took a walk…

i laced up my shoes and hit the mean streets of exeter tonight. this is my second stroll in the past few days. it feels good to move.

i haven’t been doing much moving before now. however, i did join a gym on friday and even worked out. i walked sunday morning and tonight. not a bad start.

movement is great. i forget how important it is to my overall health and mental health. when i’m connected to my body in a more healthy way, i feel better all around.

goals keep me moving. so, i’m considering walking the portland marathon in october. i printed out the training schedule and it will work. we shall see.

i want to hang a carrot out there, but don’t want it to go away again. that’s what happened after the breast cancer 3-day. i finished it and i was done.

so, i’m open to suggestions. maybe there are a series of half marathons i can do over the next 12 months. i’m sure there are plenty of good ideas.

be well, loved ones!
greg

more from fred…

Dear family and friend,

Yippee!! I had my last chemo- IV last Wednesday . After a few days of feeling yucky, I feel pretty good today and I am looking forward to a great summer. They say that that it takes three or four weeks to really flush all those drugs out of your system. Maybe then I can start growing what little hair I had back. Now that I think about it, I like the bald look. It gives me that Yul Brynner look. Maybe I’ll just keep shaving my shiny dome.

According to my oncologist and my radiologist my prognosis looks pretty good. After weighing all the pros and cons of prophylactic brain radiation (look it up) we decide to opt out of that procedure.

I thank you again for your prayers and concern. Without them, I don’t think I would have had the positive attitude that I have.

Love,

Fred

becoming the right person…

one of the ministers at my unity church in cincinnati said about dating and relationships, ‘it’s not about finding the right person, but becoming the right person.’ i’m definitely in a ‘becoming the right person’ stage right now.

i wanted to see if anyone else is talking about this concept, so i went online. honestly, i didn’t think i would find anything. to my surprise, i stumbled across this nugget as the first option in my google search. i like what he has to say.

5 Steps to Becoming the Right Person
By Jeff Herring

Contrary to how it is sometimes presented in the media, living single is not a condition to be cured. It is a valid life choice for many people.

It’s a totally acceptable choice if you would rather be alone. In fact, being alone is always preferable to being with someone and wishing you were alone.

We are built for relationships

At the same time, when asked, most singles say that one of their top life goals is to find someone to be with in a long term committed relationship. This is normal and human, as we were created for relationships.

The danger is to then focus all your energy on finding the right person. Too many people go on an endless and frustrating search for the right person. While finding the right person is important, it’s neither the most important nor the first thing to do.

The first and most important step is to focus on becoming the right person. For most of us, that by itself is a full time job. Part of becoming the right person is building a life that is fulfilling and compelling. This accomplishes as least two important things:

1. You are happy in your life as it is, and

2. Your life is so attractive that another person would enjoy being a part of it.

5 Crucial Questions

While we all may want a relationship, few people stop and ask

“Am I ready for a relationship?”

Here are 5 questions worth asking:

1. Do you know what you want out of life?

2. Do you know what you want in a partner?

3. Do you know what you need in a partner?

4. Are you emotionally free from previous relationships?

5. Are you commit-able - emotionally ready and able to commit?

Answer these 5 questions for your self and you will be well on the way to becoming the right person.

so, i’m feeling validated in my singledom for the time being if anything changes, i’ll let you know.

much love,
greg

happy mother’s day…

a woman visited our church and performed a rendition of the mother’s day proclamation listed below and here. a little history for you…

we also had a five minute “stand for peace” at 1pm. apparently, we joined thousands of people across the country (maybe across the globe) doing the same thing. more info here.

“Julia Ward Howe is sometimes claimed as the “founder of Mother’s Day,” implying that Julia Ward Howe’s June 2nd occasion and Anna Jarvis’ second-Sunday-in-May event are the same thing. It is even suggested that an antiwar and feminist holiday was co-opted by the forces of sentimentality, tradition, and Hallmark.^[4] But although Mother’s Day was celebrated in eighteen cities in 1873, it did not take root. It continued in Boston for about ten years under Howe’s personal financial sponsorship, then died out.^[5]

Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day, celebrated on June 2nd, was first proclaimed around 1870 by Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation, and Howe called for it to be observed each year nationally in 1872. As originally envisioned, Howe’s “Mother’s Day” was a call for pacifism and disarmament by women. The original Mother’s Day Proclamation was as follows [1]:

Arise then…women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts!

Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:

“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,

Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,

For caresses and applause.

Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn

All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

We, the women of one country,

Will be too tender of those of another country

To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with

Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”

Blood does not wipe our dishonor,

Nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil

At the summons of war,

Let women now leave all that may be left of home

For a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means

Whereby the great human family can live in peace…

Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,

But of God -

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask

That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,

May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient

And the earliest period consistent with its objects,

To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,

The amicable settlement of international questions,

The great and general interests of peace.”

congratulations wenzes!!!

bill, betsy, katie & ellie wenz welcome Sophie Elizabeth!!

the wenz family is proud to announce the birth of Sophie Elizabeth. sophie was born the morning of may 10th at 7:44am. she weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz.

betsy and sophie are both healthy - the wenz family is very happy and doing great!

much love to the wenz clan!!

vortex in atlanta….

walk thru a skull's mouth and choose from 150 beers… sweet!

in hotlanta eating catfish tacos,

in hotlanta eating catfish tacos, calamari tacos and shrimp tacos. i highly recommend six feet under on memorial. good eatin. good people. out.

straight from fred himself…

Dear Family and Friends,

I finished the third of my four day chemo therapies a week ago last Thursday. I’m sorry that I am a little late on my progress report, but after this last session the normal after effects have been taking place: listlessness, fatigue, a few aches and pains…almost like the flu. I can’t wait to tell my oncologist when I see her next. She was wondering why I wasn’t having these symptoms after the first two sessions. So was my niece, who went through breast cancer chemo therapy, she was wondering why I wasn’t suffering the way she did when she had her treatments. She said that I could a least fake feeling lousy. Well, honey, this time I didn’t have to fake it.

All these effects lasted about a week. Today (Saturday) I’m feeling much better and through it all my positive attitude didn’t waver. My nurse, Marlene, was a little frazzled through it all but she too is feeling much better.

Thanks again for your prayers and concern.

Love,

Fred

the morning after…

good morning!

after i posted last night, i went out and had some dinner in exeter. i had two beers and a blue cheese and steak tip salad at a local joint. yum! from there, i caught the last ’spider-man 3′ show at a movie theater with stadium seating. i was disappointed with the spidey flick. i won’t go into any detail; giving you can form your own opinion.

i woke up this morning with nothing on the agenda but straightening up the house, cleaning and doing exactly what i want to do. the cleaning persists. i’m glad to have the time to give my home some TLC. i’ve been away alot since i moved here, and that’s not going to stop any time soon. i’ll enjoy it in the moment.

i’m feeling good and somewhat accomplished this morning. part of me wants to post something bright and shiny to cover up what i posted last night. i’m not going to do it. i’m going to sit with all of that.

here’s what else is on my mind. i’m going to have a ‘house warming’ party on may 18. my three friends, brian, jim and clint will be here in new hampshire for that. i’m excited and scared about that. the last time brian and clint were here, they dished ALL (and i mean ALL) of the dirt they had on me to my boss at eclipse.

honestly, i am pumped about having people over and sharing my home with them. it feels great to feel more ‘inviting’ again. it’s been a while. the last party i threw was in april 2002. i think six people showed up. let’s hope there are more this time

one last thing… it’s FINALLY motorcycle season. yippee!! i grabbed my bike from the storage facility on wednesday night. it’s here at the house and will stay here all summer/fall/whenever. i have a cover en route and am super excited that i chose to forgo the storage facility for the riding season. i’m trying all kinds of new things.

be well, loved ones!
greg

ps - i’m going to post about mankind project sometime soon. just giving you a teaser about future material

some clarity… less gloom…

i was just typing an email to a friend and this came to me. maybe it will make things clearer for all of us… and steady any worries that are out there.

“As for things, they are not bad. I wouldn’t say I’m at the top of my game, though. I think I’m working with some low level depression. It’s time for me to admit it and start doing something about it. I have nothing to really complain about. All of my problems are ‘luxury’ problems.

All of this being said, I’m just not enjoying life as I believe I should be. I have the world by the balls and have a huge amount to offer. I know I have amazing gifts to offer the world. I’m just not seeing how to express them. I’m not seeing the forest through the trees and it’s time to ask for some help.

Saying it out loud is helpful to me. I doubt most anyone would know this is what I’m feeling if I didn’t say it out loud. I’m taking the risk and I know I will reap the rewards of that risk.“

i like the energy around this statement versus my other post. however, i’m not going to take the other one down. it’s my truth, too.

peace,
g