Tag: recovering from illness

Learning Gratitude

Dear Liza,

I got sick in the summer of 2025, and it has been a very educational experience.

First, I have learned that recovering isn’t a one-shot deal. After coming down with a nasty case of “face shingles” in France, I was really sick for a month or so, rarely leaving my room and seeing almost no one. During that time, I was grateful for pain medication and sleep.

I was moderately impaired for another few months, when I learned to be grateful for slow walks around the block and art projects online with Ruthie Inman. I also learned that I was grateful for being able to cook dinner! After being such an invalid, being validated was a cause for gratitude.

And finally, I have been getting stronger for the last year. This has lasted the longest and has been, so far, the most challenging, gratitude-wise. Being well enough to WANT to do projects, hikes, and activities is very different from being ABLE to do them. I often start adventures and poop out half way through, or have an hour long ZOOM call with you and need to go lay down.

It is hard to feel grateful for feeling like a tired old lady.

But, as I now know, there are far worse options.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Some Cut and Paste Fun

August 24, 2025

Dear Liza,

I continue to recover from shingles, and as with all recoveries, I have good days and bad days. On bad days I just sleep and watch architectural history videos.

But when I feel better, I do like to make a bit of something, and I use what is laying around. The other day, Auntie Bridgett brought home a great pile of old baseball cards from the 1990s. After I made sure they weren’t going to make me a millionaire, they became collage fodder.

First, I glued the cards together with four edge pieces so they’d be easier to work with. I use UHU because it dries fast and doesn’t make the paper curl. Then I collaged the four as though they were one piece, sticking bits down in whatever way seemed best.

I’d seen something like this done by Zoe Walker in our ZOOM group, and I thought I’d give it a try. I laid four of the cards face down, chose some leftover papers from other projects, and went to it.

There are so many things I love about collage. There’s really no wrong way to do it, just whatever looks right to you. I try a few bits together to see which colors play well together, and wait to put the most detailed bits on near the end.

Once I got to this point, I decided to cut the cards apart and see how they looked.

I liked them! But I was wearing out and they still needed… something.

So I hunted up bits from old magazines to freshen the color, put in dots, and I was done.

I’m not sure what to call them, or where they will go, but I managed to get some rest, stay happy, and use up some scrap paper. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Love,

Grandma Judy