Back in the Saddle

hi folks. sittin' in the hospice house in a-town with my aunt cindy. david and i drove up this afternoon from chas to spend some time, while we have it, with cindy. her health is failing faster than we all are ready for. she is now claiming pain in her breasts and lungs; it is not too hard to imagine that her colon/liver/spinal cancer could move quickly to other organs and tissues. when i stayed with cindy two weeks ago, a nurse said that she was getting 5 ml/hour, with a 1 ml dose/bollus. now, it appears that the morphine dose is considerably more. cindy is having difficulties with speaking, sitting up and feeding herself. this is a very sad situation.

chris, her son and my cousin, is 11 yo. he starts middle school next year at Lakeside MS in town. he is an incredible child...very bright with lots of energy (and i mean lots). we are all worried about him and how he is dealing with the inevitable loss of his mom. david and chris walked down to the outdoor chapel. i don't know what they spoke of, but i hope chris confided in david. david is a perfect person to talk with...he is so compassionate and is a great listener. please keep cindy, chris and bruce (her husband) in your prayers.

on a much lighter note, i just returned from the National Marine Educators Association Conference in Portland, ME. What a great state! I flew into Bangor, ME and drove down the coast in a Monte Carlo; what a site! i had a presentation with Blondelle and Donald which went well. some highlights of the trip include a lobster bake, working on a lobster boat baiting traps and fetching lobster, a "wicked" game of twister. it was a nice distraction from all of the stuff going on back home with cindy and with the home repairs.

i hope all is well with you folks.

Kickin' off "Da Joyner" Blog

hey folks. david and i are finally joining the 21st century.

the summer's been a roaster but david and i remain busy with family, work and home. as you know, david and i were married last October at The Irvin House vineyard on Wadmalaw Island, SC.

david purchased our home in Charleston a few years ago. it has "lots of potential" Mom says; we agree. each week presents a new set of challenges with this 'fixer-upper'. this week, a pipe busted in our shower, so david has been trouble-shooting to fix the problem. in fact, david is in there with a sauttering equipment and some copper pipes trying to make it possible to take a shower and clean the mounting dish pile in the kitchen. i have faith in david as he always comes through. how many trips to lowe's will this take?

we are definitely getting older, as we tend to start our saturday mornings at 8AM (used to be 11AM) with a cup of coffee and an episode of This Old House.

tomorrow, i am headed up to anderson to spend time with my Aunt Cindy tomorrow. she has stage IV colon/liver cancer and has been placed in the Hospice House. she's all of 44 years old with a husband, Bruce, and a 11 yo son, Christopher. (You probably remember Chris; he was the one in the wedding who couldn't keep still.) he's a love. it is a very sad situation for our family, as this has hit us hard, especially with the loss of my grandmother 1 1/2 months ago.

please let us hear from you.

dajoyners