on my thoughts about abuse of drinking and the level of spiritual responsibility our faith places on the individual. This has been a general thought in the back of my mind for many years. I thank you for the opportunity to clarify to myself what I mean by what I said.
I have long had a niggling feeling that there could be a link between self-abuse, including alcoholism, and a sense of having a "high maintenance" faith such as ours can be. By that, I mean:
>> having full responsibility for our own spiritual welfare - instead of believing in salvation through Christ or through the church (confession)
>> having responsiblity for actually reading the Writings and drawing a personal understanding of doctrine from that reading - which was what I grew up believing we were supposed to do
> the cost to those raised within the faith or who marry into the faith of moving past the New Church to a faith that more fully reflects what is in the heart - especially dealing with the potential loss of sense of place, of community and culture
>> perhaps most of all, the awesome beauty and fierce life goals defined within the Doctrine of Use, the Doctrine of Charity, the Doctrine of the Lord, the Doctrine of Conjugial Love, which could be experienced as setting too high a bar for mere mortals to ever achieve.
FYI - - I think that people can "get their knickers in a twist" about the details and forget, as I was taught, that the foundation stones of our faith are simply a belief in one God and that the Lord God Jesus Christ is that god, that we are to shun evils (first) as sins against God and do good (second), and that we are to love the neighbor as ourselves.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Circling the Wagons 04/02/01
Subj: [women] Mindwalkers - circling the wagons
Date: 4/2/01 9:59:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
John is home.
It was wonderful that my s-i-l could get the care he did in the hospital when his temperature was soaring past 104; it’s even more wonderful to have him home. His temperature is normal and he is able to get up and about, but I can tell how weak he still feels.
His appetite remains a far cry from normal. Elsa made a gorgeous ham. All John (who loves ham) could do was nibble a little bit.
It tears my heart out to hear the dear lad coughing a deep-chested, painful cough. He is stocked up on medications, including one-a-day antibiotic for the next ten days. John is under strict orders to take things easy, because pneumonia can sneak back.
What a three days it has been. It does not seem possible that it has only been a bit over three days. It felt like an eternity.
On behalf of all three of us, thank you for your loving thoughts and for your caring e-mails. Special love and hugs to Carole Grisin, who made an impossible Sunday bearable, and to Lisa Hyatt Cooper, who came over tonight and helped Elsa bag up newspapers, dig out the kitchen countertop, washed the dishes, and was a bright ray of friendship. The stovetop is forever in Lisa’s debt.
While she was here, at Squirrel Haven, my nephew Bob Ripley called from California to find out how John is faring. It touched Elsa to have someone in the family touch base and hearts.
When something shockingly sudden as John's illness happens, it is amazing how people circle the wagons of friendship and support. You might be weary of hearing the saga of John, but having you out there made our lives more bearable in a dark and frightening time.
With thanks and love - Katharine Reynolds Lockhart
Date: 4/2/01 9:59:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
John is home.
It was wonderful that my s-i-l could get the care he did in the hospital when his temperature was soaring past 104; it’s even more wonderful to have him home. His temperature is normal and he is able to get up and about, but I can tell how weak he still feels.
His appetite remains a far cry from normal. Elsa made a gorgeous ham. All John (who loves ham) could do was nibble a little bit.
It tears my heart out to hear the dear lad coughing a deep-chested, painful cough. He is stocked up on medications, including one-a-day antibiotic for the next ten days. John is under strict orders to take things easy, because pneumonia can sneak back.
What a three days it has been. It does not seem possible that it has only been a bit over three days. It felt like an eternity.
On behalf of all three of us, thank you for your loving thoughts and for your caring e-mails. Special love and hugs to Carole Grisin, who made an impossible Sunday bearable, and to Lisa Hyatt Cooper, who came over tonight and helped Elsa bag up newspapers, dig out the kitchen countertop, washed the dishes, and was a bright ray of friendship. The stovetop is forever in Lisa’s debt.
While she was here, at Squirrel Haven, my nephew Bob Ripley called from California to find out how John is faring. It touched Elsa to have someone in the family touch base and hearts.
When something shockingly sudden as John's illness happens, it is amazing how people circle the wagons of friendship and support. You might be weary of hearing the saga of John, but having you out there made our lives more bearable in a dark and frightening time.
