Day 3729: It all worked out

It all worked out when I married my second husband, Michael, who responds “It all worked out” whenever I tell him about my latest ups-and-downs adventure.

Here and now, I’m trying to work out the different way I’m saying “it all worked out” to myself these days, so I can communicate that to you.

For the first time in my life, I really believe it all worked out because

• against all odds, I made it to the age of 70,
• my son has what he needs to lead a good life,
• I’ve made a positive difference in this world with my therapy groups (and maybe other things too),
• I love and am loved,
• I know that the daily hysteria of the news media is fueled by marketing strategies,
• I don’t have to work so hard any more, and
• no matter what comes up in the future— catastrophe, triumph, or anything in between (and most of them are in between) — I know it all worked out.

It all worked out when I gathered these images for you today.

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Even on Awkward Moments Day, it all worked out.

I know it’ll all work out when I search for “it all worked out” on YouTube.

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Thanks to all who help me know it all worked out, including YOU!

Day 3726: Unknown

As I’m writing this at 4:30 AM, it’s unknown to me whether I’ve written another blog post with the title “Unknown,” although I suspect I have.

Many people have a fear of the unknown. My fear of the unknown is unknown to me, perhaps because I have spent so much of my life inhabiting the unknown.

If the meaning of that previous sentence is unknown to you, my extremely rare congenital heart condition has made any predictions about my life span unknown. Therefore, I seem to feel very comfortable living in the unknown.

On the other hand, it is unknown to me why I can get so anxious about mundane issues like doing my taxes or choosing tiles for a shower remodel while fearlessly facing the realities of serious, life-long health issues. It’s also unknown to me why I waste so much time wondering who in the universe might be mad at me or wish me ill, forgetting that those people can’t really hurt me.

It is not unknown to me that I am not alone in being puzzled by the unknown operations of one’s own mind.

Let’s see what some known people have said about the unknown.

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Do you see the unknown in any of my other images for today?

The Ides of March are known to me but it is unknown to me why those of us who are not Caesar should beware them.

If the recently deceased jazz legend Wayne Shorter (quoted above) is unknown to you, allow me to introduce you to one of his beautiful compositions.

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I hope my gratitude is not unknown to you, dear reader.

Day 3700: Who Shall I Be Day

According to the National Day Calendar, today is Who Shall I Be Day!

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Who shall I be on Who Shall I Be Day? Shall I be

• a blogger,
• a group therapist,
• a mother,
• a wife,
• a friend,
• a person with a rare heart condition,
• someone who has been attempting to remodel a water-damaged bathroom for almost two years,
• a person who has been diagnosed with PTSD,
• a lover of cats,
• a funny person,
• a scared person,
• a brave person,
• an empath,
• a Democrat,
• someone who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household,
• a songwriter,
• someone with 33K followers on Twitter,
• somebody who aches about injustices,
• a person who likes to ask lots of questions,
• a neighbor,
• an observer,
• a 70-year-old woman in an ageist and sexist culture,
• a playful person,
• a teacher,
• a learner,
• a catastrophizer,
• an optimist,
• a person who wakes up in the middle of the night trying to solve problems big and small,
• someone who recognizes that we all have to put problems aside sometimes,
• a list-maker,
• somebody who struggles to trust herself and others,
• someone who tries not to take herself too seriously in the midst of serious times, and/or
• a person who captures and shares images here every day?

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Here’s what I find when I search for “who shall I be day” on YouTube:

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Who shall you be on Who Shall I Be Day?

Every day, I shall be someone who is grateful for YOU.

Day 3671: Knowledge

Today’s Daily Bitch Calendar reminds me of sayings about knowledge like “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” and “ignorance is bliss.”

I do know what I’m talking about when it comes to living your whole life with a rare heart condition, and it hasn’t always been easy. Yesterday, when I went for an echocardiogram, I was uneasy with the knowledge that the September echo I had in Georgia (when I had a T.I.A. or a “mini-stroke) had indicated there was “severe regurgitation” from my mechanical valve. My long-time cardiologist, Dr. Deeb Salem (who has lots of knowledge), told me that might mean the valve needed to be replaced or that a clot, since dissolved, might have caused temporary regurgitation.

