Into the Wild Blue Yonder
Dear SWM Blog Readers,
My return flight to Cairo is scheduled for the wee hours of Tuesday, the twenty-fifth of August, which means that I’m in the last day or so of this year’s summertime visit with family and friends in Texas.
This particular trip back home was very eventful, and thus hectic, especially toward the end, mostly because there was a last-minute family emergency that has been of great concern. Etta Merle Hausenfluck, my maternal grandmother, a woman I’ve always called “Memaw” (doesn’t that sound southern?) and someone I’ve mentioned in these blogs, has had a couple of mild strokes. As a result, I’ve been staying with her, at her country home, and mostly off the Internet. I suppose this is a very convoluted way of saying that I’ve been unable to put together a new blog for this week. For that, I apologize.
Soon, though, I’ll be back at “home” in Cairo and the blogging will come easier since I’ll no longer be living on the highway or out of a suitcase as I have been doing these past several weeks.
Before I wrap this up, I would like to mention a book I’m currently reading. It’s called Carnal Acts, a collection of personal essays by Nancy Mairs, a writer of great courage who candidly discusses, especially in the piece “Carnal Acts,” what it’s like to be a middle-aged American woman stricken with multiple sclerosis, an illness Nancy Mairs has been living with for nearly two decades.
When I bought this book, about a week or so ago now, I had no idea how apropos it would be given my grandmother’s current situation. The book deals with the subject of illness and limitation, but not in a maudlin way. It’s the sort of book my grandmother should read, but that wouldn’t be her way. For as long as I can remember now, my grandmother has been more a woman of action than reflection, so reading is mostly not her cup of tea.
I’ll miss you Memaw. I’ll miss everyone…
Troy
Tags: Health
