Thanksgiving and Remembrances

Lots has happened over the last couple of weeks. I haven’t been timely in keeping up with the blog, and now Thanksgiving is upon us. I’ll try to play a bit of catch-up here.

First, remembrances…

Last week the world marked the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. There were lots of specials on various news outlets. There were all of the per-requisite conspiracy theories, but I found most of these to be quite interesting.

Many remember where they were when they received the news. I was only two years old at the time, about to turn three. I don’t remember anything. The first person I remember as president was Lyndon Johnson. I definitely remember Nixon’s first election as president.

Also premiering 50 years ago was Doctor Who. In fact, it debuted the day of the assassination. The producers insisted that the first episode be broadcast twice, since no one was watching the first time. William Hartnell’s Doctor in “An Unearthly Child” was quite different from modern interpretations of the character. BBC had an excellent dramatization of the production of those early episodes. The next night was the actual episode to commemorate the anniversary – “The Day of the Doctor”. The episode was broadcast without commercials, and was absolutely fantastic. It hit all of the right notes for the Whovian fandom, and was immensely satisfying.

The classic Doctor Who was broadcast on public TV back in the day. I enjoyed seeing Tom Baker as the Doctor, but couldn’t really consider myself a fan. There seemed to be more random running about, and not much plot. I was a Trekkie, and Who seemed just…silly.

That all changed with the 1996 movie starring Paul McGann. It wasn’t the best of movies, but it grabbed my attention. When the new incarnation started in 2005 I was hooked and have been watching it ever since. I was quite pleased when BBC released a short video showing McGann regenerating into the next Doctor to kind of bridge that gap.

This image of all of the Doctors was quite stunning. I can see that he had an affinity for long coats throughout his various lives.

Now onto Thanksgivings…

Many of my Facebook friends have been doing the daily thanksgiving during the month of November. I didn’t get into that, but of the many things for which I’m grateful I’ve got some specific thanks.

First, I am so very thankful that Laura is still with me to celebrate. I haven’t written anything about it here, but it’s been a rough year. Last year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, so we have had a year of chemotherapy, surgery, and recovery, and all of the uncertainty, pain, and anguish that entails. She is now cancer-free. There will always be uncertainty, but we have passed the major hurdles, and life is returning to normal.

I’m thankful that my mom is doing well. She had a bad fall a couple of weeks ago and fractured her pelvis and broke three ribs. At 85, that was not trivial. She has been undergoing physical therapy and at last report no longer needs a wheel chair. She’s still having trouble getting around and will have a couple more weeks of therapy, but she is recovering very well. She’s feisty and determined.

The bad thing is that she was in the hospital just down the hall from where my father was two years ago, and is in the same facility where he spent his final days. Her room was just around the corner from his, and going to visit her brought back some very painful memories. Given Dad’s passing two years ago about this time of year, Laura’s illness last year, and Mom’s accident this year, I’d really like one autumn that I’m not spending lots of time in various hospital rooms.

I’m thankful that I don’t have a job. I know that sounds weird, especially since so many people are looking for jobs, and many of my friends have employment uncertainty. My last job had become untenable, and I’m sure a heart attack was just lurking around the corner. I’m glad I was able to retire in the nick of time. I still have nightmares about my last job, but I’m recovering.

Retirement has not been boring at all. I’ve been able to get out and do photography, go kayaking, work on my book, and have even had time to practice the piano. I don’t have as much money, and I’m not drooling as much over every neat gadget that comes along, but we have plenty and life is good.

Finally, I’m thankful that the Furman football team finally got its act together. The season started dismally, with injuries that meant we were down to our fourth string quarterback. We lost a string of what should have been easy wins. However, the team healed and they were able to turn things around. Last Saturday they had a resounding win over Wofford to grab a piece of the Southern Conference Championship. It was a three-way tie, so that means no team really had a good year. This Saturday they begin the play-offs with a game against South Carolina State in Orangeburg.

So, tomorrow Laura has a huge turkey she’s planning to cook with all of the trimmings. She didn’t get a chance to cook last year, and really wants to do it right this year. We have family up from Florida, and some of our friends from in town will join us. It will be a big, happy crowd at our house. We will enjoy each others company, but not take anything for granted. Life is good, but it’s also fragile.