03/15/2026
This past week Jerry took vacation to help clear the barn, move bigger items around in the garage (so I can sell them), and take me to my final diagnostic medical appointments.
Earlier in the week I was sitting about 10ft away - sorting stained glass windows, when I heard Jerry say, “What the heck?!?”. I braced myself for a horde of June bugs, bees, or a mouse to come screaming towards me.
I glanced over to a back storage shelf to see Jerry pulling out a closed box. It had a Bodhran (Irish hand drum) inside. And underneath that box, sat two hand-hammered Doumbek (African) drums still wrapped in the cloth I remembered from our wedding day (17 March 1996).
We stood just staring at them in amazement, wondering how we didn’t see them before. Why did we put them THERE of all places? We’d looked for them for years after the fire (24 Dec 1996). We had very little when we moved here 3 months later - even slept in sleeping bags on the floor for a few weeks. It hurts when sentimental things are not there to comfort you - the drums would have soothed that hurtful period - but we couldn’t find them.
But now there they were, like three people we briefly met years back, but never got to truly know. And somehow, as we sift through our memories of the last 30 years in this house - the three that we thought we lost - show up as if to say, “Hey, don’t forget us!”
A few hours later though, we actually asked ourselves if we’d play them. It almost seems a sacrilege. Then again, they rose from the ashes - just as we did.
The universe said “Stand on your own two feet.” And we did. We accepted the losses along the way as events meant to happen. Now, as we (slowly) prepare for the move we add the “three amigos” to our set of over 20 percussion, strings, and wind instruments. We actually know exactly what to do with these - we plan to have regular community-wide gatherings at our home. To share cultures, music, and more.
But first - find the house. Someone beat us to the punch on our dream house. We aren’t giving up. We applied for a community grant and have passed the first two hurtles. Our plans are slightly fluid because - life rarely gives you exactly what you want. You have to be flexible. Be willing to reimagine your end goal with different resources than you originally planned for. Our goal is to build bridges. Jerry will be a major part of those efforts.
Until we move, we pack, take inventory and label everything digitally - for insurance purposes. I go to physical therapy, learn better pain mgmt, and we get the next blood tests to see if I can finally get approved for IG Treatments. It’s expensive. I’ve started hunting for my hEDS Doc now that I have the formal diagnosis.
And that’s that.
