Yesterday was my Mom’s Pastor’s Retirement Party. I took my camera. I was pretty rattled. It’s been several years since I regularly shot photography at an event. OMGosh! I couldn’t get my camera to work. Since no one was paying me, I had the luxury of walking to my car and sitting in the open rear hatch and collecting myself. I’d almost forgotten every button on the camera. I get shakes. I’d gone to the gym earlier and only drank half of my electrolytes. I was a mess. Luckily I had a packet stashed in my backpack. Sheesh. I drank half the cupful and…, dropped the cup!!! I have no idea what my blood glucose was doing and of course, -I hadn’t eaten. I pulled it together and managed to shoot about 400 pictures that came out beautifully. The event was amazing fun. Most of the folks were from the neighborhood that I grew up in. So fun to see them again. I left the neighborhood when I was twenty and returned at sixty-three. Imagine seeing people you hadn’t seen for 43 years!!!! People would ask if I was Annette Russell’s sister or Betty’s daughter. Yes and yes. Food was served buffet style. I snuck in the line and prepared my 88 year old Mom’s plate before her table was called. Yes. I am that person. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Gotta take care of Mom. The food was really healthy! But I was never hungry and didn’t eat. No tremors after the electrolyte boost. And yes, Doc and I have checked out the tremors. I don’t eat a lot of salt. I had picked up two of Mom’s friends and transported them to the gathering. On the way home one of the ladies mentioned another neighborhood friend, a retired nurse, had her foot amputated. Heartbreaking. I simply asked, “diabetes”? Yes was the answer. When I returned home exhausted, I ate a small 3 oz burger. I wasn’t hungry. I went to sleep thinking why can’t I fast this easy? I could have cared less about food. How did we get here? Amputation? Horrifying. My spirit shakes with sadness. Time to really take it seriously. Thanks for providing a community that allows me to vent.

Posted by Barbara Russell at 2026-03-22 14:51:23 UTC