Saturday, July 18, 2015

From KIDNAPPED TWICE, Update Not Upbeat

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 2013

Many weeks have gone by, and I still have not been able to get back up to see my sister.

Between medical appointments and tests, farm work, animal care, etc., I cannot seem to reach a condition allowing me to escape for a couple of days. The days are getting shorter, which has put me into a panic mode. I do not want to drive upstate in the dark.

There have been some very bad things happening with Alan’s daughter lately. He has asked me not to write about them. I will make that decision after I have the time and space to give it more thought.

I had dinner with my old police friend and his wife. I really love both of them, and we had a wonderful time. How nice to sit and talk to them! We need to get together more often.

AUTUMN SADNESS 2013
Soon the snow and cold weather will be here. The wood stove will be going 24/7 trying to keep this 1881 farmhouse warm. Almost the only warm place in our house is the chair in front of the stove. The very high ceilings capture most of the heat, so if I could figure out a way to live up by the ceilings, we could stay warm. You might be thinking: why not fix it? When I win the lottery! Since I don’t play the lottery, it’s not going to happen.

This is my saddest time of the year. These feelings go all the way back to my life at the Lake. All my friends from summer would go back to their lives in the city, and I would not see them again until the late spring.

SISTER  NOVEMBER 2013
I visited my sister again this month. I had promised her I would be back as soon as the mowing was done for the season and before the Daylight Savings Time change, as I do not want to drive in the dark if possible.

I drove back up to her home last week. She seemed a little better, but not much. She simply does not want to live alone. I try to point out some of the advantages of living alone, as I lived for 25 years, but she does not want to hear it.

Both of our birthdays are in November, so I took her out to dinner, and her neighbors came as well. We had a good time. I actually saw my sister smile and enjoy herself. She has wonderful neighbors who keep an eye on her. Thank God!

Today is my sister’s birthday. I wish I could do something to help her more. I try to point out to her the positive things in her life, but she does not see them yet. The days when I was at my sister’s house, I tried to get her to take a walk with me. She said she couldn’t because she has a bad back, and the walk would get her back hurting again.

She has a deck that looks out onto the woods in her backyard. I asked her to come with me to sit on the deck and eat lunch. At first she said she wouldn’t, but then she came out and sat at the table where I was eating my lunch.

The squirrels and chipmunks were running around, getting ready for the upcoming winter. It was quiet, peaceful, beautiful. My sister was not enjoying what I was delighting in, and she wanted to go back into the house. She said that it was cold. I did not think so, but in we went. She also smokes, so to me the fresh air was wonderful. I think she doesn’t realize that a non-smoker could not live with her. Again, I wish I could fix all this, but I cannot.


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We are serializing the memoir KIDNAPPED TWICE, written by Mary E. Seaman with my help. Published by Outskirts Press, it is available from O.P. and from online booksellers like amazon.com and bn.com in paperback and ebook formats. See also http://writeyourbookwithme.com

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