Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Randy Murray — obituary

Murray, “Randy” William Randal Passed away suddenly on...

Stuart Allen Timmins — obituary

Timmins, Stuart Allen October 30,1939 - February 10,...

Four drawer filing cabinet

If anyone is interested and will, pick...
Reflections from the SwampThe ice is breaking at the swamp

The ice is breaking at the swamp

Reflections from the Swamp
Richard van Duyvendyk

Dear Reader

It has been a long time since I have written an article for Reflections from the Swamp, six months or so. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to start writing again. I’ve missed you. Forgive me if I seem rusty; this squeaky wheel will eventually get the grease.

I feel like Rip Van Winkle(perhaps a cousin), an amiable man who, after a night of drinking, sleeps for 20 years and awakens to find a changed world. I also feel like a groundhog, awakening long before Groundhog Day to find a frozen world and wondering what to do next.

My bride and I have isolated ourselves since August. Over the past four years, she has had three rounds of chemo for her leukemia. The latest treatment was a stem cell replacement using donor cells, which will hopefully control her cancer. My bride’s treatments deliberately suppressed her immune system so that she would accept the new stem cells. As a result, we have spent months in hospital and have had little contact with friends and family because she was vulnerable to bacterial attacks and infections. Thank God she is slowly improving, and her blood levels are now near normal. The groundhogs are emerging without seeing the shadows.

We all experienced isolation during Covid and the fear of getting infections. For us, it has been like having four years of Covid isolation. This isolation has been the most challenging part of the whole ordeal.

I lost the ability to find enough creativity to write, read, or find social outlets to stimulate a broader worldview. Lately, this has changed, and we are becoming social beings again.

Like Rip Van Winkle, I lost touch with many of you and look forward to rejoining other humans. Life keeps going with or without you. Our clocks keep ticking, challenging us to embrace life while we still can. Hanging out with frogs, mosquitos, and geese is terrific but has limitations. I discovered I had nearly 1000 emails when the computer started up again. Political turmoil abounds worldwide, probably because I stopped going to Tim’s with other old farts to solve world problems. In truth, these world crisis-solving conferences didn’t change much, but I enjoyed the company. It’s time to find less ambitious projects that do make a difference.

One of the joys of being married to my bride for 49 years is that we don’t have to join a dating site and pretend that we’re sexier or more fascinating than we are.

As Joni Mitchell(ironically) wrote, “What happens when you date is you run all your best moves and tell all your best stories — and in a way, that routine is a method for falling in love with yourself over and over. “If you want endless repetition, see a lot of different people. If you want infinite variety, stay with one.”

These past few years have helped us find parts of ourselves that involve courage and a mature love that accepts our realities, deepens our love, and strengthens our hope for a future together.

The geese have flown, and the pond has frozen. We don’t have to dream of having a river to skate on; we simply need to tie our skates and glide into the future.

Some good things result from solitude. Solitude, as opposed to loneliness, is the pleasant sensation of being in your own company. When you turn off the news and the computer, many voices competing for your attention gradually grow faint and disappear.

The quiet voice of your soul emerges from the stillness and tells you which way to go.

Related

FOLLOW US

Latest

From the Archives