Sunday, July 26, 2015

[We are] back in the saddle again….


With a tip of the hat either to Gene Autry or Aerosmith depending on you generation, we are back physically to India and back to capturing our experiences in this blog. Woohoo!

Since the last blontry, I joined Rae for two weeks of family time in Oregon. It was great to see everyone and soak up the love, the relative cool (even though Portland was having a heat wave for them), and beauty of Oregon. I won’t try to capture all we did, but in addition to just spending time with our Oregon family and friends, some of the highlights included: Colvin’s 8th birthday and baptism; seeing Emily and Kai for a few days who joined us from Arizona; seeing Launa and Jenna, who drove up from California to see us; and spending some time with Larry Capps – we recuperated together. And it was a time of healing. No one would let me do anything and kept having me keep my legs elevated. I also went 11 times to Brendon’s Radiant Pain Relief Center for treatment. As a consequence, I am essentially pain free even after the flight back from the US.

We got back just in time. We got back Tuesday morning at 1:00 AM; Dr.  Shurtz and Feroze arrived about 2:00 PM. The whirlwind started the next morning. Over the next three days we looked at all of the potential properties for a new campus, and had about a thousand meetings about what we are doing (or trying to do), and how we can do it better. Many decisions were made, and by Friday night we were more aligned than we have ever been.

One of the key decisions we made was about a new campus. We all agreed on one property in particular. It will take a few months to develop the design and do the remodelling. In fact, we undoubtedly won’t be here when they move to the new campus. It will at least be exciting to see the designs come together.

That’s about it for me. It is a lot more fun to write the blog when there are two of us. Here’s Rae!

It’s been a long time since I’ve contributed to our blontry, and the saddle is feeling a bit odd.  Let’s see if I can share some of the things that have changed while I was gone, and some things that are still the same.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the construction of the metro.  It still goes on, and maybe always will, but the detours and construction areas have shifted.  The summer heat is the same, sorry to report that that didn’t change.  The sightings of men urinating along the road side, the crazy traffic, and the guard outside our house are all the same. 

Today was my first time back to the branch in about three months and it was wonderful to see so many of the familiar faces that I have come to know and love.  There have also been some significant changes there also.  While I was gone the branch presidency was reorganized and Phil was released.  That resulted in the reorganization of almost every organization in the branch, including my release from the Primary presidency.  It was nice to be able to sit by my husband during the meetings, something that has never happened since my initial arrival to India, and a change I enjoyed.

Another significant change for me is my husband’s health.   It is amazing to me that someone’s health can change so dramatically so quickly.  It was a heart wrenching time to be so far away from him and have him be so sick.  He really has made progress, but he still has a ways to go.  Glad to be back together with him.  I’m sure that a lot of people were wondering what was wrong with his wife that she wasn’t back here to help him.  I must say that I will always love and appreciate all those people who helped him in my absence.

The final change I’ll talk about is my vision.  While this change took place while I was in the US it is still a significant change and one that I’m loving.  Cataracts are interesting things.  While I knew it was there and I knew I wasn’t seeing very well, I didn’t realize how poorly I was seeing until after the surgery.  I now see the world in a whole new light, pun intended.  I still have the left eye to do but it is not nearly as bad as my right eye was and I will have it done when we are back in the US.  The only disadvantage I have found from my clearer vision is the clarity with which I see all my wrinkles.  That I could do without. 

Life is full of changes, some are better that others.  I’m grateful for the good ones.  It’s good to be back in the saddle.  Have a good week.     


Namaste 

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