Sorry I haven’t created any entries for you since July. I do have a good excuse, actually 3 excuses. We’ll see if they pass muster.

First, I was out of town at a conference. I took my niece Roni with me on a business trip to Vancouver, B.C. We managed to have a good time even though I had some obligations at the conference every day and neither of us was feeling well.

It was the ISPO (International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics) conference, which I attended because my job at the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University has given me the opportunity to compile a catalog of adaptive technologies for landmine victims. Our researcher, Maureen Morton, and I thought we might discover some good information for the project and possibly find some interested donors as well. Only time will tell if our efforts were productive.

I came back home August 4 and the afternoon of August 5 found me in the hospital with angina, which later developed into a full-blown heart attack that required emergency surgery to implant a stent in my LAD artery. They kept me flat on my back for three days, then finally let me get up late at night on Wednesday. I went home on Thursday.

The following week my niece, Nessa (17 and pregnant) was hospitalized off and on most of the week with a kidney infection. Then she went into labor at 2:30 am on August 17. Baby Amelia Kaye Bowman arrived at 8:28 am. Mom and baby are doing great. In fact, Nessa delivered on Friday and started Blue Ridge Community College the following Monday!

On August 23, I went back into surgery for another cathetization, expecting to have another stent put in the second blocked artery. Amazingly, the artery had cleared itself and nothing was required. So now I’m on six different medications each day and following a diabetic diet (having also been diagnosed with this disease while in the hospital!).

I’m back at work about six hours a day. I still get tired, mostly from the medications, but I’m doing very well. I started cardiac rehab at the hospital last Monday. They promise to whip me back into shape.

I plan to avoid having any more heart attacks. They hurt!

Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes. It seems they worked quite well.

~Lois

It’s been a pretty tough three weeks. My sister Judy lost her battle with small cell lung cancer on February 16. She was only 50 years old.

Judy and I never got along when we were kids. I was four years older than she was and I didn’t want a little kid hanging around with me all the time so I constantly told her to get away from me. But like most little sisters, she kept coming back. We shared a room together for about a week, once. I guess I complained so much that my mom let me switch rooms. I was much happier sharing with my baby sister than Judy. Judy was messy; I was clean. She liked to take my things and play with them. I hated that.

But when we were older, Judy and I finally became friends. We still didn’t have a lot in common, but we could talk and have a good laugh together. And Judy loved to laugh. She had a good one! She was a good, kind soul and I miss her.

~Lois

It’s been snowing and sleeting here for a couple of days.
The roads are pretty bad. We might just have to make dinner
at home and cuddle up to watch a movie for Valentine’s Day!

Madeline, our granddaughter, turned 4 last Friday. She was
SO excited; she practically screamed on the phone. We sent
her several new outfits for school. “I’m wearing the pants
you bought me,” she said. “Which ones?” I asked. “The ones
you got me.” “What color are they?” “Pink!” (We had sent her
at least 3 pairs of pants so I didn’t know which one she was
wearing.)

I hope you are having an awesome 2007!

~Lois

Being a veterinarian, I was called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life—like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The four-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

SMILE with your Eyes.
LAUGH with your Heart.
LOVE with your Soul.

~Lois

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups—porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain, ome expensive, some exquisite—telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously or subconsciously went for the best cups . . . and then you began eyeing each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the “coffee” God has provided us.” God brews the coffee, not the cups . . Enjoy your coffee! The happiest people don’t necessarily HAVE the best of everything. They just MAKE the best of everything they have.

~Lois

Do you have a mission statement? Most businesses have them; at least the larger ones do. But until recently, I had never heard of a person having a mission statement.

It tribute to my niece Ailish, who recently passed away, I’d like to share her mission statement, which I think is
amazing for a young woman of just 26 years old! I can learn a thing or two from her. Perhaps you can, too.

Ailish Barcelo’s Mission Statement

Ailish (left) Ailish/Halloween (middle) Tammer/Colleen/Ailish (right)

~Lois

Anne Stephens, former executive director of Women’s Forum, will undergo heart surgery for an irregular heartbeat problem in January.

