The Day after My Birthday

Well, my seventy-sixth year has begun now that I have completed my birthday celebration. I just want to thank all of those of you who sent greetings through Facebook or through the USPS or as a text. Last night at the close of the day, I sat down and opened up all the cards that I had received over the last couple of days. It was a good way to end the day of celebration. Actually, the celebration will continue a little bit today as I got two birthday cakes. I took the first one to the dining room yesterday and will take the second one to the dining room today.

I had hoped by now that I would have gotten through the second surgery on my back. Unfortunately, the results of the first surgery were not completely positive. While the pain and numbness in my right arm and hand were definitely diminished by that surgery, three weeks afterwards, my left arm and hand began experiencing the very same symptoms. So far, the doctor hasn’t made any decisions regarding this situation, so I am simply waiting to find out how we are going to deal with it. I have an appointment with him on December 8. Because of the Christmas season and my responsibilities here at the motherhouse, I am hoping that we can postpone any surgical intervention until the new year.

One of the real drawbacks of this situation is that I am unable to drive at the moment. I am still on some heavy pain medication which is contraindicated for driving and operating big machinery (?). So I hope you will all continue to keep me in your prayers.

It doesn’t seem possible, but Christmas is just a few weeks away. This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. While we older people seem to think that time goes more quickly as we age, I am convinced that it is simply because we are going more slowly than we used to. At any rate, I’m sure the Christmas will be here before we know it. This year we are going to have a couple of extra celebrations which were not possible during the pandemic. A gentleman is coming in to do a reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” We will also have a Franciscan Christmas celebration which will include the story of the first Christmas crèche created by St. Francis of Assisi. That celebration will be held on December 18. It looks like I will miss that because it is also our family Christmas. Timothy has agreed to come and get me if I am still prohibited from driving.

Once again, thanks for all of the birthday greetings. They always make the day much more festive.