Brothers and sisters

I saw something on Facebook today that sparked my creativity. It was a “test” called sibling wars and it wanted to know who of my siblings was smartest, most stubborn, most creative, etc. So rather than starting a war, I thought I would simply write a blog about my siblings. Each one of us has our own personality, strengths and weaknesses, but I love them all equally and feel so lucky to call them  family.

I’m the baby – at 58 – that means my oldest brother is now 69. His name is Gene. His full name is Willis Eugene and he was named for dad and one of my mom’s relatives. However, he’s always been Gene to me. When I was growing up in Roundup, Gene was always in a band. In high school, it was called the “Dictions.” Many people who were the age of my parents loved to go to dances and so I became known as “Gene’s brother.” My dad was known as “Gene’s dad.” I don’t think any of us minded because we were proud of Gene and his musical talents. I have many fond memories of my oldest brother. He took me fishing when I was little and I liked being included in his activities. I always thought he was very handsome, so I considered it a compliment when people told me that I looked like my oldest brother.

My sister Janet is 10 years older than me. She lived in Rapid City most of her adult life. Since I lived in places like Baker, Glendive and Mandan,  I generally lived closer to her than any of her other siblings. She was always like a second mother to me.  After raising her children she worked as a librarian in the Rapid City school system, which allowed her enough time to correspond with me daily through e-mails. Now that’s she retired, she seems to be too busy…ha ha. But I still appreciate the time we spend writing e-mails back and forth to each other. A couple of years ago, we were lucky enough to take a Hawaiian cruise together. Janet is not the traveler that we are; however, I’m so grateful that she and her husband Ed went with us. We have memories and photos of an unforgettable week in paradise.

My next sibling is my brother Randy. He was probably the most athletic of all my siblings. I remember that he was a pretty good pole-vaulter when he was growing up. Both of my brothers are also very mechanically inclined and I am not. Randy and I have had some memorable experiences together. In the winter of 1980, he moved in with me in my small apartment in Beach, ND, and we worked together at the Golden Valley News. I was a reporter and Randy helped with commercial printing and in the darkroom. He was actually a welder but had hurt himself so was looking for a different job as he was healing. There was no doubt that Randy was good looking and fun loving. The girls in Beach and Wibaux seemed to swarm around him. I knew that things had gone too far when most of the people thought that I was actually older than him. Obviously, he was “younger at heart” than his younger brother who was more studious and career-oriented. However, we have some great memories from our short time of batching together.

Closest in age is my sister Susan. Randy graduated from high school in 1971 and Susan in 1973, so there were a couple of years where Sue simply “ruled the roost.” She was very pretty in high school and married a local school teacher, who was very handsome. Over the years, Susan has been very close to us…all though she has lived the farthest away in miles. When my dad lived with us, we could always count on Susan and her husband Rich to help us out when we needed to be away from home, such as going to Brazil for Derek and Camila’s second wedding. Also they helped us out with dad when Derek and Camila had their first wedding.  Susan, like Janet, is another that likes to email regularly so we know what’s going on with each other…no matter how mundane.

So it’s hard to say who’s the cutest, who’s the smartest, who’s the most stubborn, who has the best hair…we all brought our strengths and weaknesses to the family party. So my final thought is this…our parents were equally proud of each of us. In many ways, we reflected their values of hard work and success, which is the legacy that they left each of us. As  we’ve aged, we’ve probably all mellowed and slowed down some, but in our hey-day, we were forces to be reckoned with. 

I want to see Jesus face-to-face…just not right now

The evening of September 12 was a “come-to-Jesus” moment for me. I was in my front yard mowing my lawn. Unknown to me, my heart was starting to slow down. The beats were getting fainter and farther apart, but, at the time, I only knew that I felt out of breath.

As I turned a corner, I saw a white flash of light in my eyes. In a snap, I knew I had been shocked. My life had been saved.

In January of 2014, I had a pacemaker/defibulator placed into my chest under the skin by my left shoulder. It had never gone off, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I walked into the house and hollered for my wife. I then went and grabbed the papers out of my dresser drawer regarding the device. They said that if your heart goes out of rhythm and your device goes off, well, it’s supposed to. So don’t be worried. Everything worked out right.

In five minutes, I felt just fine. My heart was back in sinus rhythm and I finished mowing the front yard. Then I put the mower away without even starting the backyard.

The next day at work, I got a call from the device clinic at our local hospital. They wanted me to schedule an appointment with my cardiologist – for that day! Normally, it takes up to six months to see a cardiologist and often the doctor doesn’t show up, but rather one of the physician assistants.

What transpired was a series of weekly visits with my cardiologist. At one, I had a test that showed that my heart was still functioning properly. There wasn’t any damage to the heart and my “push” was still in the normal range.

At another, I had an angiogram from my right wrist to my heart to ensure there wasn’t any blockage.

Here I was – a 57-year-old fat man with type II diabetes and a bad heart. Every morning and night I was taking a handful of pills to keep me on the straight and narrow…or so I thought until September 12.

I didn’t see this scenario playing out well. The doctors told me that high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes are a recipe for failure. Pills don’t fix, they just mask the symptoms.

I have a wife, two married sons, and a new grandson, a home, two cars, a garage – I’m living the American dream. I don’t have a job, I have a career. I like what I do and I’m paid well to do it. I have been frugal and saved for a nice retirement. We like to travel and hope to do more in our golden years. But the dream just about ended.

My heart problems started about 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, which causes my heart to go out of rhythm. The problem was escalated in 2011 when I contacted a virus that attacked my heart. At that time, I lost 60 pounds. But my weight loss was tied to my illness. Because I didn’t feel well, I didn’t eat. Once I started feeling better, my weight started to climb. While I tried to stay active, I found that I could eat more and faster than the exercise could take off. So by last fall, I found myself obese…and nearly dead.

I would like to say that my sons encouraged me to lose weight, but basically they both scolded me and told me that it was time to take bold action. Procrastination would no long work.

I had an appointment with my general practitioner in October and we discussed my health, my weight, my future, etc. He referred me to a weight-loss program that is run by Sanford Health, the same company as the doctor’s clinic and the local hospital.

My wife and I started on October 28. Within a month, we had both lost 20 to 25 pounds. Through this journey, we have learned to be creative when it comes to food choices. We have lived through Thanksgiving and Christmas, one Lions convention and one retirement party and have still continued to lose weight by making smart food choices.

Now, three months later, we are each 40 to 50 pounds lighter than we were in October.

So not only have I lost weight, but my blood sugar readings have shown significant improvement, and I’ve been able to reduce my intake of pills. I still take plenty, but it’s nice to take fewer pills.

I’m not at the end of my journey. In fact, in many ways, I’m just starting my journey to a healthier lifestyle.

I would like to thank the doctors, dieticians and others in the medical field for helping me, but more importantly, I want to thank my family for all their support. They have made this journey fun.