.... my first paid published article....

.... I flip open the glossy pages of the first edition of go2 London magazine that Diane has just offered me.  We are standing amongst the waning crowd of the Tampon Tuesday event....I have arrived late.  She gives me a hug and leans in to let me in on her future plans with the magazine which includes the possibility of future offers for me to write another article.  I have been writing for years but this is my first paid article.  I am so excited that I share the news with familiar faces in the thinning crowd and get hugs from a number of them as we quickly catch up.  It has been almost 6 months since I last attended this event and only because my team practice on the lake is on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

I can't sleep... it's been this way for a few nights now and I can easily blame it on the change of seasons but I know better than that.... there is always a lot on my mind but my thoughts these days have switched to Mom and Dad.  My brother has sent me some pics of our parents that he took this past summer... how did my parents get so old.  My Dad has Alzheimer's and it is slowly stealing him away.  I know that it is progressing from just the simple disorientation of last May to him now living in what amounts to the days of his early thirties.  It must be confusing for him to look in the mirror and see some old guy staring back at him?

Chris has been an absolute saint with his unwavering strength over the past 2 years of trips he can ill afford to take just to be with them to sort out one issue after another.  I am not able to visit at this time...busy with so much on the go with a recent return back to work into a hectic schedule.  I wonder why I did not make more of an effort to visit during the summer when I was home with the kids..... and then I realize that I would have spent my entire time working at the farm for days without a break in a body that can barely keep up at times with the fatigue that still pulls at me from time to time.  I just wonder what would have happened if they had decided to retire closer to us when they decided to leave Ottawa.  I think some days that my father might not have gone through such a downhill slide with his disease.  Most days, he just hides away by himself in what amounts to a self-imposed prisoner.  I just wish we were much closer than we are.  I hope that my relationship with my kids is strong enough to continue the bond into my aging years....

I should go to bed... at least get an hour of sleep before another 12 hour day begins.

http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/go2london/go2london---first-issue/2011093001/#52