Archive for the ‘Health’ Tag
In The Quiet Of A Life
Wherein remains in the quiet of one’s life
In the melancholy of the soul
There lies deep inside of one
A bell gone silent without toll
There comes a reminiscent thought
When one looks back at what is still,
A passage of time forever sought
And to their memory commit to will;
For in the silence and the quiet
Of a bell that cannot toll,
They sit and wonder, meek and shy
What it was that came and stole
Their thoughts and pondering of time
A passage of life, they cannot find
For in the stillness of the hour
It is the quiet of their mind.
_______________
Poem by: Joyce E. Johnson
I wrote this poem in 1996 in memory of my father, Victor A. Mannhalter, who died in March, 1982 from a malignant brain tumor. During the last six months of his life the effects of cancer caused severe memory loss so that he could not recognize people or talk coherently to anyone, including me, my mother, and my siblings. When he tried to speak he got names and words mixed up, his thoughts and sentences, scrambled. I put myself in his place trying to imagine how it felt. For patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or malignant brain tumors like my father the symptoms are much the same, as is the frustration in trying to remember things from their past and memories are gone. For a man in his early sixties who had pastored churches for over forty years and devoted his life to full-time ministry and to the people in his congregations it was difficult to watch him deteriorate so rapidly. He always loved photography, carrying around a trusty old Pentax camera documenting events, his travels, and his life, ours and others in pictures and slides, his favorite pastime. As the cancer progressed, he lost what he treasured most; his internal memory of all, that which could not be saved, regained or preserved like the slides he took.
_________________________
Like this:
Like Loading...
‘Nourishment’ comes in all kinds of presentations, serving size, and tastes. But, a pill? that is not a way I want to take it. I take enough other medications so certainly do not want to get my nutrition from a pill. There is no fun in that. A few years ago when I had put on a lot of excess weight through the years and had tried all kinds of diets, I went on my own weight loss program. No special diet, no special foods, or exercise regimens or fitness clubs. I bought a Schwinn programmable, recumbent exercise bicycle and took long walks regularly. With the substantial amount of decreased calories and increased exercise I lost a full 100 lbs. over the four-year period. Keeping all of it off is a bit of a challenge and I still like an occasional dessert. But, I don’t make it a daily habit.
I will share a little low-calorie, nutritious dessert recipe of my own that tastes great, is fun and easy to make. I like to experiment sometimes with recipes and often will alter one a little to cut calories. There are ways to get more nutrition with less of the fat or sugar. Here is my little creation presented and shared in Haiku style.
I love crepes: all kinds
Chocolate and Blueberries
are my favorite
***
Just a bit of rum
and cocoa in the batter
is the secret here.
***
Blueberry syrup:
one cup frozen blueberries,
a little corn starch,
***
A half cup sugar.
Cook slow, till thick and bubbly.
Top all with cool whip.
____________________
Joyce E. Johnson
Like this:
Like Loading...
The below story is my 100 word Friday Fictioneers story submitted for June 22, in Madison Woods Friday Fictioneers: Thank you Madison for the opportunity to be a part of Friday Fictioneers, and providing the photo prompts to use for the inspiration. Here is my entry for this week. Got it right to 100 words again, and has sure been a lot of fun. Feedback and comments are welcome.
**********
“I have stomach pain. My head feels hot. Chills, headache, nausea. I hurt all over.”
“What did you eat?”
“Just some cantaloupe.”
More questions.
“Where?”
“The farmer’s market.”
I overheard their quiet discussion, something about a shipment of cantaloupe. It’s exposure to infected… flies? Carrying what?
Cantaloupe? I loved it. I thrived on fruit during my weight loss, to get the weight off… to get healthy.
Can’t hold up my head. Feeling faint. So dizzy. Don’t remember anymore.
Drifting, in and out, everything, everyone, fuzzy.
Shadows, forms rushing around me.
“Quick! The paddles.”
“Hurry! We’re losing her.”
“Good! She’s stable!”
**********
Like this:
Like Loading...
Welcome to my website. I have a variety of just about everything here; poetry, prose, essays, fiction and inspirational stories. I hope you enjoy your reading experience . Thank you for visiting, and I hope you will stop by again. I love meeting new readers, followers and bloggers. Leave a comment if you like. All are appreciated. 
