The bright side

Although still very weak, I'm definitely feeling better today than yesterday, which helps me to feel more positive. Another thing that's helping are the incredible e-mails I've been receiving from people whom I've met over the years, telling me what a difference my work has made in their lives. This fits so well with my idea of an afterlife--living on in the memories of people, and every e-mail or phone call I get from someone from my past shows me how many people will remember me after I'm gone.

Yesterday the doorbell rang while I was alone--I called upstairs and Julie got one of the kids to go down. Kyle came in with an enormous box from a florist--filled with alstromeria (one of my favorite flowers) and roses, sent from my friend Laura on the west coast (whose e-mail address I can't seem to find, so I hope she's reading this). Earlier in the day, Ann had thrown out most of the roses that I got when we went to the flower show last week, but she found some that were still good, and when Dorothy stopped by to take Ted to the airport, she brought a bunch of daffodils, so the house is still filled with flowers, which I love. The weather has turned cold again, making these reminders of spring especially welcome.

Marty is out running some errands so I'm here alone. There's chicken salad in the fridge for my lunch later, and maybe I'll be able to take a nap (I was awake a good part of the night, for some reason). I feel strong enough that making a sandwich (which I'll probably take back to bed to eat) sounds doable, unlike yesterday, when it would have been as impossible as climbing a mountain.

The National Empowerment Center just set up a new page on their Website bringing together the Boston Globe story, the Internet radio program Dan and I did with David, information about On Our Own, and some other things, including a form for people to send e-mail to me (http://power2u.org/judi-chamberlin.html). Since the Globe story will probably not be accessible on their free site indefinitely, this will ensure that people can continue to read it on line.

We watched the President's news conference last night--Obama projects such an air of thoughtful confidence, trying to clean up the multiple messes he's inherited. Every time I see him on TV I continue to be amazed that we finally have a president who is smart and who surrounds himself with other smart people.