A Man Of Valor And Accomplishment

Two hundred is a nice number. When a long time ago, I was moving towards two hundred in weight, I went to Weight Watchers to lose sixty pounds. I accomplished it. When I worked in 1959 and I earned two hundred dollars per week, I thought I was mighty rich. When I got engaged in 1959, we got married 200 days after I received my ring. We bought our first and only home and moved in 200 days after it was being built. Two hundred is a fine number for me. Now I mix the stories with narratives of my growing up in 1944 as a little girl, a teen in 1947, able to take my first alcoholic drink in 1955 and also to vote then too. I married in 1960, became a first time mom in 1961 and a second time mom in 1965. I lost my Dad in 1964 and my Mom in 1984. I became a great aunt in 1981 and a great, great aunty in 2009. I started writing for the dance magazine in 1990 and online for dance sites in 2005. These are a lot of dates to remember and to never forget. Some people get high on alcohol, eating sweet desserts, buying lots of clothes, shoes and household niceties and going on vacations. All of the above does give me a high, except I do not drink. I did not even drink at my children’s weddings or my own wedding. The desserts, the clothes, shoes, items for the home and going on vacations; are my past and current joys. Now I add writing articles, several a week for Patches because many times I have related nice stories of my past. I always thought that maybe I had lived a boring life, but when I relive past times, I realize that they were very interesting days, years, events and happenings. I am cognizant of the facts of young years, teen years, young adult years, middle adult years and now active adult years as a senior. They were not boring, nor was I bored. I did not have lots of material possessions, but I had fine and caring parents, a nice brother who was five years older than me, a good job after high school from 1952-1960. I have had a good married life of fifty-six years, first a courtship of two years until engagement days and marriage six and half months later. I have been blessed with two children, a nice home, traveling, a car of my own and nice times. What more can one ask of life other than hoping for continued fairly good health and peaceful days? I have four grandchildren, each one unique, darling, smart, beautiful and handsome. I have three grandsons and one granddaughter, so I have both sexes. Next, if I live long enough, I can say I will be a great grandmother. My writings for The Patch are a blessing too. A saying is that retirement is a time to enjoy all the things you never had time to do when you worked. I wrote while I was young, then again in 1990 and have continued since then to now 2016 . I have been constantly creating my stories on the past and on ballroom dancing for different publications. I can honestly say that the one publication that has given me so much pleasure and a lot of ego lifting is The Patch. So I have been blessed in having my folks for my parents, my husband, my children, my home, my in-law children, my four grandchildren, fairly healthy health, my travels and my ballroom dancing. As they say at Weight Watchers, when you weigh in to see how much weight you have lost this past week, Bravo to you. By writing for The Patch, I say Bravo Elita, you have not lost, you have gained and this gain is the pleasure that I can be the writer I strive to continue on being. I have my favorite dancing, email pal-Steven Behr, Sr. who encourages me to continue on writing about ballroom dancing and inspiring everyone to do it and to love it. He says I invigorate others and he in turn, emboldens me to write, to be healthy and happy. He is a Wellness Educator in Washington State. I always quote my favorite saying from my best liked movie, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing and this is it. The hero William Holden says to the heroine Jennifer Jones, upon leaving for the war to do his job as a journalist, “If I do not come back, you and I have not missed, because we have had the many splendored thing.” My life has been bright, shiny, and exceptional and I have not missed anything. One of the components beside family has been my writing and now, I surely have not missed, because I have all of my many splendored things. I had an interesting event yesterday at my new orthopedic doctor’s office. He explained to me that he did not recommend that I get knee replacement surgery. He said as a surgeon who does 200 knee replacements a year; that he was not advising me to get it done, since it is not as easy recovering as some say and believe. There are many elements and lots of physical therapy sessions and sometimes infections. I looked in his handsome face and I saw a man of valor who as a physician told me the truth as he sees it in his experienced mind and heart and I saw peace in his eyes as he related these thoughts to me. He is able to sleep at night knowing who to advise for this procedure and who to tell not to get it.. I accept his decision because I appreciate his honesty. There are other alternatives I will try and I know I will go forward in the right direction. I shall survive trying them. I appreciate his knowledge and his direct manner to aid me in this decision. How do you spell love? You feel it. I do all the time. elita sohmer clayman