Kathy - You were the first thing I thought of this morning. I wanted to tell you again how much you are cared for by myself & so many others. I'm so glad you started this thread so we all have chance to express our love for you.

:You_Rock_:wavey::Valdog:

being humorous helped me tremendously.
i needed the humorous map,though. :)
i had no idea there were 2 views to humorous!:a043:

I think you should try growing a beard....

even more support

I do appreciate it deeply—and I appreciate you all, too—but don’t kid yourself: this kindness is all going straight to my head and I’m sashaying around my family like an empress, snapping my fingers and issuing edicts, like “Fetch me the remote!”

I’m rushing right in to take advantage for as long as I can get away with it! :lmao :lmao

I’m so sorry.

Thank you, Atlas.

This is lovely, tomsteve.

I know that you, too, live with cancer.

Prayers are always headed your way, too.

Sending you more love, dear Gilmer?

When you said that you were copacetic with Heaven or healing, I cried both tears of joy and respect. I pray to attain the same beautiful attitude as yours.

Me, too.

On Overs you should remember I wore out two pairs of kneecaps kicking myself in the hindquarters when my two best friends died and no one told me until it was too late to tell them they were loved, and to thank them for being in my life.

I blamed myself for not calling enough and being there for them. We lived far apart, having both been Fulltime RVrs for years, who came off the road, again like me. We still drove or flew every year or three to visit. Their wives were my good friends too. My best friend had cancer and was caring for his wife with Alzheimer's. We knew about her but he withheld about his cancer. I didn't know he was dealing with it.

The other's wife, also a buddy, cared for him the last month in Vegas. She had her daughter call me the day he died because she couldn't be the bearer of that news to me, his best friend.

You have saved us, all your friends, from wearing out any more kneecaps, by letting us know you are on the threshold, in time for us to thank you for being in our lives. Like you were driving home from our house, and looked back and tapped your horn, giving a last wave and smile, in return for ours.

Thanks for being in my life, and for sharing on and off SR.

Thanks

The copaceticness is strictly a supernatural gift from God stuck on me like a band-aid—I certainly wasn’t copacetic when I first saw the scan!

I basically had a big tantrum—then I finally broke down and surrendered—and since then I’ve had calm. I don’t take a bit of credit, because my gut reflex was not sweetness and light.

Gilmer,
if that gut reflex should rear up again, i do hope you feel you can bring it here, too.
so much love and acceptance here all around, no matter where you/we are at.
good evening to you.

Fini, believe me, I won’t hold back! :fright:

Thank you, Itch. You are a noble man and a fine friend. I am proud to know you!

Earlier I lost a post about two parts of my bucket list being hammered out today.

I’m too beat to write a detailed post now, so I’ll see you tomorrow! :wavey:

Sweet Dreams!

I can't put into words what I want to say. You are such an amazing, beautiful kind and caring person and I love your positive and supportive posts. You're an inspiration. Make sure you fill your time with love and family and friends as you work through your bucket list.
Much love and hugs hugs
Xxx

Hi Gilmer,
I just saw this thread and have read a few posts. I don't have anything new it say. Adding my prayers to those of the SR Family. IDK if someone has already mentioned this in regards to the power of people united. When the Mexico fans of the World Cup, as a united group, helped the Earth shake that was HUGE to me. We can do anything when we pool our energy/prayers. Never give up, "Miracles" happen Gilmer. Remember you already are one. 💛
:grouphug: Bobbi :grouphug:

Thinking about you today gilmer. Hoping that you have love and support with you where you are.

Thank you guys. I do feel very loved. I am extremely fortunate.

I started off with 4 items on my bucket list—2 with my husband and two with my two daughters.

With my husband I first wanted to go down to southwestern VA for a couple days to visit my two older sons, who live there. But they came up to the mountains to visit me as soon as they heard the diagnosis, so the whole family was together. In fact, the younger one will be staying with us for a couple weeks, so that’s great.

At any rate, I no longer have to plan a special trip down there.

So far, July looks like it’s mostly empty except for scattered appointments.

I am hoping my dear friend from NYC can come and stay for a night or two, and we will go around the sights of DC, eat at a cool place, and just generally hang out.

I am also hopeful my matron of honor (whom I’ve known for 47 years) can come as my guest for a few days to a really cool, historically significant resort in WVA, The Greenbrier. They have what I think is the world’s greatest spa service, a shower thing called the Scotch Spray. Google it !

Plus it is the home of a gigantic underground fallout shelter that was built by the US government at the height of the Cold War and kept secret till news of it hit the Washington Post in 1992. It was big enough to house the President, VP, and both houses of Congress and their families. It ran under the length of the entire massive resort!

My husband and I went there for our 25th anniversary, and it was super-cool.

Once we saw the bunker, though, he was bored with the hotel and had zero interest in the spa—so he didn’t want to go back with me, but is generously willing to send me and my friend. My friend has never experienced a spa. I will be thrilled to treat her to this pampering; she is going through tremendous stress with a family member this year, and I would love for her to have an hour’s worth of stress relief.

