IntrinsicTina

Grandfather drove bus in Hollywood during the golden age, "You go Vilshure, you go Wine?", the little Jewish men would ask of him. He was a very attractive, well-pressed man about town, intent upon rising above his humble, poor, dustbowl beginnings.

I've just put a cap on the final episode of a Sons of Anarchy binge fest, and I'm reflecting on my own life experience with bikes, bikers, and outlaw motorcycle clubs.

I learned a bit about Danner ancestry. My sister, Dawn, is an avid genealogist, since joining Ancestry.com. During her visit today, she revealed that our great, great grandfather was a war hero, dying in the civil war; fighting and dying, from dysentary, after being wounded in battle. I was relieved to hear that he fought on the Union army's side, fighting for social justice and human rights, specifically the equality of black people, the abolishment of slavery. She mentioned that she had poor grades in history due to lack of interest. She told me that always felt that history didn't pertain to her. Frankly, that's true for me as well. Memorizing dry dates was so disconnected from our lives, that their significance was lost on us. I felt cheated out of our heritage; she must also feel the loss. Somehow, our 92-year old uncle didn't impart the knowledge to our father. The first Danner to land in America, did so in 1727, nearly 50 years before we became a country. He ...

1 1 2 Towering dogwoods pale yellow in full flower, azaleas and rhodies in fresh bloom, splashing fuschia and crimsons, heavy lavender lilac blooms reach for the sky, while delicate bluebells and white cotton spears carpet the garden floor. But, this is not the garden, it's only the parking lot of my hospice house. Gentle breezes lift my hair, sunshine kisses my arms, warming my smiling, up-turned face, thinning my blood; while the shade reminiscent of winter's grasp, prickles and pokes at my flesh. My first escape from my ALS-inforced prison in months. I'm propelled in my fancy carriage, by my husband's gentle hand. He continues to visit the ruin of his financial life, the love of his life...Me. We've enjoyed 20 springtimes together, breaking out our motorcycles to tour the daffodil fields of Puyallup, Skagit Valley tulip fields, or fuschias in Lewis County; planting dahlia tubers, vegetable seeds, onion sets, flats of marigolds, pansies, and primroses; thr...

I wish that my caregivers were allowed to access my blog. I guess for the sake of privacy laws, I lose what could have been a very valuable resource to communicate. Early on in my AAC device using days, I explored ways to type and save documents using my eyes. I was delighted to find a method to save document files, right on my Tobii Dynavox device. Unfortunately, I also quickly discovered how easily it was to overwrite or, simply, delete a file. Not at all like a Microsoft product. Much too volatile. I find it impossible to describe how morale crushing it was to pour heart, and dogged determination into describing a best practices on my care to find it vaporized precisely when I needed it. I tapped my Microsoft resource who said "not a problem" but it never materialized. People forget. That left an online resource; I already had a blog but would it be compatible with gaze technology? It was. Now I, painstakingly, peck out my heart, soul, complaints, instructions, blurb...

. Literally!  When the plumbing stops up, life is not so jolly...So you should opt-out now if graphic defecation or the unvarnished realities of ALS offends....Cause it's about to get real.

I do not know what to do about my mucus drainage issues.