So Melanie is 29 now. And this year she and her fiance' got married. Their
wedding was December 19. It was a nightmare for her to plan with all this
COVID shit going on. But the celebration went off without a hitch! They had
the celebrations at the same venues as originally planned. But the group was
smaller to reduce long-distance travel by as many as possible. There will be a
larger celebration at the same venues when all of this COVID shit is over.
And Brian is 26 now. He is still working for Moser out of Indy. But he has
been staying with us and working from here since March. He has been staying in
Fort Wayne because he has a new girlfriend from here. He knew her from
Homestead High School. She has two little girls and he is quickly learning how
to become a parent. And they just made an offer on a nice house in the city
here.
Now Michael Victor is 20. He finished up his first year at Indiana University
(IU) in Bloomington, IN. Again, because of all this COVID shit, he actually
finished the semester from home. All their courses have been online since
March. For his second year at IU, he decided to live in an apartment off
campus in Bloomington. Thinking that all this COVID shit would be over soon,
he got a roommate and they signed a lease. But, it turns out that most of
their classes are still meeting online. Since he signed a lease, he did spend
most of his time in his new apartment. But he came back home more often and
the first semester actually finished just before Thanksgiving. His girlfriend
has been staying with us for most of this "shelter in place" time. It turns
out that her mother tested positive for COVID; then she tested positive for
COVID; and Michael also tested positive for COVID. So then Wendy & I got
tested. Wendy tested negative, but I tested positive. The only COVID-like
symptom that I think I had was a cough for a few days; thank God!
Wendy didn't like getting back into sales at the Fort Wayne Newspapers. So she
gave her notice and finished working for them in February; just in time for all
this COVID shit. She didn't have to deal with it for that job. But she just
got a new job as an Office Administrator working for a counseling service here
in Fort Wayne called Life Line. She loves her new job!
I am still working for Raytheon and I've been working from home since mid-March
because of all this COVID shit. I had an MRI in December 2019 and then again
in May 2020. My neurologist in Indy told me that the meningioma is growing
since my surgery in November 2018. However, it is not growing at such a great
rate. But, it is growing towards my brain stem. So he recommended that I
undergo radiation therapy. So starting in early June, for 30 treatments I
underwent radiation therapy. The therapy was at Methodist Hospital in
Indianapolis, so each week I would travel from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis and
I would stay with Melanie. I went to Methodist Hospital every weekday for six
weeks. I still worked everyday from Mel's house and then I travelled back to
Fort Wayne on the weekends. The goal of the radiation therapy was supposed to
stop the growth of the meningioma; not necessarily shrink it or make it go
away. I had another MRI in September and my doctor said that the meningioma
did not appear to be growing anymore. I have another MRI scheduled for the end
of December. The side-effects from the radiation therapy were that I lost a
good portion of my hair behind my right ear and the back of my head. I also
get tired to the point where I need a one or two hour nap in the late afternoon
or early evening. I also lost my appetite to the point where I lost over 10
pounds within a month of finishing the radiation therapy. However, the loss of
appetite continued; even to this day and I have lost a total of over 30
pounds. I especially have an aversion to eating meat like a pot roast or
burgers and even my very favorite chicken wings. My doctor does not think that
this is a symptom from the radiation therapy. So I have been taking a drug
that is supposed to improve my appetite. I am able to eat more now, but I
still don't like to eat meat that much. Wendy & Melanie think that my short
term memory and my personality have been negatively effected. They say I am
more short-tempered now. So I am keeping an eye on that and trying to be a
better person.
I had to cancel my trip to Buffalo in August for my Bishop Turner Class of 1980
40 year reunion because of these stupid COVID travel restrictions. I wanted to
have another get together with my Buffalo friends at Santora's. And I wanted
to get together with some folks who I used to work with at Bell Aerospace. But
it looks like I'll have to try that again in the summer of 2021; we'll see!
Our shorkie Cooper is 7 years old now. And our new Aussie Shepherd "puppy"
Blondie is now one year old as of the end of July. She weighs in at 54 pounds.
That's a little bit bigger than what we were expecting; but I think she's done
growing now. And she is so active that Wendy & I can't keep up with her. I
guess once I get into a routine, she can help me stay active too!
We are thankful for all of our friends and family. We wish we could see you all more often.