Yesterday I made sure the echocardiogram sonographer had the knowledge about that earlier echo. Based on my experience in medical systems, I had the knowledge that she couldn’t really tell me the results yesterday. I knew I wouldn’t receive the official knowledge of whether or not I needed a new valve and another open heart surgery until later, after somebody with more knowledge had interpreted and documented the results. However, I really wanted reassuring knowledge yesterday after holding this scary knowledge for a while, so while watching and listening to her perform the echo and not having the knowledge to interpret the results as they were happening, I carefully said this: “What would it look like if there were severe regurgitation around a mechanical valve?” and I got the knowledge I wanted when she replied, “Not like what we’re seeing here.”

That knowledge made me very, very happy.

What knowledge is there in my other images for today?

I’m definitely going to celebrate today (with popcorn) my latest good news and the knowledge that I’ve really beaten the odds of life expectancy for my heart condition. When I see Dr. Salem next month, I’m going to ask him what it was like to be my doctor, starting when I was 27, having knowledge like this (which I just found when I googled my heart condition):

Dr. Salem, in all our years of working together, never conveyed that knowledge to me and here I am, about to turn 70! Also, I have the knowledge that some people with CCTGA have made it into their 90s and why shouldn’t I be one of those?

Here’s what I find when I look for “knowledge” on YouTube.

Thanks to all who help me share knowledge through these daily posts, including YOU!

Day 3630: Weary

I’m weary as I’m writing this because

• I often have trouble sleeping after my very full Thursday of doing individual and group therapy from 10 AM to 7 PM,
• I have to keep making design decisions about our shower/bathroom remodel even after I think I’m finally done with all that,
• I struggle balancing my needs with other people’s needs,
• I have a very unusual heart which does not sustain me very well when I’m climbing stairs or hills,
• this time of the year tires me out, and
• I’m turning 70 in a few months, so what do you expect?

However, I’m not too weary to look for quotes about “weary.”

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Today is National Weary Willie Day.

I expect to grow weary of the jokes people might make about Weary Willie Day.

I hope people aren’t too weary to look at the rest of my images today.

The Daily Bitch seems weary of niceties today.

Here’s the late great Madeline Kahn singing a weary song in Blazing Saddles (which I never grow weary of).

I hope you’re not too weary to leave a comment about this weary post.

Thanks to all who help perk me up when I’m weary, including YOU.

Day 3450: Two wrongs don’t make a right

“Two wrongs don’t make a right” was one of my late mother’s favorite sayings. Another favorite saying of my mother’s was “there’s a place for everything and everything in its place” so I think this is the place for today’s Daily Bitch Calendar.

It sure as hell would make me feel better right now to share a photo of my mother. It’s right that I coincidentally captured an image of my mother with my son Aaron yesterday when I took a picture of our cat, Joan (on the right).

Two humans — my husband Michael and I — were wrong in worrying that our old and fretful shelter cat Harley would never accept shelter cat Joan. Those two together definitely make a right.

There’s a place for everything and this is the place I’ll share a story about my mother and me and “two wrongs don’t make a right.” I was born with a heart that was wrong, which resulted in many hospitalizations and my needing pacemakers from a very young age. We didn’t know what kind of heart condition I had until my very right and still current cardiologist, Dr. Deeb Salem, figured out in the 1980’s that I had the very rare heart condition of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA). When Dr. Salem rightly described how my heart was very wrong in two different ways — (1) the aorta and the pulmonary arteries are switched and (2) the ventricles are also switched — and

1. that means all the blood ends up in the right place and
2. having just one of those wrongs would have killed me when I was born in 1953 because of what kinds of heart surgeries were available then,

I turned to my mother and said “You know how you always say ‘two wrongs don’t make a right?’ I guess not!”

There’s a place for everything and this is the place for me to say that I miss my mother and my father every day.

It’s right that many of my images for today have twos in them.

It seems wrong to me that onion rings and kissing — both very right in their own way — are celebrated on the same day.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

I also find this very right rendition of “Two Wrongs” by Wyclef Jean with Claudette Ortiz:

It’s right for me to end each post with thanks to all who help me blog every day, including YOU!

