DID YOU MISS ME? i'VE BEEN HERE-THERE-AND EVERYWHERE!

I know!  I know!

It has been a long time since I posted

about anything except

cancer and death.

Contrary to popular belief

those are NOT my two

favorite topics!

Once we got the old boy cleared of

CANCER

I decided to run away from home!

My daughter, Tara, her three girls and I

took off to see my daughter, Mimi,

and her two boys and little

BRIGHT EYES.

We stayed in Indiana a couple of days on our way 

to Florida.  

This was a trip promised to Lulu so she 

could see her Michigan friend that stays

at the same condo complex that we 

always stay at.

Mimi's hubby was out of town

so she decided to follow us south

for a couple of days.

We headed to Gatlinburg.

Now I know all you Suthern' gals are used to

THE HEAT

but let me tell ya---

this northern girl thinks 102 degrees is about

50 degrees hotter than I like.

Now-I did NOT go on this.

While the other kids went

I watched Baby Bright Eyes sleep.

Here is what she looked like when she got up

and discovered Mom,

her brothers, 

 and her cousins were gone.

This is what she looked like when I gave her

ICE CREAM-

 Nana's sure know the tricks, don't they?

Did I mention it was 

HOT?

I felt like dropping a bag of ice cubes

in my bra to cool off but 

thought people might talk if

I started dripping

from somewhere besides

my forehead!

Leaving Gatlinburg, Mimi & her kids 

headed home to Indiana while 

Tara, Lulu, Ria & SweetCheeks & I

continued on to Florida.

Lulu spent a lot of time hanging out

with her friend, Gabby.

I had Lulu convinced that her real name was

GABREIELLA- (pronounced like Cinderella).

She was so embarrassed to think she had

been pronouncing her friend's name wrong

for the past three years.

Finally, Gabby (on the right) 

took pity on her and told

her the truth....darn kid!

That is Lulu giving me the 

'you're so stupid, Nana' 

hairy eyeball.

The other two sisters-

Ria & SweetCheeks

spent a lot of time 

BOOGY BOARDING.

and hugging-

when they weren't arguing about whose turn

it was to sit in the third row seat.

I spent my time reading and watching 

the sun come up....

and the moon rising----

I have lots more to share

 and much to tell you

but right now I have to fix the

old boy something to eat.

This is what he likes best!

Tube feeding sure is EASY---for me!

I've been trying to find these 

Talking Ensures

to keep him company while he

FILLS UP.

So far, no luck.

Let me know if you see any out there!

I will keep you posted as to what

else is going on here...

It's A LOT!

Off to visit a few of you before

I fall asleep sitting up!

The Storm Has Passed- Thank You!

Thank You! Thank You !

THANK YOU!!!!

The scary storm that surrounded us that we called

CANCER

has passed.

Here is a message from John to give you an update.

I will be back around blogland in the

not-too-distant future.

Here is his message as it appears on 

The Caring Bridge

Hello all. Diana and I are pleased to tell you that the PET Scan was clear and I appear to be cancer free! We are so thankful to all of you for your constant and fervent prayers and support. You have no idea how touched and blessed we have been through this whole ordeal. We have become closer as a couple and we have gained many new friends. We have learned to trust God completely for our health and well being. We have gained faith and belief in the power of prayer. We have been humbled by the love and concern others have shown for us. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! In addition, I have been cleared to go back to work on June 28th as a Chaplain at Bellin Health. I will take a new perspective in empathy towards patients, especially cancer patients, as I truly do understand what they go through while on their cancer journey. For this I am also deeply thankful. We would also like to thank the Caring Bridge staff for providing this platform to share our healing experience. We know that all journeys  do not end so well, and feel very blessed that ours has come to this result. At this moment, there are so many others that need all of our prayers. With that thought in mind,this will be our last post as I seem to have made it over the "cancer bridge" as Diana so aptly named it. We hope not to see any of you on,nor need to personally use Caring Bridge for many years. We will now use it to pray for others.Thank You all once again. May God keep and protect us all, may He continue to guard and heal all of our physical bodies from sickness and harm, and may He be with you all.  

With Kindest Regards and Much Love, John and Diana.

OUR FRIEND, MIKE, FOUND HEAVEN THIS MORNING- ROGER FOUND IT EARLIER

I don't even know where to start

with this post.

To say we are in a state of shock

would be an understatement.

A while back I did a post

about MyHero's friend, Mike.

MyHero and Mikey have been friends

since they were young.

They drank together when they were young

and gave the devil a chase down the alley

on more than one occasion.

However---

In their early adulthood they settled down.

(well-kinda-almost) 

 Mike led a jail ministry and witnessed

about how God had changed his life 

to anyone that would listen

and to some that didn't want to listen, too.

When Mike and his wife were younger they

had a band.

He had a phenomenal voice and sang like

Kenny Rogers and they made beautiful

music together.

These are pictures of Jan & Mike

each taken with their youngest son, Nate.

