In Which Lazarus and Her Sister Make Big Plans

I have something that I've been just about bursting to tell you. It's very, very good news. Do you remember how sick my oldest sister was last year? The doctors informed us last June that she needed both a liver and at least one kidney, as all of hers were shot. They also told us she had just six months to live and would likely be dead before Christmas.

Well guess what. And I share this news with all excitement and celebration! My sister was recently turned down for Hershey Medical Center's transplant program. Do you want to guess why? She's TOO WELL!!!! My sister is NOT DYING anymore!

She quit dialysis around Thanksgiving, and has continued recovering since then. So the latest good/big news is that she no longer needs a transplant of any organ in order to live! To say we are grateful is an understatement. Some might even call it a miracle. I've started jokingly calling my sister Lazarus, and on this day, Lazarus and her sister made big plans!

For there is a thing that my sister and I love to do each summer, and that is to go to visit the beach in Atlantic City. We enjoy the boardwalk and we adore the ocean, but what is most important to us is catching up on sun, sand, and sisters time!

We did not get to go last summer, of course, as my sister was too busy dying, you see. And I was too busy crying and praying and visiting and trying to help pull her back from the land of the dead. You might say we all had our hands full.

But this year, we plan to make up for lost time. And so I will say to you a thing I thought I might never get to say again: My sister and I are going to the beach! Hooray! (And there was much dancing in the streets!)

The picture, by the way, is our front yard at home, which is just loaded with beautiful purple violets. There is a fine little seed pod there in the middle and I included it on purpose.

The pod has burst and the seeds, chock full of promise, are getting ready to go forth and do their thing. I decided to use this image because purple is the color of joy, and a seed is a sign of hope. :-) So that's what we've got: hope and joy, a whole yard full of it!

The soundtrack for this joyful celebratory posting has to be The Boss & Friends, and here's a favorite, though they didn't perform it last week when I saw them live. It's the land I live in now, and I hope you will join me there too. Here are The Boss & Crew, with Land of Hope and Dreams.

P.S. Last week on my Prince tribute, I included a link to Bruce Springsteen and the E St Band's tribute performance of Purple Rain, a song they opened their recent Brooklyn show with. Bruce & Co have made available a free MP3 download of their marvelous Purple Rain cover. The link appears in the text just beneath the video. ENJOY! And TURN IT UP LOUD - I did!    Later . . . update: sorry, the downlaod link is no longer available. :-(

P.P.S. On the whole sister miracle thing . . . It turns out that my sister was only MOSTLY dead. Which reminds me of that wonderful Miracle Max scene from the film The Princess Bride. :-)