RenegadeRider

This sign was posted on the door of a hospital room of a Navy Seal recovering from wounds. It expresses an attitude of someone who is very much alive and who will prevail, no matter what. It expresses hope and appreciation. Thank you again.

Dianne's medical adventures helped to provide some new outlooks on life and giving. We often hear (and say ourselves) when someone has needs, "if you need something give me a call". We then never follow up and the one that needs never calls. As a preface to this discussion I must state that we are not in need. But that does not seem to matter. In a little over a week we have been the recipients of three batches of soup, a pan of lasagna, cookies and two loaves of bread. In addition, her daughter, Wendy came for the Thanksgiving weekend and cooked a turkey with all the fixins. We haven't eaten this well in years. Besides the food, our friends have supplied us with crutches, a walker, a wheel chair and have done our housework. I'm almost ready to put my feet up myself. Out of this we have a new appreciation for someones needs, even if they are not expressed. We also have a new appreciation of gratitude. Without this "misfortune"we might not have

Dianne tried to teach Riley to ride a bicycle. Yeah, I understand you already know about it, I'm slow. And the good news is that Riley did not fall off the bicycle. Nor was he injured. Neither did he require surgery to repair any damage. The same cannot be said for Dianne. Observe the stitches. She has hardware in her knee that the doctor could have gotten at Home Depot. She only has to keep weight off the leg for three months. BTW, I tried to warn Riley about the perils before they left home. I told him that his mother would try to do him harm. He then either didn't listen or assumed he was quick enough to avoid whatever she could try. Since he returned home safely, I guess he must have been right.

Yesterday we participated in the Veterans Day parade here in Reno. I received a frantic call from a friend. Republican Congressman and Presidential candidate, Duncan Hunter would be in town for the Veterans Day parade and his ride fell through for the parade. Would I be willing to take part in the parade (she knew I had a convertible)? I jumped at the opportunity. Even though Congressman Hunter was from San Diego, we really knew very little about him. We knew that he was the ranking Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, and that he was a strong supporter of the border fence. But, we usually heard the pundits dismissing his as a "second tier candidate". Participating in the parade gave me the warm fuzzies. Again and again people would approach the car and say that they were supporting him and that they were counting on him. Dianne and me with Congressman and Lynn Hunter. We later attended a town hall forum (which we had not had any intention of attending