How you spell it makes no difference

Valor

The French spell this valour. It means gallantry or heroism.

My image of gallantry is Sir Francis Drake throwing down his cap so the Queen Lizzy the First would not have to soil her shoe.

Heroism, on the other hand, takes many forms and shows itself in various places, peoples and times.

Parents making difficult financial decisions, dropping the baseball tickets to keep their child involved in soccer.

Employees cutting their own hours so that another employee is not terminated.

The priest in charge of missionaries who leaves family behind in order to visit each of them in the field once every year.

The couple that move their ailing parent into their apartment to personally care for her.

The friends undergoing chemo or radiation therapy.

The friends coming to grips with mental illness.

Today I am adding another person to the list. Diana.

Diana is the woman that several of my women friends assisted in removing her from physical danger in Khartoum back to her mother in Uganda. She had come to Sudan in hopes of finding employment. Leaving her behind was very difficult for me.

Diana is leaving Uganda tomorrow, Sunday, as an employee of the UN. She is going to work in Darfur.

She is brilliant, compassionate, and brave. She is stronger than she thinks.

What she will be doing for the UN is still not clear to me. However, she will be calling and emailing me as soon as she is able and I will get some additional information from her.

My goal is to find a way to support her in this journey. I have a laptop that I need to get to her and I would like to send her a digital camera so that she can take pictures, blog and send them out to each of us. If any of you have a spare camera that you would like to donate, please let me know.

For all of us that write or read this little blog of mine, I ask that you place Diana on your prayer list. Think of her daily, wish her well. Send wellness and safety her way.

And, when she starts to write, send her greetings.

She will smile, and silently bless you.

God speed Diana. I love you.

My Bucket is Filling

I finally learned how to use the DVD player after it was transferred up to the bedroom.

I sat in bed watching Resident Evil: The Apocalypse. If you have ever seen Dawn of the Dead, it is the same thing with a technology boost.

A big boost.

I much preferred Shawn of the Dead, the British parody. What a great film.

I spent most of the day with my leg elevated, reducing the swelling around my knee following surgery on Friday.

Worked too hard yesterday, pay for it today.

However, what a great time I had watching surgery. This minor discomfort still is not enough to wipe out the experience.

Should I ever need minor surgery again, I hope to do the same thing.

Speaking of technology, see above, imagine reading the Sunday Times and discovering that Jane Fonda blogs. Go to www.janefonda.com and you can see what she is and will be doing.

I have always been a fan of hers, regardless of the Vietnam era moniker that was given her.

While reading her latest entry, which she wrote while taking a break during rehearsal, she was to attend a fund raiser and hoped to meet....

Voila. Keith Olberman.

This man's fans are everywhere.

For the uninitiated, KO is the host of Countdown with KO on MSNBC at 8PM (Unabashed plug here.)

My mind wanders from KO to the Yankees, which lead me to Boston and then my Uncle John. Random thoughts not very random

The Yankees had their spring season opener today in Dunedin. They won 6-1. This in the midst of A-rod's "junk." (I think I preferred the rumors about Madonna.) He was cheered and booed.

I have not seen the movie The Bucket List, but I am slowly compiling and taking care of some of mine.

A close couple are to see the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium, and also to attend spring training one year. Who knows. My sister does live in FL. And, the Rev. and C go to games. This might be the summer.

I also love Blimps, ever since seeing one of the Goodyear up close during the building of Marco Island in FL. This past Sunday I met someone who designs for blimps. I am going to see about seeing another up close and possibly working the ropes.

Of course, my big #1 is to meet KO.

Can anyone out there help?

I am willing to grovel.

Mandated Laziness

On the 20th, I had the greatest experience.

I had minor knee surgery and stayed awake to watch the procedure. To watch the doctors and nurses dress up, and get everything ready was worth the money.

A circus act.

I was allowed to watch the TV that showed what was going on inside my knee. I could not actually watch at knee level. Thank goodness.

I felt OK when I left the hospital, felt good until about 8 PM. Then the knee block began to wear off.

On top of that I had not gotten the pain medicine. I was relying on what I had from another time.

Did not work.

Spent Jackie's time trying to get me comfortable.

Did not work

During the night, the leg moved on its own, sharp pains accompanied by very loud moans.

The next morning, I felt so much better.

I wanted to walk all over the place. Crutches were brought up from the basement.

That said, I laid in bed with my leg elevated and iced. Doing everything I was told to do, which is nothing.

I keep thinking I should be doing something rather than nothing.

TV. Boring.

So, I began to write.

Sunday, I drove south to Lewes

Their Mission Group was offering me the opportunity to talk about my time in Sudan.

I took the crutches and the ice pack. Left the ice pack.

Then to work on Monday. The doc was correct. I can do this and be back at work on Monday.

Amazing breakthroughs in technology.

But not so amazing for recovery time, especially when you spend too much time walking around and going up and down the stairs.

Good thing I know that Dr. G does not read this blog.

Tough Love

This time last week, I was fortunate to be spending the night with Ginny. She is a wonderful woman who opened her house, head and heart to me last Saturday.

It was the night before I was to "chat" with the people during Sunday services at St. Paul's in Georgetown, DE.

I am offering to tell the story about how God got me to Sudan. The story of Jonah vs. Samuel, Fear vs. Trust, Certainty vs. the Unknown.

Tonight, I am face to face with tough love.

I wonder if it is only in the US that parents, faced with a troubled child, use this method.

I have come to accept the unknown, to give up certainty, or if not to immediately give it up, to recognize what I am feeling.

How else would I have gone and stayed in Sudan?


I do not know what is happening with K. I assume that I know where she is.

I do know that she is not taking her medication. That she will be slipping down an emotional slope.

I do not know how she will climb back up, or if she will climb back up.

I do know that I am surrounded by those that love and care for me.

Can she recognize that in the people around her?

I hope so.

Hope, such a powerful word. Like a road map, or a life line, or tube.

Something to keep us on course, or a float.

I have looked into the eyes of people without hope.

They do not look at you, they cannot focus, they stare into space.

Their bodies look "heavy."

Those are K. eyes.

Tough love.

Tough.

Love.