I’ve had a Very Different sort of week.
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Just after my last post, I went to Suva for a 3-day meeting.
One experience there was catching up with a dear friend who had a stroke a few months ago. When Austin heard about the stroke, he prepared a medicine that is supposed to be good for strokes and took it to him. Austin demo’d this medicine yesterday at my monthly Ladies Lunch.
It is ANNATTO-infused oil, taken orally – which he’d read about in “Science News” online. Annatto seeds, also called “achiote” in Spanish, and “sindoor” in Hindi, are cooked in oil so that the red powder is dissolved. Austin was making it in virgin coconut oil, but later read that rice bran oil is even better, as it also contains some of the anti-stroke properties. Yesterday, he showed the ladies how to make it. A neighbor’s father recently had a stroke, so I took this over after the lunch. Austin also started growing annatto bushes, and he sent a seedling along for them to plant, too.
But, anyway, back to this friend in Suva. He was telling me how great this medicine is. He had been on seven different pills from the hospital for his stroke. After starting this oil, he felt better immediately, and he was able to get off of all seven of those meds. He is nearly back to normal now,
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While in Suva, I was inspired to change out my daily 5 minutes in nature for a daily saunter at dawn to the pavilion.
We are in the clouds even as we walk upon the earth.
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Another odd thing this week:
I got new matching couch pillows.
But the pillows vacated the couch about 15 minutes later.
(Vina and Ashmita were tuckered out from catering for thirteen students and professors staying at Teitei, who were out on a field trip at the time of the photo)
(They also have a nice boss.)
(Photo shared with permission of the “pillows” 🙂 )
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And the sad, odd thing about the week is that my first cosuegra died.
“Cosuegra” is the Spanish word for “fellow mother-in-law.”
Nancy Nelson was the best mother-in-law my daughter Lua could possibly have gotten.
Nancy was a world champ at staying out of other people’s business, while also always having Lua’s back – very important since they shared a house almost constantly from the time Lua and Max married in December 2006.
Nancy fought cancer many times, plus other health issues. When she got the diagnosis for which there was no treatment – with a six-month life expectancy and a recommendation to just go enjoy her last months – she enjoyed those months for something like five more years. (Red reichi mushrooms were her friend) She was our Energizer Bunny. She slowed down a bit, but still had plans – so that her end, while expected someday, was blessedly swift.
Back to her inspiring life:
Nancy was a daughter of the prairies and skilled at everything, and she could share her knowledge cheerfully and happily without acting like a know-it-all.
Dear God in heaven was she ever funny!
Nancy was blessed with both a keen acuity for business and magnificent generosity. She looked for quality in her clothes and always presented herself well, but was not saddled with vanity. When her adopted daughter was studying to be a hairstylist, Nancy let her practice coloring her hair. Once I went to visit and Nancy’s hair was bright red! It was one of her daughter’s efforts, and Nancy was happy.
One of the most outstanding chapters of Nancy’s outstanding life was her becoming a foster mother to many teenage girls – sometimes 6 or so at once.
My all-time favorite Nancy story: One of the foster daughters placed with Nancy started off with an exceptionally bad attitude. She sneered at Nancy and accused, “You are just a rich bitch.” To which Nancy gave an impish grin and a flick of her head and said, “Yep. Watch me and I’ll show you how to do it.”
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Happy week, everyone.
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