I am stealing Nate's pictures but

I don't think he will mind.

About 20 years ago Mike had 

almost the same cancer

that MyHero has now.

He beat it but lost a tremendous amount of weight

and has never been able to eat properly 

since then.

He became weaker and weaker and lost

his ability to do much of anything.

MyHero convinced him to get a feeding tube

several weeks ago.

Mike started to put on weight 

and was feeling better and brighter.

He went back to leading his bible study group

and was 'plugged in' to life again.

This morning, unexpectedly, God called

Mike home.

We are all in shock at this point because

he was feeling better than he had felt in years.

Maybe we all needed to see the 

OLD MIKE 

before he became the 

NEW MIKE in Heaven.

He leaves behind a beautiful wife, Jan,

Two sons, Chad & Nate,

a sweet daughter, Terra,

(plus their spouses)

and beautiful grandchildren.

Please pray for them as they navigate the waters

of grief.

Also, pray for John/MyHero as he mourns the 

loss of yet another long-time friend.

We also lost another friend, Roger, 

earlier this week.

I have not had an OK to do a post about him

so I will make this brief.

Please just send prayers and healing thoughts

to his family, too-his wife and two sons

and spouses and grandkids.

God will know who you are talking about.

Just say you are praying for 

Roger-who was bigger than life!

ps.  He was a musician, too...

I bet he and Mikey are up there

setting those angel toes a-tapping.

Not sure Heaven was ready for 

either of them!!!

A MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE-

I wrote this for Memorial Day

a few years ago but I think it is

relevant every day.

This means even more to me now that I am

volunteering at the VA Center here. 

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is here once more,

We fly the flags above our door,

We plant our flowers that mark the grave,

Of every soldier that was so brave,

They fought for freedom for everyone,

Many lives snuffed out by a sniper's gun.

We proudly march in our little bands,

As daybreak filters across our lands,

But I wonder if we can truly see,

What cost it was to make us free.

Confederate soldiers fought the Yanks,

Some brothers fought brothers in those ranks,

To free the downtrodden that were lost,

To free all men at any cost.

My father was a medic in World War One,

A war not talked about by anyone,

Some men lost limbs and some were gassed,

Some were picked up by comrades, others 

bypassed.

World War II! How tragic indeed,

People standing by watching others bleed.

Souls thrown to the winds with no remorse,

Foreign government standing on their own 

course.

Vietnam was not a war they said,

Then how come so many soldiers ended up 

dead?

No heroes welcome for them in sight,

They slunk home in the dead of night.

Should I go on-with Korea & Desert Storm?

Iran? Afghanistan? Are you getting warm?

Do you feel the pain you see in their face?

Does it make you squirm in your warm, safe 

place?

I've just one more thing I'd like to say,

It's about celebrating Memorial Day,

Look around and everything you see,

Was paid out in blood so that we are free.

Put your hand on your heart,

For the blue, white and red,

Raise your eyes to the flag,

Say a prayer for the dead.

Because of a soldier I can have my say,

So ~God Bless you this Memorial Day~

And To All Our Soldiers-

© Diana Kosmoski 5/31/10

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND & Update on John

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, People.

We have lots of exciting stuff going on

this weekend.

Yes. We. Do.

Our sweet Lulu is graduating from

EIGHTH GRADE!

She is singing at the graduation mass

in the morning.

She is the only girl in her school that they 

ask to sing solos.

She is as beautiful on the inside as she is

on the outside.

A real blessing to us.

My daughter, Mimi, came up from IN

to share the Memorial Day weekend with us.

Her hubby had to work at a

Harley Davidson rally (poor boy)

but her entourage includes

TWO TREE HUGGERS

and 

ONE SCREAMER

Also called 

DIRTY GIRL~

It should be a fun weekend

with kiddos and a graduation party.

As for MyHero:

If you are wondering what a neck looks like

after radiation and chemo

this is it.

Close your eyes if you are squeamish.

There has been NO SURGERY at this point.

He is ever-so-slowly improving.

He is still very fatigued and often feels

light-headed and dizzy.

He has a hard time sleeping at night-

although he gets a few hours at a stretch.

He usually naps a few hours a day.

He still cannot eat and is using 

the feeding tube for all his meals.

Nothing 'tastes' right and he has trouble

swallowing anything other than liquids.

I am thinking of getting him a special gift

as he recovers.

He has always loved fish.

Wouldn't this be an

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT GIFT?

There are even online demonstrations!

If you have never seen this you have missed 

something special!

It is only THIRTY SECONDS LONG.

Turn your volume up and enjoy this

FREE DEMONSTRATION!

Looks good, doesn't it?

In every dark cloud there is a silver lining, right?

I don't have to COOK!

I can have a huge bowl of ice cream salad 

for every meal

and no one says a thing.

AND-Whenever MyHero says he doesn't feel

VERY USEFUL

I remind him that he certainly has a 

God-given purpose in his life.