With thanks and love - Katharine Reynolds Lockhart
Friday, April 1, 2011
One Jim Henson is Enough et al
the following is a trilogy of related e-mails written within a day (give or take a few hours). the first posting she refers to was sent on 03/31, which still felt like the same day to a worry-weary m-i-l...
Subj: "One Jim Henson is enough."
Date: 4/1/01 12:40:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time
(written just after midnight - Mom had posted a previous message earlier that night)
My second posting of the night. It is going on midnight and I am ready to turn in.
That is not exceptional. It is not unheard of for me to start for bed after midnight.
What is unusual is that Elsa had to come home from Holy Redeemer Hospital ER in order to do her tucking in duties, and will head back when she is done here.
John and Elsa went over to the ER around 9:00 p.m. after the third call of the day to the on-call doctor, who was almost as alarmed as Elsa to hear that John had been incoherent for five-ten minutes. Elsa asked John questions and could not get coherent answers.
Because she's had years of experience working with managed health care coverage plans, Elsa hones in on diagnostic approaches that would never occur to me. All she had to say was that John had been incoherent and that his chest sounded juicy, and the doctor told her to get him over to HRH pronto.
John has been diagnosed with pneumonia. If the doctors can get his temperature down to 100 within the next couple hours, he will come home. If not, he will spend at least one night in the hospital.
That would be strange - ME going to see John at HRH, instead of the other way around.
As the day went on and John's condition got worse instead of better, in spite of taking two prescriptions and Tylenol, Elsa kept muttering, "One Jim Henson is enough."
I could not figure out what she could mean. She reminded me. Jim Henson died of a virulent strain of pneumonia which went untreated too long. He died of a nasty but treatable illness because he dismissed it as just a nasty case of the flu.
Yes, one Jim Henson is enough.
John is in good hands. My prayer is that he can come home tonight, where Elsa can keep an eye on her OTB.
What a break that John is resting, trying to get his temperature down, leaving Elsa free to hightail it back here. I tried to contact Peter to see if he could swing over to do tuck in duties, but we were not able to connect.
It has been a long, scary day. My thoughts and my prayers are with my dear s-i-l. Nite nite and God bless.
Love - Budgie's M-I-L
Subj: my third posting of the day (not a good sign)
Date: 4/1/01 3:31:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time
It is 2:30 a.m. (3:30 to those who remembered to spring their clocks forward an hour) and Elsa just got home.
Alone.
John's temperature came down just one degree to 103.3, so he will be in the hospital for at least 36 hours of care. Elsa is pretty bedraggled. She came home before he was admitted because she worried I might need help. (Peter was not able to return my calls, so I was home all by myself.)
It pains me to admit, but I did need her help. She had already come home around midnight to help tuck me in; the problem is that due to my bum shoulder, once I'm down I need help getting up to do even the simplest things (like using the loo). If Elsa had stayed until John was settled, I do not know how I could have managed.
Just as I was getting beset with anxiety, I heard the car drive up.
What a day.
Subj: what a blessing the Internet is
Date: 4/1/01 9:33:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
I have experienced many blessings due to my "cyber circle." It would be difficult to explain how it has felt these 24+ hours.
Keeping my cyberspace circle updated on our drama with John's pneumonia has been a remarkable experience. I know that being able to post the information as seen through my eyes was a godsend to Elsa, who would have found it hard to share in the first person.
For me, it was a release to be able to do something, since there was so little I could do and it is such unknown territory to me. I am the one - not John - who is normally at HRH. He is the one who is familiar with how to comfort and support Elsa. Being able to compose my thoughts makes me feel like I did my part.
My life was made so much better today through the friendship and caring of Carole Grisin, who brought lunch over so Elsa could be left free to spend time with John without worrying about the home front.
We talked about so many things. She is a special lady. We had a lot of laughs. We walked over to the Spring Tree, with it's clear ornaments filled with pictures of loved ones and we had a grand time as I filled her in on a who's who. The gem I would like to share with you has to do with how Carole deals with disagreeable people - she changes her attitude by thinking about something the person is good at. One woman was so rude, she almost stumped Carole in her quest to find something positive until it hit her - the woman was good at being rude. What a good life attitude. What a blessing this immediate daughter of the heart - it does not seem possible we met for the first time last week! - was in my life today and what a difference her kindness made to Elsa.
It is an understatement to say that I am heading off to bed a much happier lady than I was last night.
