The Sunny Side of Sunday morning

Deb was awake about every hour or so last night in hospital bed across the hall from our master bedroom.She's now napping in the recliner chair. Friends brought us a early morning brunch and shared an encouraging visit and prayed for us. We were both up and dealing with meds at 3:30 am. We place the meds and water in a pouch on her bed rail so she can access pain killer if needed in case she can't wake me in the middle of the night. Her voice is very soft and I tend to awaken and listen at every noise in case she needs me no matter how hard she tries not to awaken me. After 35.5 years of together, I hear her every moan and wiggle.

Deb has told several folks that my blogging tends to the cheerie side of a dark situation. Perhaps so. I'm not intentionally trying to hide my head in the sand or mislead you.

One of the most profound musical lyrics to me is an old 1930's era Carter family tune about "Keep on the Sunny Side of Life." The song acknowledges that there is a dark side of life and a dark perspective, but at the same time, there is a brighter or'sunny side' and that we should 'keep on the sunny side.'I try to do that.

Songwriters: Carter, A P; Garrett, Gary


There's a dark & a troubled side of life
There's a bright, there's a sunny side, too
Tho' we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

[cho:] Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us ev'ry day, it will brighten all the way
If we'll keep on the sunny side of life

The storm and its fury broke today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear;
Clouds and storms will, in time, pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear.
Let us greet with the song of hope each day
Tho' the moment be cloudy or fair
Let us trust in our Saviour away
Who keepeth everyone in His care

I know folks who dwell on the dark side and it colors their perspective on all things. I like to deal in facts and truth, yet take the positive outlook on them. So, while we are dealing in the early days of a horrible killer disease for which there is no cure, just treatment, I am trying to see that in spite of the dark days ahead as we plunge into the chemo and hard days, there is a brighter day coming after all that.

Deb and I had discussed retirement and how we would live it out. We really had no particular desire to make many changes to our present living arrangements and had no particular answers to how we would approach that season of life. Now that we have this disease to cope with, our next season of life has begun to take shape.

We had planned to have a hangar party this summer to celebrate our 120th birthday about midway between Deb's March 15th and my Oct 16th b-days. You guess what that means??? Hopefully, you can attend whenever we are able to have it. Will you come ?