Prescott, Arizona, August 2, 2009, 5:43 a.m., M.T.~

Dear Journal~

Wyndi here.  Just woke up not even fifteen minutes ago; still trying to get the cobwebs out of my brain and peel my eyes open.  Please forgive me if this sounds all jumbled or run together...

I have my good days as well as my bad.  Even though I am continuing to struggle financially, I now have a place to live, where I feel safe, comfortable.  I am living with my friend, Rainbow Eaglefeather, and her nine-year-old son, Myles.  They were kind enough to take me in, and Myles is such a little charmer!  I just love him to death; he's taken away some of the sting of my own daughter's passing.

My daughter, Karla, would have been 20 this month.  It's been four years since she died; I miss her as much now as I did back then, when she first died.  A parent shouldn't have to outlive his (or her) own child!  (Karla died while waiting for a kidney transplant; she was on the national list and everything, but nothing ever materialized.)

Do I blame the doctors?  The hospital?  The government?  The national registry for donors?  Perhaps; however, I am learning to move past the anger, and give it all to the Great Spirit.  I also see a counselor every week; this has helped tremendously, especially since my own health isn't that good.

I have diabetes; take the pills every day to keep my pancreas functioning, and have to watch my diet. It's hard not being able to eat the foods I love; eating healthy is incredibly expensive!  I also have been doing yoga exercises for the disabled, as a way to help me relax and get a hold on the pain I'm constantly in; it seems to be helping.

Where I live now isn't handicapped accesssible; Rainbow has to carry me down the stairs, then get my wheelchair.  It's a royal pain.  The place I was living at was handicap-accessible; however, some riffraffs moved in, trashed the place, so I had no choice but to leave.  That's when Rainbow suggested I move in with her; we've been together ever since.

I finally heard from Louie Sandusky.  She's busy (what's new there?  That woman is a perpetual Energizer Bunny on crack; the woman is NEVER still!!), but took the time to write me a very nice letter.  I will have to write to her when I can find some more paper, as Myles took mine and drew all over it.  He's a budding little artist; he's very good at drawing!  His drawings hang on the walls, on the refrigerator, on the windows.  LOL

Maybe Rainbow can take me to the store; the back-to-school sales are starting in earnest; maybe I can stock up on paper then.  (And when I do, I am thinking of putting a mouse trap by it, so a certain little boy doesn't keep stealing MY paper!!)

That ought to teach him a good one when he gets his fingers pinched!  LOL

The weather here is hot; nothing unusual for this time of year.  I am looking forward to the cooler fall and the snows of winter; I am getting a little tired of the heat, day after day after day!  We need rain here; the ground's drying up, and you can smell (or see) smoke in the air from distant wildfires.  And when the wind kicks up, you worry they will send the fires this way.  Not a very easy way to live!

Well, I hear Rainbow stirring, so I will leave you.  I will write in here again; until then, this is Wyndi saying so long!  May the Great Spirit watch out over you and keep you safe from harm!  Have a good day!

~Love, your Arizona friend, Wyndi Storm.  :)