I am hoping I can manage to squeeze this into July too, because I’m afraid of how I’ll feel in September.

The two trips with my daughters were finally planned yesterday. Both had commitments till the 2nd week of August.

So Lord willing from the 8th to the 11th we will go to Wildwood Cres, NJ, my childhood stomping grounds, to stay at the classic neon-colored 1950s Shalimar Motel. I long to bodysurf while I am still able—I haven’t been to the beach since 2004 (my husband detests sand and ocean “gross stuff” :)).

For this trip we are including my 7-y-o granddaughter as one of ”the girls.”

The plan is to do the beach the first day, then go up to Wildwood to do the Boardwalk and amusement piers on the second day—then the third day go down to Cape May and see all the Victorian architecture and hopefully take a carriage ride!

Then later in August the adult daughters and I plan to go to the Boca Beach Resort in Boca Raton, FL. My husband got to go here on a company trip when we were young, and he did have a plus one—but I couldn’t go, because I was on bedrest with our first baby, so I stayed ensconced in my recliner, and he was obliged to take his (delighted) sister.

Anyway, he has always hoped that I’d be able to see it one day, and he has very graciously decided that now is the time.

Again, hanging around hotels doesn’t interest him, so he has opened up this opportunity to me aymy daughters, who have stress of their own with little kids up the wazoo!

Just want to say you've always been one of my favorite people here on SR, Gilmer. Always positive, helping others. You're awesome. I still smile about how Cow always calls you Glimmer. :)

Those plans sound super cool.... body surfing is so much fun!

My own final bucket list hope is for a trip with my husband back tymy hometown, West Chester, PA. I want to visit nearby Longwood Gardens in Kenneth Square, plus see the house we lived in in the early nineties in Unionville.

I’d like to swing by both of the houses in West Chester I grew up in. I also want to go through my old high school and see what’s changed and if anything’s still the same from when I graduated in 1977–then walk across the alley to my all-time favorite super-soupy pizza, Schiano’s Las Vegas Pizza!

I hope we are able to stay at a place called the Hotel Warner. It is a refurbishing of the building that used to hold the beautiful 1930’s Warner Theater, which even had a gigantic, elaborate stage from the days of vaudeville.

The lobby and fixtures were made of marble, and it had a balcony and a giant chandelier.

My dad used to be the projectionist there on weekends, and he often took me. I watched his procedure so often I was sure I could have run the projectors!

Anyway, the “old-fashioned, obsolete” building was carved up and essentially destroyed by a guy in the 70s who put concrete walls up in the center of the theater to attempt to turn it into a “multiplex!”

That venture failed, then a newspaper turned it into an office building; then in the nineties a historical architecture committee got wind of the monstrosity that had occurred, and they led attempts to salvage it.

So now it has been lovingly restored as the Hotel Warner—and it has retained the original marble staircase to the second floor (what used to be the balcony)!

I am very excited to see it. That theater was near and dear to my heart!

Oh, and if I can find one closer to home, I’d also like to go up on a hot air balloon ride before it gets too cold.

**************************************************

The only two of these items that have official plans made are the Jersey and Boca trips.

If those pan out, I would consider myself more than fortunate!

They would really be quite enough. Just writing it out helped me to get things in perspective.

Just those two will be the trips of a lifetime.

My husband just would like to spend a lot of time hanging out with me in the mountains. We always relax there.

With the whole bucket list thing he really wanted to bless me, and he certainly has!

But I think my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so to speak.

I’ll just try to see my NY friend and get in the hometown trip in July, then be content with the two trips in August. After that, we’ll see.

Forgive my rambling—it must sound extremely spoiled.

Thanks, SnazzyDresser and Dragon. I cross-posted with you!

I keep fat-fingering my phone keyboard. It’s driving me crazy!

Not in the least! keep rambling. We love to hear it!

Good stuff Gilly.

I know about that resort- a huge cover up pretending to extend the ballroom..I seem to remember the mirrored ball-r wall slides back to reveal the very unsecret bunker.

I didn’t know you could access it from the resort itself, but I do know that we on the tour were permitted to walk through the official entrance, a 20-something ton steel door carved into a large rock!

See their website!

The vast majority of the dorm rooms have been long converted to data storage for a railroad company.

What the resort has preserved is the decontamination area, the kitchen and cafeteria, the auditorium with the Presidential Seal podium for briefings, the infirmary, a few dorm rooms, and a couple other items of interest; the rest of the massive bunker has been converted.

It really is a gigantic resort. I guess it’s not as profitable as it used to be, because since I was there in 2009 they’ve added a casino (albeit a tasteful one)!

Gilmer, I’m so sorry to read about your diagnosis, but glad to see you have beautiful plans for the near future. Much love to you and yours.

I used to live in WV, but the shelter at Greenbrier was not open to the public then. That is on my bucket list! As is moving back to Washington state. I’m in your old stomping grounds of south jersey now.