On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Small town Sunday

I enjoy quiet days like this one.  Steve, Demi and I went to church, followed by the coffee hour where we chatted with our friends.  Children were making Advent wreaths.

Back home I finished reading Alice Sebold's LUCKY, the memoir of her rape as a 19-year old and the aftermath of police, trial and later relationships.  I used to be a crisis counselor for survivors of sexual assault so the topic brought back stories of others and experiences of my own.  Now the tales I hear are of domestic violence, including marital rape, but the police and trials are quite similar. When it comes to physical crimes, trauma is trauma, and the recovery - physical and emotional - is sometimes quite lengthy.

I finished the last page in time to get over to the Vallejo Home where I was a docent showing the place to visitors from San Francisco.  There were questions about the Bear Flag Rebellion and other bits of California history which I think I answered with some accuracy, but not the kind of depth I would like to acquire. More study time indicated!

And now I'm back home, ready to find the next good read for the evening.  My regular week will be busier, but not frenetic.  It all adds up to a sense of incredible gratitude that we live near a great city, but in a town of only about 9,000 people. In my mind, that's perfection!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a lovely day! Happy belated Thanksgiving and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. nancy

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  2. Hi Nancy - Thank you so much!

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  3. I had to laugh about the size of your town. That's a big city, to me! :) I grew up in a town of 2,500 people, and now they only have about 1500. I taught, for years, in a neighboring town with a population of about 5,000. That was a small city, to us. Lots of good memories of small town life. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Anonymous8:21 AM

    Small towns are good. When I was younger, I scoffed at my hometown and couldn't wait to get to the big city and when I finally got to a medium sized city, I yearned for the small town goodness. The grass is always greener, so they say. Nice sketch, Barbara. Keep those fingers working.

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