Reflections

On reaching my 56th birthday, I felt the call to reflect on this past year of life and my life in general. What a year! Time seems to slip by so easily these days. Memories and events seem to melt together, but some things tend to stick out. I find myself reliving flashbacks from my youth, my college years, early marriage when my daughters were little and memories of my mother and father when they were young, healthy and alive. I never envisioned myself sitting at my computer typing my next THOUGHTS column with a little gray kitten snoozing in my lap and thinking about my life. When I was a ten-year-old boy living on a farm in central Illinois, I certainly never expected I would find myself living in San Antonio, Texas with my artist wife and working at the Alamo, let alone writing a book about that historic place.

This year, my Alamo Book has given me more than my 15 minutes of fame. It seems to be selling quite well in the Alamo Gift Shop. Hardly a day goes by that I am not asked to sign a visitor’s copy of the book. Visitors seem delighted when they hunt me down at the Alamo and match up my picture in the book with the real live person who wrote it. Just today, a woman asked me to step outside so her husband could take a picture of me with her holding the book in front of the Alamo Shrine.

My year of “fame” was tempered, however by my diagnosis of diabetes. It was discovered after I developed double vision. A series of tests determined that I had had the disease for some time without realizing it. Me? I thought I was healthy. The last few months of this year of fame have found me wearing an eye patch, visiting doctors, having tests done and learning how to test my blood sugar twice a day. I now have to take medicine and buy testing supplies. I have to make doctor appointments and do follow-ups. My wife, Lisa, and I are taking classes to learn how to live with a disease that has no cure. I can control it with medicine, diet, exercise and stress management, but as my doctor put it, “you and diabetes are now married.” This year, I have had to take responsibility for my health, something up to now, I took for granted.

Speaking of my wife, this year I have seen Lisa continue to grow as an artist. It has been rewarding for me to watch her have her first solo art show at an upscale wine bar in San Antonio and then move on to several other shows that have displayed her work around Texas. Her work has begun to sell and to be recognized in the local art community. This year Lisa is working on a website to display her artwork and upcoming classes. She will again be teaching at Southwest School of Craft and at ArtCloth Studios here in San Antonio. Lisa enjoys traveling to ArtCloth Studios several times a week where she creates new work for upcoming shows. She has adopted the three studio cats there and they love to watch...and “help” her create. In the coming year, Lisa is looking forward to several new and exciting opportunities for her work as well as some challenging and surprising projects. Stay tuned.

Unfortunately, Lisa’s year was tempered with the unexpected passing of her Aunt Barbara. Some will recall that we named the kitten we found after her aunt. Our new kitten, Babs, has truly brightened our lives in the few weeks she has been with us. She delights in racing around our house, sliding on the wooden floors and relentlessly terrorizing our two older cats, Spike and Sylvie. This little ball of energy turns the most peculiar objects into toys. I get tired just watching her, but she’s a real sweetheart.

This year has had a few difficulties, but overall we love our life here in SA. Our family has brightened our lives. Lisa’s mother moved from Florida to Ft. Worth, Texas, only a few hours away from San Antonio. This has allowed Lisa to see her mom more often. My daughter Erin and her husband were able to come for a visit this spring and this month, we were able to fly to Chicago for a mini-family reunion with my family. Lisa and I were able to spend some time with my daughters, my brother, sister, and their families. I especially welcomed the time I got to spend with my granddaughter, Emma. What an amazing little girl she is. To cap this 56th year of my life, my daughter, Heather, has announced that she is having another girl next April. Emma will have a little sister and Lisa and I will be grandparents again.

My fifty-six years of life have been filled and continue to be filled with wonder. What a blessing.

FOOD for THOUGHT...