Dear Students, Friends and Colleagues,

I don’t know about you, but 2024 has been a year full of surprises for me. And they haven’t all been necessarily pleasant.

I’m propped up in bed writing this message on my laptop after another stay in the hospital, this time for three weeks. First, it was an incredibly painful bowel obstruction, followed by an equally unpleasant perforation in the small intestine, which led to an emergency second major surgery. Then, infected abscesses in the pelvic region, which necessitated yet another surgery for insertion of a drain tube.

Whew! Thanksgiving week I had an NG tube stuck down my throat into my stomach and was limited to ice chips, then liquid only for several days after tube removal. Once I could eat solid food again, it was thankfully scrumptious.

The chicken salad was one of my favorites; I ordered it several times in my total five weeks of hospitalization.

The Saturday I was discharged, my weight was 89.1 pounds. Which is a bit horrifying, frankly. Here I am with my superhero husband, St. George, and one of my favorite CNAs, Hannah.

Now for a pleasant surprise… See that vase with roses I am holding? That was a present from Jose, my friend in housekeeping. He made a point of bringing this precious gift by room #207 the Friday before I went home. He hand-crafted those beauties, including painting every individual petal. And…he signed it.

I cried when he gave it to me. “No llores” (don’t cry!), he said in Spanish. When I told her about it, my nurse, Jane, cried too. I cry every time I tell this story. I’m crying right now. Happy tears of gratitude.

My amazing home health care nurses have resumed visiting me here twice weekly, and I am feeling well enough again to write this update. I still have no idea when I’ll be able to resume teaching and will be having another surgery in a few months for the ostomy reversal/reattachment. I will contact those of you I’m working with on  business projects separately.

In the meantime, I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas and other holiday traditions in the blog comments. Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of year.

My family went to the First Presbyterian church in Raymond, South Dakota, a town of now 58 people. That’s an increase of five since 2020! I was raised on a farm 11 miles from that tiny town.

I was always an angel in the Christmas Eve pageant, and loved the role, ouchy wings and itchy halo and all. I was able to sing and loved the traditional holiday carols. We had our rehearsal the same day “Santa” came to town on the one main road, tossing out – from the back of a pickup truck – bags of candy and fruit for we children. Then, we went caroling, and the “town ladies” passed out their homemade candy, like Mrs. Herther’s divinity.

The Christmas Eve service was, to me, heartfully reverent, especially at the end when the lights were dimmed, and the candles were passed out, being lit from one person in a pew to the next. A hush fell over the church, and I truly felt the presence of God, just like I did walking through the hills close to our house with Lucy the dog, or riding on the back of my horse, Princess.

My mother came from a family of nine children, and Christmas Day was always at our house. Mom decorated, and we always had a Christmas tree, with presents either under the tree or on the fireplace hearth. Before long, the aunts, uncles, and cousins started showing up. All the women in my family are great cooks, so the food was always delicious and plentiful. We cousins would sled and toboggan on the hill beyond the shelterbelt, and come in to Dad’s home-churned vanilla ice cream and Mom’s homemade hot fudge sauce. Then we’d play ping pong on the table in the basement. Later, I would often knock out a few tunes on the piano, and some of the relatives would come in to sing with me.

The whole experience, year after year, was Norman Rockwell-esque. This year will be much quieter.

Before closing, on a completely different note, here’s that recipe I promised back in May.

TACO SEASONING

-1 TBSP chili powder

-1 ½ tsp cumin

-1 tsp+ salt

-1 tsp pepper

-1/2 tsp paprika

-1/4 tsp onion powder

-1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes

-1/4+ oregano

-cayenne pepper to taste

God bless you and yours throughout the remainder of 2024.

Enjoy some holiday surprises and go make some music!

Love Your Voice & Voice Your Love,

Laura