Johnny in Tennessee writes a letter to his friend in Sacramento, California, after Rebekkah Rachel has emailed him.
Monday, March 28, 2005, 3:28 p.m., C.S.T.~
Dear Rebekkah Rachel~
I am so happy to hear from you; thanks so much for taking time to write back to me! I am doing fairly well, but the other day I was weak, and it scared me. I hate whenever I get weak because I don't know if I am getting worse, am getting a bug, or WHAT. But today I stronger, and I am feeling more like myself. I am glad you are feeling better, but I am sorry you are still on the antibiotics. Those things are the worst; I HATE taking them whenever I am sick!
But then again, I HATE pills, period. I have to take pills for my breathing (plus have daily breathing treatments, which are a huge pain in the a**, if you catch my drift!), my seizures/epilepsy, and have to wear oxygen. I am falling apart, and I am only 12 years old. That is NOT good.
But any day I wake up above ground (and breathing) is a good day for me. I have come to accept my problems, even if it means being a big hassle; but even as bad as I think I may have it, there are so many people who are much worse off. Like that woman in Florida, Terri Schiavo, who is now near death, and is such a big part of the news nowadays. I think that is so sad. She has been like this for fifteen years, but her parents and her husband are fighting like cats and dogs. I think the whole thing is sickening, and I wish they would just let her go in peace without having her suffer so much. I don't know if I could do that to my sister, Jodie, or my brother, Todd: both are tube-fed, too, but I couldn't just let them die or starve to death. It is a very hard decision to have to make, and I wouldn't want to be in that situation! The whole thing is a huge, political mess, and frankly, I find it highly upsetting. It's about as bad as listening to the news of children being abducted or killed or the ongoing war in Iraq and all the casualties/fatalities. I just don't like listening to the news anymore because it is so depressing, and 99.5% of it is all bad, and I can't handle that right now.
But on to more happier things: I am glad you had a very nice Easter. We did; we had our Cantata, and it went well, but yesterday, Ronee' didn't partake in it because she is flaring, and she was hurting really bad. She is now in the hospital (she went in this morning), and she will probably be in the hospital for a few days until they get her joints quieted down to a dull roar. She looked so uncomfortable, and we knew she was hurting bad because she didn't smile one time during the entire service, which is so unlike her; she really gets so much out of church, but yesterday she was feeling rotten. But she still wanted to go, so she did. We had an Easter egg hunt last night after the evening service, and I got second place, as I found the second highest number of eggs. I found 17 eggs. For the prize, I got $10.00. The first place winner found over 20 eggs, and she got $25.00 as her reward, as well as a gift certificate to Chuck E. Cheese's. The weather was rainy for a good part of the day, but by the time the evening church service let out, the weather cleared, and it was partly cloudy when we left church.
We also went out to eat at Golden Corral after the morning services, and I ate like a little piggy: I had mashed potatoes with tons of brown gravy, meat loaf (that made me burp; I am STILL burping meat loaf today! LOL), green beans, salad with cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks, and for dessert, chocolate ice cream with jelly beans on the side. YUMMY! :) I was so miserable by the time we got done eating! After we ate out, we went home for a few hours, where I then let my belly flop around, and I took a nap for over an hour and a half. We then went back to church, and we had our evening service and then the Easter egg hunt. We also had dinner on the grounds, but I didn't eat but one boiled egg because I was still full from wolfin' out at the Golden Corral! :)
So that was my Easter day. I hope yours was as good as mine was. But I wish Ronee' didn't have to get sick; that kinda' put a damper on things. And now she is in the hospital, flaring her head off. *OW* I hope she feels better soon; I hate it when she gets sick! Her hands, fingers, and knuckles were really swollen, and she looked like she was nauseated; her face was a bit on the greenish side, and she only picked at her food at Golden Corral, which is unlike her, because she can be a piggy too, when it comes to eatin'! Maybe we will see her later or sometime tomorrow. We are off from school until Thursday, and we are having fun playing and sleeping in!
How is the weather there in Sacramento? Is it still raining, or has it finally cleared? You guys sure have had some wet weather lately; I bet you think you are turning into ducks! *QUACK!* I will be sending you some Tennessee sunshine; it finally cleared out here too. We had some nasty storms the past several days, and we thought we were going to have a tornado, but none even formed, thank goodness. They did get some tornadoes east of Nashville, though, but we did get a lot of heavy rain; and for a while, we were under flood watches and warnings. The rain was really coming down in buckets! Now it is partly cloudy, and tomorrow is supposed to be wall-to-wall sunshine, which will help dry out our damp city! LOL
Speaking of weather, did you know that five years ago today, Fort Worth, Texas, had a tornado that killed four people? They did! The tornado hit downtown Fort Worth, and some buildings got smacked by the ferocious winds; and there were several injuries reported, in addition to the four people who were killed. I remember reading about it in a magazine, and I also remember the Weather Channel people talking about it. Glad I wasn't there when that thing hit; I may have otherwise ended up being "tornado food"! LOL
I am glad you are returning to dancing again, but just be careful is all I ask. I worry about you...I hope you don't have another infection for a very long time! That must be rotten not to feel pain like that; if you hurt yourself, you aren't aware of it until it is too late, and by then, you may be history; and I am sorry, but I wouldn't want to live like that! I would much rather feel pain; that way, I know I was hurting, and I could do something about it! I am just glad I don't have arthritis; I don't know how these people who have it so bad can live with it every day! That would be rough!
Well, Rebekkah, I will go now; we are going to get ready to see Ronee' at the hospital, and then we are going out to eat at Olive Garden. YUMMY! I love that place! God bless, and thanks for writing; again, it was great to hear from you again!
Take care!
(((HUGS))) and love, your friend in Tennessee, Johnny Sandusky. :)
Reminds me letter written by my kids- a story that brings out a kid's vision very well. It has the warmth and the optimism only kids can have, even if life feels like hell. All the best & love, Franz
Great story! It was refreshing to find such a sick child of 12 with such an good out look on life. Being that sick is frieghtening and Johnny handled it bravely.
Waiting to read more of your work!
((HUGS)) Helen
Reviewed by Jerry Bolton
3/28/2005
A very nice, informative leter. heck i can taste the after effects of that meatloaf aoso. Oh, you said: "by the time we got done eating at the Corral! After we got done at the Corral," It might be a good idea to get rid of one of those "we got done eating at the Corral!" All in all though this was a very nicely written piece of prose.
But any day I wake up above ground (and breathing) is a good day for me.
What a wise young man you are, Johnny - and I like Olive Garden, too.
Reviewed by Tracey L. O' Very
3/28/2005
Wow What a feast and fun time. Good ol' fashioned Easter as I remember it to be.
Wonderful story Karen. Never a dull moment for sure.
Thanks for such cute stories.
Hope you had a good Easter and guess what! I had meatloaf too. (C:)
But I had to cook it. (:C)
Traceyxo
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
It's almost Christmas. Lynn Basil is writing her last book about a secret entrance into the magical doll land of Sha Bebe that she loves so much. Bagannos have taken over the world! Lynn finally meets her dolls in real life. Can she write in a Secret
Monday, March 28, 2005, 3:28 p.m., C.S.T.~
