Shana Bearden

8-31-08– We have had a quiet weekend here at home and around. Shana woke up early this morning and said something I thought was prophetic. She got up for a minute about 5 AM and came over and kissed me and said, ” You know honey I’ve been thinking that in a way this trouble has been a blessing. It has proved to me the depth of your love and it has been some of our closest time together during our whole marriage. We have probably been closer during this last year than we ever have been before and I have enjoyed our time together more than ever before.” She then got up and went back to bed.
That, of course, caused me to wake up awfully early on a weekend and then I could not go back to sleep thinking about what Shana said. But, my lady is right. During the last year we have spent almost every moment together during a time that the kids are not around that often and we love just spending time together. We talk a lot about things and often just sit quietly together reading or studying. It is much more fulfilling for me to spend time alone with Shana just sitting at home than going out or staying busy like we have done for much of our lives. Since Shana was not driving a car for a long time, I had to take her places and I enjoyed just getting in the car and going places with her. We have slowed down our lives dramatically and yet neither of us seem to miss any of the things we used to do that kept us so busy. We both are able to read the other’s mind to a high degree and Shana has gotten me involved in making some decisions on all of the remodelng we are doing at our house and the river house. I even enjoy that. Even when she was in the hospital, we would talk a lot and kiss and hug a lot and that is a big part of what got us both through those tough tough days in Maryland. By the way, kissing and hugging isnt so hard to do when your wife looks like she is twenty years younger than you with the flair and figure of a 20 year old. Not tough duty in any way.
Anyway, these are both the best and the worst of times but it is great to still have my lovely lady sitting beside me each night looking so good and feeling so good. Praise God that is the case.
Jim

8-29-08– Shana just wanted several people to know that we have to stay around the house this weekend because her white blood cell count dropped as a result of the last chemo and she is very prone to infection right now. The Nurse Practitioner threatened her with physical injury if Shana got out in a crowd this weekend or if she found out she went to church on Sunday. Shana’s numbers are low and she is getting shots to get them up but we will have to just stay around the house this weekend and we won’t be able to visit some people we talked about seeing.
Besides, the political season is heating up and College football started this weekend so things are kind of interesting around the house right now. Go AGGIES, RED RAIDERS, LUMBERJACKS and COWBOYS! (We have many loyalties around our house this time of year!)
Keep praying,
Jim