Tag Archives: Marisa

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Marisa’s Musings “Lost and Alone”… June 23rd, 2011

****NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I want to warn you all in advance that this particular entry is a bit heavier than some of the ones you’ve seen before.  It deals with someone fighting cancer.  So if you wish to take a pass on this entry I’ll understand.  I suffered a loss of someone very dear to me a few months back and it hurt to write this passage, since I drew upon a lot of the emotions and thoughts that I went through.  However, this sub-story plays an important role in the main novel.  So I leave it to your own discretion.  I don’t wish to hit anyone’s ‘triggers’ and set you off. SPOILER: And if it’s any comfort, the person fighting cancer is still around in the novel.****

 

Sorry I haven’t been posting for a while, my life has turned upside down in the worst way possible and I don’t know what to do.

About two months ago Dad went to see our family doctor, Jack Tyler.  He’s been our physician for as long as I can remember.  Which only makes sense since he and my dad grew up together.  Anyway, Dad went to see him for his annual physical.  Aside from feeling a little tired for the last month or two, he didn’t have any complaints.  But some of his blood tests came back and something wasn’t right.  So there were more tests, followed by X-rays and a Cat-Scan.  Long story short, he’s got cancer.

Uncle Jack assured us that it was detected early and there was a good chance they could treat it with surgery.  Well, the surgery seemed to go okay, but then they found it had spread to one or two lymph nodes.  So they removed those as well and now he’s getting chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

He’s been holding up for the most part, but those therapies take so much out of him.  He’s lost weight and looks a bit grey some days.  Plus they leave him pretty weak. Some days he mostly sleeps or just sits and reads or watches a movie or two.  Uncle Jack has told us things are looking good, but he said that about the surgery so I’m not as confident in his predictions.

At this point I’m trying to spend more time with Dad.  I keep feeling like I may lose him and I don’t want to.  I’ve stopped hanging out as much with my friends, except for Lisa.  She’s my best friend and has been trying to be there for me every step of the way.  Unfortunately, she’s heading to England for the summer with her family.  Apparently, her godfather is over there and made arrangements to have her entire family come and stay with him for a while.  I’ve never met the guy, but I’ve a lot about him.   Uncle Nate is in like his twenties and is working with a professor over in London, which is someplace Lisa’s always wanted to visit.  She offered to ask her parents to let her stay with my family, but I told her no.  If this turns out to be the last summer I have with my father I want to be with him as much as possible.

 

 

I even cut back on my school activities as soon as I knew he’d been diagnosed with cancer.  The first thing I did was give up my place as head cheerleader.  Both my parents told me I didn’t have to do it, but I knew they’d need me, and they have  It’s been a rough couple of months.

Watching my dad have to sit around be tired out so easily freaks me out sometimes.  I mean, he’s a mail carrier.  He walks miles and miles every week doing his route.  Now he gets winded just moving from room to room sometimes.  Which is why I need to be around for him.  Mom can’t always be here, so I make sure I am.  He and I sit together and talk or read.  Sometimes we’ll watch movies, but even that’s been kind of hard lately.  Not for him, but for me.

 

 

I know I mentioned a while back that he loves vampire movies.  They’re like his all time favorite thing to watch.  And until he got sick I loved them too.  But now when I watch the heroes trying to save someone who’s being fed on night after night by Christopher Lee or whoever’s playing Dracula, I keep noticing how pale and even grey the victim looks sometimes.  They’re so weak and tired, after having started out so lively and vibrant earlier in the film.  So instead of helping take my mind off what Dad’s fighting, I get a huge reminder that I may lose him.

When I look at the television screen instead of seeing a vampire, I see some form of cancer that’s taken on a human shape.  And it’s everywhere.  Even at school I used to hang with a couple of the Goth kids, but then I stopped.  All that pale make-up and dark clothing… it was too much.

 

 

God I wish Lisa were here right now.  I feel so lost and alone sometimes.  But I’ve still got my dad and I’m going to hold onto him as much as possible.  I pray Uncle Jack is right and Dad is going to be okay.  I just wish there was more I could do for him.  I feel so helpless sometimes..

Oh, he’s just woken up from a nap and is calling for me.  Sounds like he wants to watch another movie with me.  Talk to you all again soon.  If you don’t hear from me again for a while, I know you’ll understand.

Ciao for now…

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Marisa’s Musings “My Dad The Hero…” October 28th, 2007

That’s right, you saw it here.  My Dad is an honest to God hero.

Now for those of you who’ve never met him, let me tell a bit about Dad.  He’s not a firefighter.  He’s not a marine, a cop, or in the military.  He’s a mailman.  An average guy who walks the same route day after day, delivering mail.  In rain, sleet, snow, or the heat of the summer, he’s out there doing his thing.

He’s walked the same route for like ten years now, and he knows every one of his customers and they know him.  Heck, even their dogs know him and they don’t chase him either.  They all like him, with the exception of Dukey.

Dukey’s a pain in the ass. I’ll talk about him another time, right now I want to tell you how Dad saved a woman today.

One of the people on his route is an old woman named Ms. Katz.  She’s a widow who recently had to put down her dog.  Dad was really upset about that one.  Brandy was an Alaskan Malamute who was a realy sweetheart.  He’d bore us with stories about her sometimes, but she was a great dog.  Unfortunately,  age caught up with her and she had to be put to sleep

Ms. Katz wasn’t ready to get another dog just yet, so she was all alone in the house when the accident happened.  Dad noticed he hadn’t seen Ms. Katz for a couple of days and that her mail wasn’t being taken in.  He knew she lived alone and that she always alerted him if she was going to be away even for just a day.  So he knew something was up.

He went up to her front door which has an old mail slot.  Dad never uses it anymore, because of her age.  It’s too hard for her to bend over all the time to pick the mail up off the floor.  He convinced her to have a regular mailbox put up near the front door.

As soon as he called out, he heard sobbing coming from the back room.  He raced around the house, looking through the windows until he saw her. Ms. Katz was lying on the floor, pinned by her bureau which had fallen over.  Dad immediately rushed to the back door, which was unlocked and got to her in record time.  He pulled the bureau off her and called 911.

Luckily Ms. Katz was just weak and dehydrated.  Nothing broken, but if Dad hadn’t found her when he did, God knows how much longer she would’ve been trapped.  The newspapers are doing a write up about him and everything.  Even a television reporter interviewed him at work this afternoon.  How cool is that?  

Apparently, this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this.  A few years ago, he spotted a guy breaking into the house of one of his other customers just a couple of blocks from Ms. Katz’s place.  I guess I must’ve been too young to pay attention.  Apparently, he had a neighbor call the cops and he caught the guy on his way out and sat on him.

I may have to start paying more attention to him when he’s telling me and mom about his day.  Being a mailman may not be glamorous, but it’s not boring either.  I’m really proud of him.  He’s always been my hero, and now everyone knows why.

Ciao, all!

PS:  Almost forgot, guess who made it onto the cheerleading squad this year?  That’s right, me!  I can hardly wait, I’ve been working on routines all summer long.  Now it’s finally paying off.  Tell you more next time.  Today is my Dad’s day!  Woo-hoo!