Three Beautiful Things 02-10-2024: Nurse Karina Was Absolutely Right, In Memory of Joni's Dad, I Feed My Cold

1. Just for the record, when Nurse Karina told me that the transplant world would have to pass on offering me, as an alternate, the available kidney on Friday, I completely trusted her immediate decision. I'm writing this post on Sunday morning. I slept at least nine hours last night, a rarity, and was up and down from time to time to drink water to soothe a developing sore throat. I discovered when Debbie came downstairs and asked me how I'm feeling, that, in trying to answer her, I have lost most of my voice. 

So there. 

Karina was right. I had no business even entertaining the idea of a possible transplant on Friday and the fact that this bug has worsened a bit and persisted over the weekend confirms that. 

2. Last month, Bearl Carlisle, who married Joni (White) Sorenson's mother when Joni was about fifteen years old, and whom she regarded as her father for the next 50+ years, died. Today, Ed, Stu, and I met at Peace Lutheran Church in Post Falls and attended the memorial service for Bearl. The service focused on Bearl's role as Lee, Joni, and Jim's father, Bearl's service in the US Navy, his love of the outdoors and skeet shooting, and his constant and deep Christian faith. Stu, Ed, and I attended the luncheon that followed the reception, got to talk with Joni and Rick, and before long we left, knowing our presence in memory of Joni's father meant a great deal to her. 

3. I've been doing my best since I started going to the rehab gym and the Shoshone Medical Fitness Center to both exercise and lose some weight. I put that effort on hold today, not feeling quite up to working out and knowing that eating plenty of food has always helped me recover from illness. Debbie made my effort to "feed my cold" most pleasurable by fixing a batch of Spanish rice and I hope and I want to believe that deciding to chow down on it freely was a help in getting over this bug, while knowing that, almost without a doubt, I would be losing some ground in my efforts to lose weight. I hope I get rid of this bug fairly soon so I can get back to the regimen I so much enjoy.