Thursday, February 8, 2018

Pretending

Stop pretending everything's okay. Stop pretending. Things are not okay. Everything is out of control. Everything is not okay. I'm afraid but I'm pretending that I'm not.  Need the job so I can get health care. Can't survive on my SS and very small IRA. I cannot afford to retire.

Health issues. Several now. Memory loss maybe from being under anesthesia too long-9 hours.  Maybe from my maternal grandmother who had dementia. Maybe from depression and anxiety. Or maybe because for years I have said to myself I wish my most painful memories of abuse would disappear. Maybe that wish will come true. I failed my first memory test, scored 34 out of 40. Now waiting to be scheduled for more tests to make final diagnosis.

Rota-tor Cuff surgery, still in PT, has been 5 months since the surgery, and 4 months in PT.. I was given a pain block before the shoulder surgery, and that froze my diaphragm. Could not breathe on my own for almost 20 hours.  Had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance and stay overnight. I believe this experience was in part one of the reasons why I suffered so much anxiety and depression during Nov, Dec and Jan.

Still diabetic, and now having difficulty controlling my eating so my sugars are too high. I have been able to do it, but not doing it now. I have put back on half of the weight that I lost. So photos of me make me cringe. I pretend I am not old and fat in my head.

Still always tired. Recent tests show I might have developed hyperparathyroidism. Have to collect a 24 hour cycle of my urine for further tests to know for sure. My inbox is filled with emails from UMHS. I feel close and safe and taken care of there. It would hard to let go of that after 12 years. 

My blood pressure is high, too high, and next I will be testing my blood pressure in addition to testing my blood sugar twice a day. It all scares me. I blame myself.

In November and even during the Dyke March work in Buffalo, I learned that I may think of Buffalo as my home, but Buffalo doesn't think about me anymore. I don't have a sense of belonging to that place because no one knows me. I feel invisible there. The sexual abuse I suffered as a child now wherever I go. Here in A2 I don't feel I belong. Only the people I work with really know me, and they only know my work personae.

Jimmy Cagney may be my model for my basic behavior and personality.  Short, stocky, quick, deliberate, fierce look on my face that I never believe I have, and I am no pushover. That's probably not good at this point in my life and way overused, or not necessary at all with the people in my life now. 

Life is a continual series of lessons. And I suppose I would worry if I ever got to the point in my life when that stopped, but yet I act like a know it all.  

As I child, a young child, I had to find safety. I had to pretend every thing was ok, so that no one would know who I really was. So a tough stance stepped up, confidence was a good cover, better sound like you know what you are talking about. Work hard. Long work hours to occupy your mind and keep the never ending roll of images and memories at bay. Too busy to think about anything.

Head down and move forward. Be funny. Thanks Mom. My goal  was to make her laugh. Her laughter hurt less than her anger.




Thursday, January 4, 2018

civility at work




1.      We greet and acknowledge each other.
2.      We say please and thank you.
3.      We treat each other equally and with respect, no matter the conditions.
4.      We acknowledge the impact of our behavior on others.
5.      We welcome feedback from each other.
6.      We are approachable.
7.      We are direct, sensitive, and honest.
8.      We acknowledge the contributions of others.
9.      We respect each other’s time commitments.
10.  We address incivility.

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Goodbye 2017 and hello 2018

I'm drinking tea because I want my Dad close to me today. But i need coffee. Both bring memories of dad back to me. All of them happy. He made tea at home and we went out for coffee, always in search for a good cup of coffee. Every breakfast place had to have good coffee or we just did not go there. Christ if you can't get the coffee right...we'll go some place else.

Live with intention.
Magic happens when you don't give up, even though you want to.The universe always falls in  love with a stubborn heart.
Turn my presence into power
Go outside often.

my health has declined significantly
I feel like a big blob of nothingness
not fit for human contact

It is desperately difficult for me to say good bye to K and J after a visit. I had the hardest time this last time. I wept and wept. You know those big blubbering nose running kind of sobbing.  Every where ai turned there was a memory from the past few days. What was in the refrigerator, or re-arranging the cupboards content back to what it was, drinking the left over wine all by myself. The place is too quiet and it does not feel cozy and full any more. I feel such crippling loneliness. after every visit I go through some sort of ritual downsizing. I clean out a messy drawer of tidy up the closet. Put it all back in order and spend more time with the cats.

2017 brought me greater comfort with K and got to know J much better.
But not much else. It was a difficult and disappointing year.  The burden of the media attention on sexual assault was both good and bad for me. It was a roller coaster that i sometimes willingly rode and other times just as willingly sat some rides out.  Is it a big watershed moment?  It could be. Time will tell us either what we fear, another backlash or a surprise 2018 mid term election results.

I gave up on some things. I gave up on stressing about a lot of crap at work. I gave up on trying to moderate my eating, or control even small parts of it. I ate food this past year that i have not eaten in 10 years. McDonald's. Ate plenty of dairy when no one was looking. Mac and cheese mostly. Seriously sometimes every day or twice a day.

And wine. Every day some wine. I drink wine every day. Some days I start as early as 3.  Today at 1:42 I have already started.



NEVER GIVE UP
Never give up
No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country
Is spent developing the mind
Instead of the heart
Be compassionate
Not just to your friends
But to everyone
Be compassionate
Work for peace
In your heart and in the world
Work for peace
And I say again
Never give up
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up"

- Dalai Lama XIV
http://www.thesmartwitch.com
[Image: The Guardian By Chie Yoshii. Visit this talented artist at: http://www.chieyoshii.com/paintings.html.]

starting over

always starting over.
just start
that is advice I hear
Just start
So I am

Trips home boycott my efforts
I ate
and ate
I ate potato chips- 3 bags mostly by myself.
I ate whatever I wanted
candy cookies cake 

Shondra-why write

I wrote myself into every character. I wrote my own histories. My heartbreaks. My loves. My family and my friends. My victories and my disasters. My life is in every episode. Who I am is in every episode. For me, the show is sort of a diary — I can watch it and know

Who I am is in every episode. For me, the show is sort of a diary — I can watch it and know exactly what was going on in my real life when an episode was written.
Writing 'Grey’s' gave me a way to make sense of my life, to put order to it. To work out problems. To imagine. To grieve and to dream and to rejoice. "
You can read her entire essay here.

because I am him

I do not like, I hate, despise my brother J.
Because I am him, on a smaller scale but I am him.
Even in this moment I try to distinguish myself from him.

I have done that since the day I got made fun of by schoolmates, because he was brother
Bullshit Smitty was his nickname, behind his back
And I was embarrassed and got defensive


It is not inaccurate.

He told tall tales.
Like he rode a motorcycle across Europe
He worked intelligence during his army stint
His assignment? John Lennon
He never left Fort Dix
The army didn't put a gun in his hand and send him to Nam
They knew better



Thursday, November 16, 2017

my last rites

Like so many rousing military send offs, I want mine to begin with bagpipes.

Because I have been fighting all my life.