Teddy's New Chapter Begins Today!

Today is Ted's last day of work...after 37 years! I wanted to share my thoughts publicly for this wonderful man and his amazing work ethic! So here's to you Teddy!

You got up anyway and went to work…
In the rain,
In the dark,
In the snow and ice,
In pain,
Because you knew that so many were counting on you,
Your customers,
Your employees,
Your Dad and your brothers,
Your brothers’ families,
Your sons, and most of all,
Me.
Probably more than anyone else…I know how hard that was for you!
So on this day, we stand together and applaud your 37 accomplished years of providing for so many,
And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts…
For getting up anyway.

An Angel in the Post Office

Being the 'dog person' that I am, I just had to post this story.

This is one of the kindest things you may ever see. It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

"Dear God,Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith"

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ' To Meredith ' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ' When a Pet Dies.. ' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &Meredith and this note:

"Dear Meredith: Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.
Love,God"

Need your prayers!

Hello to all--I know that I have a whole community of 'pray-er's' out there that check into my blog every few days. My heart is filled with the need to pray for some folks over the next few days, so I thought I would share, so that if you feel led to do so, you can pray for them too!

--Pray for our dear friends Joey & Kurt all weekend as we all celebrate the wedding of their son Kevin to his bride Corey. Lots of logistics need to fall into place between now and Sunday night, so pray that all goes well and we can truly celebrate this joyous occasion.

--Pray for Chet, that his surgery goes really well on Monday morning and also for Coleen, his wife, that she is filled with peace and will be comforted as she waits for his surgery to be completed.

--Pray for my friend Joyce and her sis Janis and bro-in-law Greg...as they share joy in Greg's last earthly times.

--Pray for our neighbors Melodie and Terry...as they both transition and move into their separate homes...that their healing continues and both receive the help and love they need at this tough time for them both.

--Pray for my dear college roomie Munch, that her finger graft 'takes' and she can endure the boredom of waiting for her hand to heal from her lawn mower accident.

--Pray for our new grandson in utero and for Brooke, our daughter-in-law, that they both continue to be healthy and strong.

--Pray for our son Joel and his bride-to-be Jo, that they can enjoy all the wedding planning amidst very hectic and demanding work lives.

--And last, but certainly at the top of my list, pray for Ted as he had his last 3 days this coming week...his official last day at Modern Photo is this coming Wednesday...that this next chapter of his life will be filled with joy and be as fulfilling and wonderful for him as the last 37 years at MoPho have been!

Thanks you all...hard to believe that all of the above is taking place right now and over the next few days! Life is full isn't it?

What I Live With!

It was our first Sunday morning in months to kick back, goof off, do whatever and so I sleepily climbed out of bed, put on my comf-iest of clothes and slogged my way downstairs. Ted had been up for awhile. He looked at me and started laughing...with that awful Dreyer chuckle sort of laugh that means he's about to make fun of me...and I wasn't disappointed. He said...'you look exactly like Conway Twitty'! Therein followed an online look-up and I hate to admit it...but it's a dead match on the hair! I need a haircut FAST! What I live with...

A Needed Reminder

Of course, leave it up to my God to put me in exactly the right place at the right time. My mind has been racing ahead of my body lately. I have no problem with motivation...my desire to do lots of things is there, but my body is lagging behind. I find that if I push in the way that I was so used to doing...I pay the price!

So it was a perfect thing that my friend Kathy Carrier did this week when she invited me and 2 other ladies to lunch. There we sat, outside at Le Meridian, on the most gorgeous of days, getting to know each other.

I quickly knew that Tiffany was a "Julie Meek" in the work ethic sense. She was an exec with Roche Diagnostics, traveling internationally for them, and like me, she had a job that was 24/7. She willingly shared that she is a breast cancer survivor...for 2 years now...YEAH! She is radiant! So I asked her...'how long did it take before you really felt like yourself again?"

She said "a year and a half". I was stunned! Here I am, 3 1/2 months post treatment expecting to feel totally back to normal and this amazing woman, who had surgery, chemo and radiation like me and who is equally as anxious as I am to get life back to normal...said a year and a half!

WOW--what a perfect person for God to put before me! What a gift Tiffany is to me. I guess I need to be more patient! Thank you Kathy...for always caring for me in such unique and wonderful ways amidst your busy life!

Busy-Busy!

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted since August 28th! For my devoted blog friends, that's just not acceptable! The reason is that we've been busy-busy! In the 12 days since I last posted, we have:

• Enjoyed a wonderful visit from my sis Marilyn and bro-in-law Guy including a great outdoor brunch at my bro Larry's and sis-in-law Barb's
• Gotten involved in a large grant writing process at IU and graded 3 weeks worth of student postings plus handled a large number of student questions/concerns
• Enjoyed an Indian's ballgame with our good friends Nick, Roni and Lori
• Gotten all the plans off the ground for a meet/greet party for our son Joel and his soon-to-be wife Jo here in Indy Thanksgiving weekend
• Gone to see Mo twice
• Visited with all our kids multiple times by phone
• Accomplished a few hours of consulting
• Deep cleaned a closet or two
• Strength trained twice
• Started our kitchen upgrade searching for appliances, counter tops, etc.
• Enjoyed our annual fantasy football draft and after-party at brother Larry's
• Enjoyed a great visit with our dear friend Steve while he was in town for a conference
• Started planning a retirement party for a beloved colleague and friend
• etc., etc....you get the picture!

So not an excuse, but instead a celebration of getting back to life after treatment! If ever a family was doing that with blazing speed, it's us!

I also want to share that it seems that every book I've read on breast cancer involves a post-treatment scare or two. Well--I've had mine. For about a month, I've had some spot-tenderness under my operative arm right on my chest wall. And of course, you know how it goes...you talk yourself "in" and "out" of calling the doctor about ten times before you call. Anyhoo, I finally called and got in quickly to see my surgeon yesterday. Thankfully, it's just some scarring around a rib cage nerve (intercostal neuroma for you medical people out there) that hopefully will settle down as I heal a bit more.

So all is well here and life is at full pace for all the Meek's! And for my friend Cathy---sorry, I'm tired of being a Volkswagon...I'm a racy red Ferrari once more!