Christopher Dior Simon's Blog, page 6

I’m living on easy street

Life is good. For me, life is great. I read a book about how if we have water to drink and shower, are literate, have a place to stay, and take other things for granted, we are better off than four billion people. Wow, I didn’t give it much thought.

We are fortunate if we have common sense, are compassionate and generous, can comprehend what we read, and can hear, speak, taste, and smell.

I often speak of some project happening in my room. I’ve really got it going on in my command center. I’ll finish the final touches with my camera and electric blinds in the next week or so. It’s a terrific situation. To think about being diagnosed with ALS fourteen years ago does not compute.

This morning, I directed my nurse to help me go 20 minutes off of the ventilator. I actually spent 24 minutes breathing on my own. I’m blessed to have a never-say-I-quit attitude. I know many of us feel this way.

I will keep living the good life as I prescribe it for me. I’ll try to give and receive as I deem appropriate. I’ll keep my word even if others may not know the meaning of integrity. A promise is a promise. Did I mention that I now look at flowers through my window and have a phenomenally soft cushion underneath my backside? I’m grateful.

I’m manifesting the thoughts previously held that good people would come. I’m living my dream with a DON who goes by the book – policy. She holds people accountable. I imagine some people will leave, and others will come who will hire on with the correct expectation for quality care. Yippee.

Be not simply good – be good for something. Henry David Thoreau. Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi. An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves. Lydia M. Child. Simplysaidbysimon, treat others as you would like to be treated. ALS – Always Living Successfully. Thanks, Belinda.

Two rose bushes

I’m enjoying the picture of my rose bush flower outside my window. It’s from my wife’s anniversary rose bush. Not far from it, I had grown the rose bush from another of her anniversary gifts six years ago when I was at another facility. The growing gift of love embellishes our lives. Like the influence of good friends, who blossom for our benefit, they bring beauty to our lives. Great friends are priceless and give our lives the fragrance to help in our sorrowful process of mourning and grief. Today, my heart is heavy for a friend undergoing phenomenal loss. I hope to be a caring friend at this time.

I remember at this time, what a friend we have in Jesus. I’ll tell Him all about our sorrows and all the grief we now carry. I trust to give my friend’s problems to Him and, with our Lord, leave them there. There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton. Tears are simply the raindrops from the storm inside of us. Tears are how the heart speaks when our lips cannot describe how much we’ve been hurt. Tears are prayers too. They travel to God when we can’t speak.

Simplysaidbysimon, be the friend you hope to have. ALS – Always Loving Savior. Thanks, Vee and others.

Little Changes

Have you ever basked in the joy and happiness of something or someone? It’s been this way for me for a long, long time. It has spread into more and more areas of my life. I’m referring to the subtle changes of gratitude. My mind shift has made this monster of a disease entirely doable until now. For all of my windows of opportunity, I give thanks.

It’s this way with the love of my wife. Like a burning bush, it comforts and warms me. It’s grown over time, like a fire that covers my life but doesn’t consume or destroy it.

Other people are not like that. Their relationship is heavy and can become wearisome with drama, and from one issue to another, if allowed, they would consume us rather than console us during ALS. Be careful when managing family and friends with this kind of influence. It’s difficult to carry the weight of the destructive storms of disease or disability. However, small changes make a monumental change in our lives.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. Henry Ward Beecher. Be not simply good – be good for something. Henry David Thoreau. A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same. Elbert Hubbard. Nothing can be done except little by little. Charles Baudelaire. There is no influence like the influence of habit. Gilbert Parker. Simplysaidbysimon, be careful with what you allow into your life. ALS – A Loyal Servant. Thanks, Jilliane.

Happy 34th Anniversary, Baby

I am the beneficiary of this love from Heaven. From high school, me going off to the Army, our previous unsuccessful marriages, and then to experience these 34 years, it’s been a blessing. I’ll say it again, you are the center of my joy.

Your birthday of our daughter was over the top; a dream come true. What a special blending of us she is. You’ve been a great partner, mother, and caregiver during our experience with ALS and an amazing example until death – let’s stay together. Through any kind of weather… By God’s grace, I’ll always be there.

The home is the chief school to human virtue. William Ellery Channing. Courage is knowing what not to fear. Plato. Simplysaidbysimon, let’s stay together because we have ALS – A Loving Spouse. Thanks to everyone who said this.

It’s been a good week

I have progress to report. The third audiobook version is completed. I’m closing in on publishing the fifth book and writing the sixth book. All the pictures were mounted on the wall, and Miracle Man planted the recent flowers. I’m disabled but not dead.

My breathing on my own increased to twelve minutes this week. I’ll continue to work on what I can. The treatments may be extended to larger numbers one day with positive results. I’ll be ready—mentally and physically. We must not allow other people’s limited perception to define us. Virginia Satir. Either I will find a way, or I will make one. Philip Sidney.

I don’t think I have false hope, but I have hope. My doctor told me not to spend my resources chasing miracle cures. I have followed his recommended strategy. I have, however, held on to hope.

Simplysaidbysimon, don’t ever release your mental grip on hope. I’ll remind us that we are all different and have different ideas of what is hoped for. I remember reading somewhere according to your faith, be it unto you. Probably, it was in the Ancient Book. I know this thread of positive thoughts, the law of attraction, meditation, etc., all say we have some control over what is. Mind over matter; make your hope matter. ALS – Authenticity Left Suspect.

I’m still here

I’m pleased that I spent two days with my sister and that we got some things done. I’m partial to growing flowers, and any person who helps me with that is fine with me.

