Ellen Headlines
I am a terrible patient. I have no tolerance for being sick because in my world, I simply do not have time for such nonsense.
This approach has not always served me well. It has caused me to hemorrhage after a biopsy, sending me to the emergency room for stitches.  It has caused me to muddle through a case of mononucleosis at the ripe age of 35 – way past the age of contracting such a thing – without missing a day of work, when others would be out with a headache or a sore throat. It has also caused me to hemorrhage again after a major operation, spilling two pints of my precious blood supply before the doctor plopped my stubborn self in a hospital bed for three days.
Harry (aka Goober) took a little trip recently. For those of you who don’t remember, Harry is my recently adopted, formerly abused Coonhound. Despite fence reinforcement, he escaped again. My daughter called me one night in a panic because Harry could not be found. I left the lovely Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Function I was attending, and drove 2 hours to Aiken in the dark and the rain. I too looked for Harry. Harry was not to be found.
We finally gave up and went to bed. I left the fence gate open thinking he might return at night. He did not. I got up early and returned to Summerville in the dark and the rain.
No good deed goes unpunished - Emily Dickinson.
This phrase often is quoted by a good friend of mine. I've thought of this saying lately - a lot - in regards to my family's recent adoption of Harry the Coonhound. Harry was punished for barking by his former owners. They wrapped his mouth shut with wire and left it there until it was imbedded in his skin. Eventually, his owners tied him to a fence at the Aiken County Animal Control facility where the good people there found him. They did what they could to repair his face and mouth, but despite their efforts Harry easily qualifies as the world's ugliest dog. But there's an endearing quality that comes with that title.
My aunt passed away December 24th in Maine. I was unable to attend the funeral but was talking to my sister the day before, who was accompanying my dad to Maine. She told me that another aunt, my Aunt Wina, said the visitation would be at the funeral home that she and I had "hiked to" for my uncle's funeral in the late 1990s.
Those years ago, when my uncle passed away unexpectedly while visiting with my family in Connecticut, the family had to deal with transporting the body back to Maine for the funeral.
I know two things:
1. Men and women are different.