Shalom and Happy hanukkah:
Tonight it the 5th night of Hanukkah.
It has been a quiet celebration this year, quieter than what we planned. But that's ok.
We had planned a Hanukkah feast, but the weekend before we found ourselves heading off for the last of The Yellow Ribbon Programs and that meant using the money for gas.
Mark is still unemployed, still looking for work.
We praise G-d his unemployment has been extended. And he does get paid for going to the Yellow Ribbon.
And I shall share about that another time.
That following tuesday, Mark awoke rather sick. It seems he had picked up some stomach virus. Which meant my making a big pot of chicken soup for my beloved instead of potatoes latkes for the first night of hanukkah. Thankfully with ginger-ale and soup, he was right as rain the following day.
So the next night, we had fish and chips, one of our favorite meals for hanukkah, since it is cooked in oil.
We spend a lot of time together, my beloved and I. Mostly because niether of us has jobs.
But while a job is needed, I do not complain about the time we share. We talk so much. We take walks together, study and pray together.
I see the pain in my Mark's eyes. He feels he has failed me in that he has no work to support us. But that isn't his fault. My Mark's isn't a lazy man; just sitting on the sofa, playing vidoe games while we live on the Taxpayers dime.
And yet in those same eyes, I see love. I see how much my husband loves me.
And what does that have to do with Hanukkah?
This is the time of miracles. When a ragtag band with the Hand of G-d upon them, won the battle the Syian-Greacian army that was determine to rid the world of every hebrew man, woman and child. To rid the world of Torah and the hebrew tongue. If it had not been for that hard fought battle, the miracle of a young virgin girl concieving in her womb the Messiah would have never occured. If there had been no Hanukkah, there would have been no Christmas.
The miracle of a war won. Of oil found. Of a Child concieved. All duringing this time of miracles.
And the same G-d of ole is still performing mircales. He still has His Hand upon His people, upon all who would call upon His Name.
And that is why I can light the lights of Hanukkah.
She was known for her beauty and amazing blue eyes. She was known for love of children and love for dance. Forever 36, our last memory of her was entering a car that would crash, the crash taking her life.
But I shall forever memory her for that touch.
I call it the touch felt around the world.
It was April, 1986. Diana, Princess of Wales, in visiting a hosptial, actually reached out and shook the hand of a man, dying of Aids.
Her Highness's single touch of a dying man, a fellow human being, literally changed the world's view of Aides and Aides patients forever.
I believer the Princess of Wales would agree with me that we have come a long way, and yet still have a long way to go.
Today is the one day of the year that I think about returning to nursing.
Notice I said think about.
But that part of my life is over and by the end of this evening the feeling will be gone.
But I can still be part of the battle; by speaking out in Aids Awarness and giving when I have the money to do so. By visiting the bedside of the sick, whatever their ailment, not being afraid to touch them with the love of Yeshua, with the love of a fellow human being.
I write this in memory of the Late Princess of Wales, Diana.
Taken far too soon.
Today is World Aids Day.
The day holds meaning for me because when I began my career as a nursing assistance, it was during those early years of when hearing "you have aids" was a death sentence. When people were afraid to be in the same room with someone had Aids, let alone touch them, eat or drink after them. When even doctors and nurses refused to see or care for a person with Aids. When even family memebers were turning their backs on family members.
I remember well the evening I found myself working with Aid patients. I was going in to check on two new patients, I actually tripped over the door stopped. The two male patients laughed and I laughed too. It was funny, and I didn't fall, which was even better.
I introduced myself, letting them know I would be their CNA for the evening.
They both asked for pitchers of water. So I went and filled their pitches and returned.
Both men appeared shocked that I returned so quickly.
"We're not use to recieving such service."
Why not, I asked.
"You don't know, we have Aids. No one comes in here unless they have to."
I didn't know. So I told them, if they didn't mind, I would need to wear gloves, but I no problem taking care of them.
A few minutes later, the head nurse called me to the nursing station. "You don't have a problem taking care of those men. Their gay you."
"So,"
"They have Aids."
"So, I'm not going to kiss or have sex with. I believe that just as Yeshua walked amoung and healed the Lepers of His day, I believe He would walk amoung and heal Aids patients."
So that night, I was given all four Aids patients on that floor until I left that nursing home.
I then went to work for an nursing agency where I continued working with Hospic patients, including Aids patients.
Several of my former Aid patients actually rally and are now doing great, living full lives. But most have indeed passed on.
I remember each fondly, with a smile and tears.
We have come a very long way in the battle to rid the world of Aids, but we still, as a nation and the world at large still have a long way to go. May we see the world rid of this disease soon.
I write this in memory of all of those who have gone before us.
I write this, in the belief that one day, Aids, will be nothing more than a memory.
Boker Tov:
Back to our trip to Rochester.
After we leave GettryBurg, PA (see post from 11-16-2001) we were once agin on the road.
The sun was high and the weather was great; the air was crisp and had me longing for hot apple cider.
On our way, we stopped a warm and visiting little town known as Champ Hill. It was a great place to stop and stretch our legs.
As well as an wonderful place to take pictures:
A carpit of fallen leaves. I leaarned my beloved had never had the joy of kicking through a pile of leaves or even have a leave fight. So we had to have a little fun playing in the leaves.
This is All About Wedding Cakes. It's by appointment only, so we couldn't go in.
The homes are so lovely, the feel that one gets is the warmth that comes from the charm of a small town.
Our time in Champ Hill was far too short. We have to come back.
