Joan here...Hmm what can I say?

Yesterday we met some people with ALS and some people who are caregivers of those with ALS. It was a stressful time for both Rick and I. Reality check. We were both not to anxious to be put in that situation. The last time Rick saw others with ALS he had nightmares for two weeks after. We did not know what to expect this time.

We did discover though that everyone has their own unique way of dealing with this thing. We met some wonderful people. Some people are in denial and refuse any kind of help. They act angry and bitter because I think they do not know how to cope. I really believe they are scared of what lies ahead. And some people I believe are just in plain old shock! What Rick and I have experienced, (I can only speak of us so far), is that if we stand together as a team, as partners, as one, we seem to be able to make decisions in peace and harmony. Rick has to see me as on "his team" and I have to see him on "my team",we are partners, we are here for each other. I believe that is what has made us so united and peaceful through some of these initial trying times. I just pray for each of the couples and families dealing with this disease that they too find that place of peace, the peace that passes all understanding, oneness, unity, and "team spirit". United we stand....divided we fall!

What a day....
Rick and I arranged for the purchase of a transfer chair...which means to me an even lighter chair than what I thought we had already! Hey... only 19 lbs...one bag of potatoes...I can handle that! We will keep that one in the trunk of the car and the other one for the house. We are so thankful for the people who have invented these things!
We drove out to Whitemouth today in the drizzle and cold of the day. It is suppose to be just about May not March. We drove in Rick's dad's truck as we borrowed it to move stuff this week. As we drove down the highway it was so incredibly magical. The truck has a spot where I could sit right next to Rick and really snuggle with him. He drove with his arm around me the whole way. We kept looking at each other and talking and talking and expressing how wonderful this was that we could be together! I wanted this to never end!!!

We finally went in and got our new mail box for Whitemouth. Box 77. Love those easy numbers. We need simple in our lives these days.

Oh yeah...yesterday morning we decided over our morning coffee to get a furnished apartment just for the month to ease up on Jake and Val some. They have been working around the clock. We then went around looking for some furnished apartments. Found two available for the 1st of the month. Looks like we will be taking the apartment in the apartment block that we first were together in. It is smack downtown. Talk about making a full circle. It is a very modest furnished apartment. We took that one over the other one even though it was not as nice because it was so comforting to go to a place that we were both familiar with and have so many wonderful memories there. Creatures of habit! Needers of security!

The sad part was though when we walked into the apartment I fell apart and started crying...it was like a home away from home for us right now in the midst of a storm! If you saw our house right now you would understand what I mean. I am sure the rental lady thought I had lost it...hey...I did!!! It is funny how we humans grasp for things that make us feel secure when our world is upside down. Our families have been so generous and have offered us to stay with them which we are so grateful for but right now...for us we needed our own place. We have so much work to catch up on and things to plan.

We are so looking forward to moving to Whitemouth and getting settled down! We look forward to meeting many new people also. And it is so close to the lake where Rick loves to spend time. For those of you who don't really know my husband he loves to fish....and I love to eat the fish!!! We always have this big discussion when we catch the fish...he says it is too small to keep...and I say there no such thing as a fish too small that we can't eat it! I am sure it goes back to my growing up days when each winter my dad would buy a huge potato sack of fish. On Sundays dad would do the cooking and would make us fish (when in stock) with his special home made fries. It was the time when he would let us eat and eat until we would bust! He was always inventing new dips for those homemade fries. We had ketchup fries way before they even were on the market. So to me if you catch a fish it was meant to eat... not throw back!

Not only does Rick love to fish...but he loves to feed the birds!!! He is such a kind man. He hauls big bags of bird seed regularly home from the store to put in our feeders in the back yard and out at the lake. The irony of it is in our neighbourhood most of our neighbours have cats! So I am sure you get the picture ...the cats love our yard!!! Lots of birds!!! It got so bad last summer that we got a notice from the human society because someone complained that we need to take care of the scruffy looking cat that we have! Needless to say we were not impressed as we were spending all our time trying to shoo the neighbours cats out of our yard!!!

For those of you who enjoy the numbers...here are some for you....
our new telephone number in part (don't want to advertise it over the net) is 2808 our anniversary is 2808...and our new apartment no is 508...we thought that was interesting? but hey how does box 77 get into the mix??? I guess for variety....lol!

I will close by saying once again thank you to all you wonderful, caring and loving people! It may not be Rick nor I that can be in a position to help you out in your time of need but I do know this...there will be someone there for you!!!