See what I mean!?!!

HAPPY (and I do mean SMILING HAPPY)

Memorial Day!

WHAT? Not a Prayer Request Post? NOPE- It's FANCY ANNA AT A PAGEANT-

It seems like it has been FOREVER

since I did a normal, fun post.

Finally!  Here you go!

I felt that MyHero was well enough

to stay alone for the weekend

if the local kids would check on him.

They did- calling to assure me

that he had NOT burned the house down

mainly because he can't eat anything cooked.

SOOOO

I drove to 

Lafayette, IN 

to watch 

Little Miss Bright Eyes

(aka Anna Ireland)

in a toddler pageant.

First, I want to say that 

my daughter, Mindy Rose, is 

NOT A PAGEANT MOM AT ALL.

She did this on a fluke.

Bright Eyes wore a dress that has been

worn at least 7 or 8 times-

including by her older cousin-

WHO HAPPENED TO BE

the FLOWER GIRL at 

Mindy Rose's wedding!

Who would have thought

one day her own little girl would be wearing

that same dress?

Anyway,

Anna Ireland was the youngest 2 year old 

in the pageant.

She competed in the 2 year old competition.

One was for 'dress up'

and one was for a pageant issued

Tshirt which I took in and 

Mindy blinged up.

It was huge on her. 

She wears a size 24 months and this was

a size 5 or 6 Tshirt.

Thank goodness for needle/thread/scissors.

I will say she had 

THE CUTEST Tshirt there!

Anna, not being versed in

PAGEANT ETIQUETTE

heard the song

"Let It Go" (from Frozen)

playing as they walked onstage.

She LOUDLY sang

LET IHT GO-LET IHT GO-LET IHT GO

over and over again

which made everyone laugh

(except the competing mothers).

We could not take any pictures inside

the room or she would have been eliminated.

But we took some outside.

She was so good-never cross or bratty.

She loved riding the 'elvaator'.

So...how did she do?

She was entered into three categories

(which you had to decide when you got there)

She took FIRST PLACE in all three of them.

I hope I get these right!

Future Model Star/Face(?)

Attire

Personality

AND she came in 2nd runner up overall.

Pretty good for being a 'newbie'.

Her favorite game in the hallway-

ON THE CHAIR~

OFF THE CHAIR!

There were some little girls that

had lots of make up on.

To her credit,

Mindy did NOT put a 

speck of makeup on Anna.

She has the 'high color' that comes

from my side of the family-

ruddy cheeks and light eyes.

The only thing she did was tame her

already curly hair down.

So here you see--

BED HEAD -

Before and After

Now for your laugh of the day-

Mindy Rose decided it would be FUN

to give Anna a

Retro NANA LOOK from the 1990s.

My OTHER SMART MOUTHED DAUGHTER, Tara,

said that she even had the 

Nana Pouty Lip thing down pat.

I may cut then ALL out of the will........

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY-IS NOT SO HAPPY FOR SOME

I wrote this several years ago 

and I got so many private emails

from women who felt that I had

 'hit the nail on the head'.

Not all women have been blessed

with wonderful mothers.

I am away for the weekend.

Our first 'outing' since last Fall 

when John started cancer treatment.

However, I wanted to post this for all of you.

Mother's Day

Some of us have been blessed with wonderful Mothers.

Some of us have Mothers that were not quite so admirable.

Some of us have Mothers that praised us and adored us,

Some of us have Mothers that never said a kind word.

Some of us have Mothers that loved us unconditionally.

Some of us have Mothers that loved us only

if we met all her expectations,

and even that was not enough.

Some of us have Mothers that smiled readily.

Some of us have Mothers that never found much to smile about.

Some of us have Mothers that~

whatever we did~ it is more than they hoped for.

Some of us have Mothers that

no matter WHAT we did-it was never 

"quite right".

Some of us have Mothers that had a charmed childhood.

Some of us have Mothers that were raised in pain & shame.

Some of us have Mothers that

 need us & want us in their lives.

Some of us have Mothers that are needy

 and we seldom see them.

Some of us have Mothers that complete our lives.

Some of us have Mothers that

leave us aching, wanting and empty.

Some of us have Mothers that stand

on this side of the Great Beyond.

Some of us have Mothers that have passed

 over this earthly barrier.

Some of us will emulate our Mothers.

Some of us will vow to never be

anything like our Mothers.

Some of us are happy and fulfilled,

no matter what kind of Mother we had.

Some of us will never be happy

even if we were nurtured by an amazing Mother.

Today I am blessed to be a Mother.

My daughters are blessed to be Mothers, too.

Today I vow that I will be

the best mother (and grandmother) I can be.

Today I vow that I will love

as deeply as I can those that share my life.

Today I know that I am blessed indeed~

Today I hope that you find blessings

in your own life-

and love your Mother

even if it is just because she gave you life.

~Happy Mother's Day from Me to You~

©Nana Diana