The Feather

So, Monday Mike was supposed to play in a golf outing. It was a fundraiser for a local treatment center. Mike has played in this particular event many times before but not for several years. The last time he actually played golf was in one of these events. At that time he hadn’t played for several years and he found much to his consternation that his golf shoes had dry rotted and were unwearable. He came to this conclusion around the time he got to the first green, so it didn’t take long for them to fall apart. He had to double back and go get his sneakers and wear them instead. Mike couldn’t remember if he had ever replaced the golf shoes or not so he undertook a search in the house. He looked in the obvious places such as his golf bag, the garage, the basement, and finally looked in his closet where he would have no reason at all to put them. He didn’t find them but he was surprised to discover another pair of shoes, brand-new, that he hadn’t remembered buying. I don’t want you to get the idea that Mike is absent-minded but it would be understandable if you did. Not long ago Mike decided to replace his black semi dress/semi-casual shoes because the rubber soles were wearing out. So he went to the store where he normally bought them but found that it was no longer at the location that he had visited last time. So he checked out a couple of other shoe stores in the vicinity and didn’t find anything. Looking for his golf shoes, on the top shelf in the closet he found a brand-new pair of the exact shoes that he had been looking to buy last month. They had never been worn. The date on the receipt was 2015. Draw your own conclusions about the state of order or lack thereof, of Mike’s mind…….and on whether he will find a new pair of golf shoes somewhere in his universe.

But, Mike had decided not to play in the event because it was the week following his first chemo treatment and he had no idea how he was going to feel. They had a beautiful day and I’m sure had a successful event. If things go well with Mike he might get back to playing golf again some. He had always planned to take golf up again when he had more time to play. Let’s hope he gets to enjoy his golf game again. Not that he was never very good at it, but he wasn’t horrible either. So, it looks like Mike is not going to work this week. He had decided to take two weeks off to see how he was going to feel after starting chemo. So far he doesn’t really feel much different if at all, and he has managed to stay busy enough. He got his hearing aids adjusted yesterday morning. His audiologist offered him some of her bone marrow if he needed it. If Mike gets a bone marrow transplant it will be with his own bone marrow. But that was a very sweet and remarkable offer. Thank you Dr. Amy.

A couple of days ago Mike and Judy went for a walk. It must’ve been Sunday. When they got home lying in the front yard was a large feather, delivered by the universe. Mike has gone online to try to identify it. He’s not sure if it’s a feather from a red tailed hawk or a great horned owl. Maybe he’ll run across someone who can identify it for him. In the meantime, he’s glad to have it and takes it as a positive sign.

 

20190521_111234

Mike had a chance to go to his men’s meeting Monday night. Normally he doesn’t go because of work. It was great seeing some of the guys again. The topic of self-pity came up as part of the discussion. I heard Mike telling Judy about this after he got home. Mike had a chance to talk to some of the guys after the meeting and told them about his health situation. It occurred to Mike that he has not once felt sorry for himself or asked why this is happening to him. I’m sure this is because he has been practicing a daily spiritual program for the most part for a long time. Long before I ever knew Mike he was mired in a terrible home situation and talks about how intensely sorry he used to feel for himself. Mike says that he remembers thinking that he was the world’s unhappiest person. This is astonishing, when you consider that at that time there were probably about 4 1/2 billion people in the world, and Mike was supposed to be the unhappiest of the whole lot. It just goes to show you how your perspective can be so distorted when you get  caught up in your own stuff.

I heard Mike talking about that guy from Morehouse who is going to pay the debt for the entire graduating class. This is remarkably generous. So many young people get in debt to finish their education, and it becomes quite a burden on them. The daughter of one of Mike’s friends is about to borrow about $130,000 to go to anesthesia school. It’s like buying a house. It is possible that this particular investment will pay off, but many students get into debt that realistically they can never pay off because their earning capacity will be limited. I’ve heard Mike talk about the cost of his own education. Tuition and fees at the University of Illinois where he did his undergraduate work was $110 per semester. Medical school was $150 per quarter for tuition and fees. Not only that, but Mike’s father had gotten a scholarship for him for medical school to help defray part of his tuition. At that time in Illinois, and maybe still today, the members of the General Assembly each year had a scholarship that they could give to a deserving student. Each member of the assembly had their own method of determining who was a deserving student. This particular scholarship was given by a fellow that Mike’s dad use to see in a neighborhood tavern after work. Mike’s dad would get home from work about 4:30 in the afternoon and take Mike on a shopping tour with him. They would stop by Al’s deli and get whatever was on the list that Mike’s mother had generated. They also typically would go to the Jewish bakery, the Shore bakery on 75th St. (right across the street from Al’s). Mike would then wait in the car while his dad went into a bar for a shot and a beer or two. So sitting in the car munching on the goodies that they had just bought at the bakery and deli, Mike earned a partial scholarship to medical school. What a great country we live in!

So, that’s all for now from Happy Meadows. Mike’s next chemo treatment is tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. In the meantime, be well, be safe, and enjoy being you.

Author: Black Magic

Black Magic is a handsome, charming, and self-absorbed cat who lives with Mike and Judy Gordon in Marietta, Georgia. He is about 7 years old, and he will remind you at every opportunity that his grandfather was Black Jack, that famous cat who wrote his own autobiography. Black Magic has a great many opinions, and despite his natural feline arrogance, he seems to be genuinely spiritual. But the reader can decide for him/herself.

3 thoughts on “The Feather”

  1. Hello Black Magic. So I’ve just realized I can write to you this way. Please give my love to Dr. G, Judy and Michelle (only Dr. G knows me though). Take care of this good Dr. Always in my prayers! Kathy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *