May The Fourth Be With You

I generally don’t mind a rainy day. Some of my favorite memories from childhood involve a rainy day. However, enough is enough! Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day.

BACK PAIN
Last time I wrote I mentioned that Mom was experiencing some back pain. Well, we had no idea what lay ahead for her. She didn’t go to church the next day and her pain continued to get worse each day. By that Tuesday (the 25th) Vicki and I knew something had to be done.

Sadly, one of Mom’s high school classmates, Mrs. Peggy Fletcher, passed away on March 25. Mrs. Peggy’s health had really deteriorated the last couple of years and her family had found an excellent person as a live-in aide. Vicki and I contacted Ms. Linda and she’s been staying with Mom since Wednesday of last week (the 26th).

At any rate, we’ve had to really step up Mom’s pain medication. She’s had an MRI that revealed a crushed L1 vertebrae and will see a specialist later this week to see if she is a candidate for any sort of treatment beyond pain management.

Whatever lies ahead, we are so happy to have Ms. Linda helping Mom out.

EYE SURGERY
Several years ago I discovered that I have glaucoma. I am currently taking two eye drops to keep my eye pressure down, yet my eyes haven’t completely cooperated. When I was in for my last checkup the doctor laid out some additional treatment options. One was an outpatient procedure, laser trabeculoplasty, where tiny holes are burned in my eye to help bleed off the pressure. My right eye was done last Thursday.

When I went back for a post op check Tuesday my eye pressure was down, but still not where my doctor would like for it to be. Hopefully, after a few weeks of adjustment, the story will be better.

THE FRESHMAN YEAR IS OVER!
Jenna took her last exam yesterday, and with that, finished up her freshman year. As good of a year as it has been, I think she is glad to have everything behind her and a little time off. She is going to take one course online this summer as well as work at Historic Perk and help coordinate the summer mission trip to Haiti. She’s going to be one busy girl!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Forty years ago this month Star Wars premiered and science fiction became cool—at least it seemed for the kids at my school. No one at my school seemed the slightest bit interested when I mentioned any of the science fiction shows I liked to watch on TV so I felt all alone in my interest. But everyone was into Star Wars! Who wouldn’t be? You’ve got blasters, light sabers, cool ships, and an array of aliens and droids. It was so easy to have light saber fights with tobacco sticks.

I remember me, Mom, and Aunt Mar piling into the car and going to the other side of Nashville to see the movie as none of the theaters on our side of town had it yet. As I recall it wasn’t widely released because the initial prediction was that the film wouldn’t do well, but as the summer wore on the movie listings in the paper would say, “Held over (X) weeks!” as we watched the flick become a cultural icon. And now we are awaiting the release of the ninth film in the franchise in December, not to mention all the other Star Wars related media, games, toys, etc. that pervade our culture. It’s hard for the ten year old boy inside of me to believe it’s been forty years since Luke used the Force to blow up the Death Star.

TREND SETTERS
So back in January or February Ben ordered a fidget spinner for Nate for his birthday. It’s a little toy with a ball bearing in the center of three arms (some models have only two). To play with it, you hold the bearing between your thumb and finger and give it a spin. There’s plenty of pictures and videos online if my description isn’t adequate.

To get to the point, I had never seen one of these before, now half the kids at school are playing with fidget spinners. They started appearing after Nate took his to school. I’m sure the fad would have caught on one way or another, but at DA Nate was the trendsetter for this one.

Joe