Love to one and all - Grammie Kay (and Bon Voyage! to Julie!)
And now, a word from Elsa - - Fingers crossed, John should be home tomorrow. His temperature is back to normal, but he still is having problems with getting enough oxygen into his system. His breathing seems fine, but it seems that fluid in the lungs is keeping the oxygen from doing whatever it is supposed to do. He is really tired; everytime he drops off to sleep, a coughing spasm shakes him awake. I can't wait to get him home and healthy.
My own thanks to Carole, who is the very definition of friendship. I was able to get in a brief visit with her myself when I took a 2-hour break from hospital duties (John asked me to stay all day and I wasn't about to say no, but did need a small break). I was happy to see her car still outside when I pulled up and happier still to find her all comfy in the visitor's chair close by Mom's. (Interesting side note - the pink tulips she brought on her first visit last week - she is participating in a discussion circle at our house on the book "The Best Year of Your Life!" - have evolved from looking like beautiful tulips to resembling the palest pink exotic iris. All three of us marveled over the transformation.) Obviously, Mom had a wonderful time and we have both been well fed by the bounty of Boston Market goodies that Carole brought over. Carole - thanks, thanks and more thanks!
Subj: "One Jim Henson is enough."
Date: 4/1/01 12:40:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time
(written just after midnight - Mom had posted a previous message earlier that night)
My second posting of the night. It is going on midnight and I am ready to turn in.
That is not exceptional. It is not unheard of for me to start for bed after midnight.
What is unusual is that Elsa had to come home from Holy Redeemer Hospital ER in order to do her tucking in duties, and will head back when she is done here.
John and Elsa went over to the ER around 9:00 p.m. after the third call of the day to the on-call doctor, who was almost as alarmed as Elsa to hear that John had been incoherent for five-ten minutes. Elsa asked John questions and could not get coherent answers.
Because she's had years of experience working with managed health care coverage plans, Elsa hones in on diagnostic approaches that would never occur to me. All she had to say was that John had been incoherent and that his chest sounded juicy, and the doctor told her to get him over to HRH pronto.
John has been diagnosed with pneumonia. If the doctors can get his temperature down to 100 within the next couple hours, he will come home. If not, he will spend at least one night in the hospital.
That would be strange - ME going to see John at HRH, instead of the other way around.
As the day went on and John's condition got worse instead of better, in spite of taking two prescriptions and Tylenol, Elsa kept muttering, "One Jim Henson is enough."
I could not figure out what she could mean. She reminded me. Jim Henson died of a virulent strain of pneumonia which went untreated too long. He died of a nasty but treatable illness because he dismissed it as just a nasty case of the flu.
Yes, one Jim Henson is enough.
John is in good hands. My prayer is that he can come home tonight, where Elsa can keep an eye on her OTB.
What a break that John is resting, trying to get his temperature down, leaving Elsa free to hightail it back here. I tried to contact Peter to see if he could swing over to do tuck in duties, but we were not able to connect.
It has been a long, scary day. My thoughts and my prayers are with my dear s-i-l. Nite nite and God bless.
Love - Budgie's M-I-L
Subj: my third posting of the day (not a good sign)
Date: 4/1/01 3:31:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time
It is 2:30 a.m. (3:30 to those who remembered to spring their clocks forward an hour) and Elsa just got home.
Alone.
John's temperature came down just one degree to 103.3, so he will be in the hospital for at least 36 hours of care. Elsa is pretty bedraggled. She came home before he was admitted because she worried I might need help. (Peter was not able to return my calls, so I was home all by myself.)
It pains me to admit, but I did need her help. She had already come home around midnight to help tuck me in; the problem is that due to my bum shoulder, once I'm down I need help getting up to do even the simplest things (like using the loo). If Elsa had stayed until John was settled, I do not know how I could have managed.
Just as I was getting beset with anxiety, I heard the car drive up.
What a day.
Subj: what a blessing the Internet is
Date: 4/1/01 9:33:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
I have experienced many blessings due to my "cyber circle." It would be difficult to explain how it has felt these 24+ hours.
Keeping my cyberspace circle updated on our drama with John's pneumonia has been a remarkable experience. I know that being able to post the information as seen through my eyes was a godsend to Elsa, who would have found it hard to share in the first person.
For me, it was a release to be able to do something, since there was so little I could do and it is such unknown territory to me. I am the one - not John - who is normally at HRH. He is the one who is familiar with how to comfort and support Elsa. Being able to compose my thoughts makes me feel like I did my part.
My life was made so much better today through the friendship and caring of Carole Grisin, who brought lunch over so Elsa could be left free to spend time with John without worrying about the home front.
We talked about so many things. She is a special lady. We had a lot of laughs. We walked over to the Spring Tree, with it's clear ornaments filled with pictures of loved ones and we had a grand time as I filled her in on a who's who. The gem I would like to share with you has to do with how Carole deals with disagreeable people - she changes her attitude by thinking about something the person is good at. One woman was so rude, she almost stumped Carole in her quest to find something positive until it hit her - the woman was good at being rude. What a good life attitude. What a blessing this immediate daughter of the heart - it does not seem possible we met for the first time last week! - was in my life today and what a difference her kindness made to Elsa.
It is an understatement to say that I am heading off to bed a much happier lady than I was last night.
Love to one and all - Grammie Kay (and Bon Voyage! to Julie!)
And now, a word from Elsa - - Fingers crossed, John should be home tomorrow. His temperature is back to normal, but he still is having problems with getting enough oxygen into his system. His breathing seems fine, but it seems that fluid in the lungs is keeping the oxygen from doing whatever it is supposed to do. He is really tired; everytime he drops off to sleep, a coughing spasm shakes him awake. I can't wait to get him home and healthy.
My own thanks to Carole, who is the very definition of friendship. I was able to get in a brief visit with her myself when I took a 2-hour break from hospital duties (John asked me to stay all day and I wasn't about to say no, but did need a small break). I was happy to see her car still outside when I pulled up and happier still to find her all comfy in the visitor's chair close by Mom's. (Interesting side note - the pink tulips she brought on her first visit last week - she is participating in a discussion circle at our house on the book "The Best Year of Your Life!" - have evolved from looking like beautiful tulips to resembling the palest pink exotic iris. All three of us marveled over the transformation.) Obviously, Mom had a wonderful time and we have both been well fed by the bounty of Boston Market goodies that Carole brought over. Carole - thanks, thanks and more thanks!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
feeling small and ineffective
Subj: feeling small and ineffective
Date: 3/31/01 9:28:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time
John woke up this morning not feeling very well. When Elsa took his temperature, it registered 103. Thinking the thermometer must be out of whack, she shook it back down and took it again. Same results.
They called their doctor's office and the covering physician prescribed and anti-biotic and cough medicine. Elsa zipped down to pick them up and nipped across to the grocery store for John's favorite staples - cantaloupe and a couple cans of albacore tuna.
John came downstairs after Elsa got home and had a lunch of cut up cantaloupe and almost the entire can of tuna. But by tonight, his appetite has gone and his temperature has hit 104.
A second call to the doctor instructed him to take Tylenol to bring down the temperature, to no avail. They are waiting for a call back from the doctor because John is definitely getting worse, not better.
It is all very well and good to say that high temperatures are the norm with streph (sp?) infections, but is alarming to see him and to touch him - he is so hot.
I feel small and ineffective.
Keep us in your thoughts. John's M-I-L
_______________________________________________
Date: 3/31/01 9:28:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time
John woke up this morning not feeling very well. When Elsa took his temperature, it registered 103. Thinking the thermometer must be out of whack, she shook it back down and took it again. Same results.
They called their doctor's office and the covering physician prescribed and anti-biotic and cough medicine. Elsa zipped down to pick them up and nipped across to the grocery store for John's favorite staples - cantaloupe and a couple cans of albacore tuna.
John came downstairs after Elsa got home and had a lunch of cut up cantaloupe and almost the entire can of tuna. But by tonight, his appetite has gone and his temperature has hit 104.
A second call to the doctor instructed him to take Tylenol to bring down the temperature, to no avail. They are waiting for a call back from the doctor because John is definitely getting worse, not better.
It is all very well and good to say that high temperatures are the norm with streph (sp?) infections, but is alarming to see him and to touch him - he is so hot.
I feel small and ineffective.
Keep us in your thoughts. John's M-I-L
_______________________________________________
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
coming attractions!
Mindwalker1910 has been off-line due to fact I couldn't find Mom's late Feb-almost all of March postings. Will post one tomorrow!! Looking forward to being back.
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