My CNAs have helped me water and take pictures of what I have grown so far. Some of my caregivers are outstanding and have gone the extra mile for me. The others, well, let’s just say that they’re leaving on a midnight train to Georgia or wherever and however. We have a new DON who I believe to be a great helper. She will help us shape up or get shipped out.

Now, that’s what I’m talking about. There is no excuse for what has happened in this facility for far too long. Accountable performance, a watchful eye, and excellent training and tracking are what I believe to be coming down the track.

I would have it great now if I ever had it good before. I’m still here. After being unattended to for five hours in bed, forgotten on the commode, and a half-dozen or so other atrocities, good times are here. Thank goodness, we’ve got ’em.

I can hardly remember how bad it was at times. Like a woman and childbirth, extreme pain is a memory almost forgotten and keenly refreshed with the next child.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone… Sunshiny days. I am grateful for all of you who care and were ready to jump in and help. My sister was ready to hurt someone about her brother. Put up your sword. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Progress was all right. Only it went on too long. James Thurber. Ha ha. Maybe so, but a change has come. Like a breath of fresh air. Speaking of air, I was off the ventilator this morning for twelve minutes. I’ll gradually work back up to more time. Next, I will begin talking a little. How? I believe it’s still in me. I have been moving my mouth for a long time to keep those muscles used to it. I believe. I work. I don’t give up. We are all different. Simplysaidbysimon, be the one… ALS – Asserting Life’s Supercool. Thanks, Jilliane.

Name your fragrance

Flowers say it all, but I like their message that I am bountifully beautiful, alive and well until I’m not. I will be with you for whatever you’re going through. What do flowers say to you?

It’s a terrific opportunity to be an artist, painting your yard or spot with the abundance of colors they extravagantly display. None can match their adorning. They brighten our facial expressions. Simply stated, they move me. And, when my life is over, they will be there to say goodbye to me and console those loved ones I leave behind.

Thanks to all of you who have given me flowers while I still have breath and can smell their fragrance. My friends, family, and health caregivers have helped to make my life strewn with flowers while I can smell them.

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. Blaise Pascal. Flattery bathes us in costly false speech. Much as a crushed rose leaves its fleeting fragrance, how soon is our essence gone? Simply Said By Simon, the beauty and scent of our well-lived lives touch others with our fragrance. ALS – Amazingly Lasting Smell.

Unoffended

I can not be offended by your truth. I appreciate your perspective and insight. I have the awareness to reach others in dissimilar venues or world views. I’m a work in progress, attaining my goals. I prefer not to offend anyone unnecessarily.

Unfortunately, some people get riled up over people who don’t look like them or believe like they do. Why can’t we all just get along? That’s a good question. Sometimes, it is a learned behavior in the home.

Well, we are here as long as we have breath. Maybe with a wheelchair, walker, or cane- we are doing our best. The home is the chief school of human virtues. William Ellery Channing. Hopefully, we can learn to live and let live.

Today, I am spending my life living and looking to love everyone. Education is the movement from darkness to light. Allan Bloom. I want to learn what you’re going through and how I can help by listening and understanding. Simplysaidbysimon, let’s not turn a blind eye. ALS – Always Learning Something. Thanks, Belinda.

Snacks

Snacks

I’m moving along with glee. Yes, I have a debilitated body, a one-room sugar shack, and I am budgeting my allowance to pay for the audio of my books. So, I have no mobility, money, or monumental excursions. Everything I do is from this one-room command center of jubilee joy. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent Van Gogh.

ALS, don’t get me wrong, is a destroyer of lives and homes. It makes paupers of formerly financial contributors to our families, communities, and government. This disease has robbed our physical and outer strength and threatened what we think about ourselves. ALS be damned and cast into a lake of fire, if I may borrow from the perspective of others. But one thing, among many, that it still hasn’t taken is my appetite for life.

Every day I wake up happy, hungry, and horny. Go figure. I’m excitedly expecting something good is going to happen to me this very day. A lot of bad excrement is flying around, but it can’t touch this. Thanks, Robert Schuller and Hammer. I’m incredibly invincible. Mohammad Ali said he was the greatest before he ever was. I’m sorry if I don’t sound real. I just made up my mind, over time, that I may be lying down, but I don’t have to take this ALS stereotype. I have an indomitable spirit to go way beyond my previously proposed limitations.

I’m old, and I have nothing much more to lose. But, I am somebody. Maybe Jessie Jackson made these words prominent in the Black community, but we are some bodies. From a financial, commercial catalyst, I’m figuratively sticking my head out of the window of this disease imprisonment. I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.

I will take more of my wife’s banana nut bread and lemon blueberry pound cake. Simply said by Simon, life is short; eat your dessert first. ALS—Appreciating Life’s Sweetness.

It is Finished

I have been blessed to enjoy spending my allowance on improving my room. I’m fortunate to have a Miracle Man come and finish what others didn’t get around to. He’s my Earth Angel, and we have begun planting flowers outside. My best friend planted a hydrangea and begonias my sister bought, a rose bush my wife bought for my anniversary present, beautiful orange Marigolds my daughter brought and began planting, and there are more to come.

I’m fully stocked with snacks and have a nice room. Next week, I’ll receive the hub for my smart blinds and set up my camera. It’s done. My room and my outside window flowers are looking mostly good—not bad for someone who supposedly died eleven years ago.

There is nothing that gives you a reliable expiration date or best used by range. Keep living and learning. Add to your experiences and enjoy what you can. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Soren Kirkeguard. Simplysaidbysimon, make life meaningful everyday by ALS- Awesome Life-giving Savior. Thanks, Joyce.