I'm Back and Trying to Catch Up

Sorry so much time has gone by since my last posting. On October 22nd I was told my Dad had a brain tumor and surgery was scheduled for October 26th. I flew up to northern Indiana the next day and stayed until November 11th. Dad got through the surgery really well, but the tumor was cancerous and deep making it impossible to remove all of it without paralyzing my Dad. We were told that this is a very aggressive cancer that likes to grow back, with very little success in treatment. Despite what we have been told, we remain very positive and very hopeful for Dad's recovery. He is now undergoing radiation Monday-Friday for six weeks and taking a chemotherapy pill. My dad's lifestyle has been changed overnight. He has gone from being very independent and physically fit enough to help take care of two other elderly people, to no longer being able to stand or walk on his own with not much use of his left side because of the tumor. Dad is at home now with the best caretaker he could possibly have, my Mom. A physical therapist, occupational therapist, and nurse will be working with Dad weekly to help him recover as much as possible. Keeping my dad in your prayers would mean so much to me.

I would like to end today's posting with a bit of history on the origin of the "carpet bag." Pre-Civil War America saw many people prospering and reading groups were growing in popularity. Magazines were growing in readership and people were carrying carpetbags, the all-purpose 19th century equivalent of a backpack. Also, the nation's first humor magazine was "The Carpet Bag" and went to print in the mid-1800's and was the first to discover and publish Mark Twain. However, the carpetbag became a victim of the times. After the Civil War the term Carpetbagger became associated with any unwelcome stranger traveling with no more property than he could carry in a carpetbag to exploit or dominate the war-torn victims of the South. This little tidbit of history reminds us that a carpetbag is more than a satchel with a bad reputation. We are reminded that its namesake is part of American literary history.