Health and Worth

Yesterday I went to Tulsa with Bob and his mother, for the funeral of her Aunt. Aunt E was 92 years old; she had married at the age of 14, and was widowed 26 years ago. She had 8 children, 3 or 4 of whom preceded her in death. The living ones and many grand and great-grandchildren were in attendance. I met Aunt E once or twice, but didn’t know her. SO what’s the point? Well, based on what was said about her, and pictures of her, and my observations of her descendants, not many of her descendants followed her example in lifestyle/values choices. So I got to thinking about MY offspring, and wondered what my purpose was, if I was to have such a minimal impact in their lives, and other such gloomy and introspective thoughts.

At the graveside service (which lasted about 5 minutes), the preacher said in his prayer that we can be a good example, but people get to choose whether or not to follow that example. And I know and believe this to be true, and it cheered me up a little bit.

Then, on the way home, we stopped to have dinner with my grown daughter, T. And we talked about her growing relationship, and she mentioned moving to California for a while – and we all groaned – but then said that they want to do that sooner rather than later, because they don’t want to raise their children in California, and they DO want to homeschool, NOT in California. So it was a sort of side comment, and we didn’t address it further, but upon reflection I am SO happy to know that I/we have been an influence, and that all of our choices haven’t been dead ends as far as generational impact goes. And I’ve often said, and I think I believe it, that I don’t want people to do something simply because I do it, but I do want the fact that I do it to cause them to question why, and to realize that my choices were good choices, and then they can choose them, too – because it’s good, not because it was me. Of course, with my loved ones, I would like to think they’d want to please or imitate me because of me. But that isn’t the main reason; that’s the vain reason. :)

Today I went to my allergy doctor for a 6-month followup. Six months since I took my last allergy shot. I’ve had some sinus pressure and drainage since the trees started blooming, but not sneezing. So he thinks that’s related to the EOE/Gerd issues more than allergens. My latest endoscopy didn’t detect EOE, but I had been faithfully medicating before that, and it’s possible it was in remission due to the medication. So, he wants me to start back on that and see if it helps. We talked a little more, and he ordered a blood allergy test. That should show on paper how much good the shots have done, identify any remaining issues, AND clarify the wheat and peanut issues. He warned that false positives are common on food allergy tests, but there are no false negatives. Also, just because a person isn’t allergic to a thing doesn’t mean they can tolerate it. So, we’ll see. I hope the results aren’t too long in coming. It was five vials of blood! And thank God for insurance.

I’ve started making sourdough again. My first loaf was a little too sour, so I didn’t let the second sit so long. It’s just finished baking, so the results will be out in the morning.