Day 3386: Important messages

In all of my careers — including marketing communications and psychotherapy — I’ve thought a lot about communcating important messages.

In order to effectively deliver important messages, you need to

• know your audience and
• choose clear, strong, passionate, and honest ideas to reach your audience and inspire them to action.

I believe that many important messages are getting lost in all the noise out there and I fear we are running out of time to communicate them effectively.

Do you see important messages in any of my images for today?

Important messages I received from being born with a very unusual heart is that life is short and every day counts.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “important messages.”

I look forward to the important messages that will appear in the comments section, below.

Gratitude is an important message I deliver at the end of every post, so thanks to all who help me deliver the daily messages in this blog, including YOU!

Day 3320: Groundhog Day 2022

On 2/2/22, I have 22K followers on Twitter and I’m celebrating my 22 + 47th birthday!

My plan for Groundhog Day 2022 is to take the day off from work; spend it with my husband, my son, and our two cats; play our annual game of Sorry; eat flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream; read; take a walk; listen to music; and practice this song on the ukulele:

Two days after Groundhog Day, I’ll be performing that song at a remote Open Mic.

I was able to catch, live, the Groundhog’s prediction for 2022:

Of course, commercials almost ruin that, but the prediction is there (and no surprise).

Can you see evidence of Groundhog Day in my other images for today?

Because of the rare heart condition I was born with, I’ve never been a girl or woman in sports. However, if you can’t play a sport, be a sport, which I guess I am.

How are you going to celebrate Groundhog Day 2022?

I’m going to express my gratitude to all those who have been there for me during Groundhog Day(s), including YOU!

Day 3172: National Grateful Patient Day

Since the day I was born in 1953 with a very rare heart condition, I have been a grateful patient. And today — as well as being the first day of Rosh Hashana — is National Grateful Patient Day.

This morning, I am a little less grateful and patient than usual to be a patient, because my nose bleed — caused by the unfortunate combination of our new kitty Joan scratching inside my nose and my being on anticoagulants because of my mechanical heart valve — has not completely resolved.

However, if I focus on being patient and grateful, I know that I have wonderful people on my medical team who will help solve this problem, just as they have solved so many issues with me before.

I am especially grateful and patient, every day, because it’s so unlikely that I would have survived — with such overall good health — as long as I have with my very unusual heart.

And really, what’s so terrible about a little nosebleed? I have been a grateful patient through so many surgeries, set-backs, scares, disappointments, surprises, dangers, close-calls, and physical and emotional traumas over the years, and look! I’m still here to blog about it today.

So let’s try our best, during these challenging times, to gratefully and patiently celebrate another precious day. Here are the other images this grateful patient has to share with you on September 7, 2021.

The Daily Bitch is right about this: with my heart condition and my tendency to catastrophize, the way I do things may not always be the easy way. However, the way I’ve done things has helped keep me alive and resilient, even if I’m not always the most patient of patients.

Here’s something I find when I search YouTube for “National Grateful Patient Day.”

If you’re patient enough, you’ll always find gratitude at the end of my blog posts!

Day 2922: Personal Bests and Worsts of 2020

On the last day of each year, I put together my personal best and worst lists. In every other year, these have been Top 10 lists. For 2020, both my lists go to 11.

My son Aaron, my husband Michael, my Coping and Healing on-line therapy groups, blogging, my friends, the movie La Fée, surviving COVID, the Biden/Harris victory, walks by the ocean, and cats are on my 2020 best list.

Many deaths are on my 2020 worst list, including the COVID-caused death of a beloved patient, the death of my dear friend Eleanor, the death of my “heart brother” David (a wonderful man who had the same rare heart condition as me), and the death of our amazing kitty Oscar. Powerful and destructive narcissists (who shall remain nameless) are on my worst list, too.

Do you see any evidence of the Best and Worst of 2020 in today’s images?

2020 might be my best New Year’s Eve ever because tonight I’m facilitating a special NYE’s version of my Coping and Healing group!

Here’s my most-listened-to tune for 2020 (no matter what Spotify says!).

If you share some personal 2020 bests and/or worsts in the comments section below, that would be the best.

A happier 2021 and I personally thank you for making it through 2020!