Anne’s recovery time is expected to be about 8 weeks. Please hold her in the Light and say a prayer for her for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. I’m sure she would appreciate cards, flowers, cash, visits and any good intentions you want to send her way, too!

You can find Anne’s contact information in the membership directory. If you are a member and you don’t have a current directory, please let me know and I’ll mail you one.

Holley Watts let us know that she has postponed her wedding until sometime after the new year. The happy couple wants to celebrate in style and the arrangements were not falling into place exactly as they had hoped. She can use a few good thoughts coming her way, too.

Linda Hoover’s mother is currently in the hospital, but she appears to be improving. Please say a prayer for Linda and her mom for a speedy recovery.

Lois’ nephew Tammer is getting better daily. He was in a car accident on November 25 and he suffered head trauma. He has lost his short-term memory, but the doctors expect him to recover. Thank you for continuing to send Light and prayers to Tammer, his cousin Mostafa, and the entire family. Ellen (Tammer’s mom) needs lots of love and Light sent her way, too!

Kathy Moran had planned to speak at Women’s Forum in January, but her mother is having surgery the day before our meeting, so she had to cancel. Our prayers are also with Kathy as her father recently passed away.

~Lois

Women’s Forum Member, Kathy Moran Named to Raymond James Financial Services’ 2007 Executive Council

Kathy Moran, a retirement plan consultant and independent financial advisor who owns and operates a comprehensive retirement planning and investment management firm affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. in Staunton, Va., heads the list of Virginia financial advisors named to the firm’s 2007 Executive Council in recognition of outstanding client service and exemplary professional growth.

Executive Council honors are presented only to those financial advisors who have demonstrated an extremely high level of commitment to clients through personal service and professional integrity.

Moran, who has been affiliated with Raymond James since 1999, has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. Additionally, she has 8 years experience in the technology industry and is widely known for her ability to communicate complex issues in simple, understandable terms. “We help people to and through retirement. It’s a lengthy relationship. Our success is attributable to sound advice and straight-forward communication” says Moran.

Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., is a national investment firm providing financial services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through more than 3,400 financial advisors in 2,000 offices throughout the United States. For more than 30 years, Raymond James Financial Services has provided a wide range of services through our affiliate, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Both broker/dealers are wholly owned subsidiaries of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE-RJF), a financial services holding company which has more than 4,800 financial advisors serving 1.2 million accounts throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In addition, total client assets are approximately $168 billion, of which approximately $31.5 billion are managed by the firm’s asset management subsidiaries.

For additional information, please contact Kathy Moran at 540.248.5120.

~Lois

As much as I’d like to always be positive, this week I simply need to ask for your prayers.

My sister Judy came to visit for about 10 days and went home yesterday. I don’t think it will be very long before she passes away. She’s has small cell lung cancer and has given up, frequently saying things like, “This will be my last Christmas.” I know she’s being realistic, but it’s not a very good fighting attitude. I want her to fight, fight, fight, but she’s tired, tired, tired and in pain, too. The cancer just keeps coming back in a new spot every time they get one part under control.

Then on Sunday on our way to Quaker meeting I received a phone call from my former sister-in-law, Julie Krivitz, who told me that two of my nieces, Colleen Fay and Ailish Barcelo, had been killed in a car accident near Cairo, Egypt, where they were visiting my former sister-in-law (their aunt), Ellen Fadel, and her son, Tammer. I’ll be in Wisconsin for the girls’ funerals all next week.

Pictured here are Tammer, Colleen and Ailish in Egypt (L to R)

Tammer and his Egyptian cousin, Mostafa, were also in the car and are both in a coma in different hospitals in Cairo. All four are in their mid-twenties. Colleen is Jim and Mary Fay’s oldest daughter; Ailish is the oldest child of Mary-Frances Fay and her ex-husband, Pedro Barcelo. Tammer is the second child of Ellen Fay Fadel and her husband, Abbas Fadel. My ex-husband, Dan, is the oldest sibling in the family, then Mary-Frances, Ellen, Jim, and 5 more. Jim passed away from heart problems 3 years ago so Mary is having to face this whole ordeal without a life partner.

We could use a lot of prayers for the two boys, the entire Fay family, and my sister, Judy Wilburn. If you’re the praying type, please pray for us all.

~Lois