Three’s a Charm…or Maybe Four

I’ve always considered myself to be lucky in life, not at games.  I’m better off going to TJ Maxx to score a deal on a shirt, than to be dealt a hand at the casino and lose said shirt.

Until 2008

After purchasing a second home down South a few years earlier, we were spending the holidays near the beach (I cannot afford to be on the beach. I’m not that lucky in life).  I decided to go all “when in Rome” and prepare a pot of collard greens as a part of my New Year’s Day meal.  I love collards. Actually I love anything you can cook to death with a big hunk of salted meat.  Plus, according to tradition, collards – along with black-eyed peas – symbolize prosperity, luck and good fortune.  I didn’t have any black-eyed peas on hand, so instead I popped in my Black Eyed Peas CD Monkey Business and got to work in the kitchen.  As I questioned “Where is the Love?” the house was filled with the stench of wilted leaves.  Little did I realize the smell was a prelude to a really stinky year ahead.

Ten days later, I attended my first funeral.  Dad’s funeral was number four in March.  By year-end I had 13 visitations under my belt, enough black dresses to fill a Kardashian closet, and friends started avoiding me like I was the Grim Reaper.

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If that wasn’t enough, I learned just before the holidays I would be losing my job of 25 years.

I vowed never to make greens on New Year’s Day again. As additional insurance I swore never to permeate my kitchen with them – ever. 

Eventually, after rubbing the fur off of several rabbit’s feet, I had my old joyful life back. 

Until 2018…and congestive heart failure

To look at him, my husband was the epitome of health.  He ate well and was very active. But sometime that spring or summer a virus crept in and attacked his heart, damaging the left ventricle.  By the time he was rushed to the hospital on 9/11 (never a good day), the doctor told us had he not gone to the ER that morning, he wouldn’t have lived until the evening.  Fortunately, due to great meds, an even healthier diet and an excellent cardiologist, he’s doing fine now. 

On New Year’s Eve the two of us quietly celebrated with two sips of wine and toasted to a better year ahead.

And it was….until April 2019…and cancer

I’d been feeling poorly for a few weeks.  My stomach was bloated to the point it looked like I was pregnant. But as a hip senior, I knew that ship had sailed long ago.  Seven months to the day after Steve’s diagnosis, I was laying in the same emergency room when the doctor came in and said, “The extensive swelling of the lymph nodes in your abdomen indicate you have cancer.  I’m sorry.” I didn’t see that coming! I just thought it was all the kale and Brussel sprouts I’ve been eating in place of collard greens.  Fortunately, due to great meds, an even healthier diet and an excellent oncologist, I’m doing fine now.

On New Year’s Eve the two of us quietly celebrated with two glasses of wine and toasted to a better year ahead.

And it was…until March 2020…and COVID

Thankfully, we’ve both avoided COVID like the plague that it is by hunkering down and masking up.   We’ve steered clear of indoor activities and prepared most of our own meals. I’ve been working from home and catching up with friends via Houseparty.  Steve and I have experienced everything from virtual happy hours to virtual funerals and virtual church services.  Quite frankly, we’re sick of virtually all of it.

This New Year’s Eve the two of us quietly celebrated with two bottles of wine and toasted to a better year ahead. 

I passed out – but not before ordering collard greens and black-eyed-peas through DoorDash.  I also asked if they delivered four-leaf clovers.  The answer was “Huh?” which I assumed meant “No”.

Despite it all on New Year’s Day I awoke with a positive attitude (and a pounding headache), confident that 2021 will be a better year. I’ve always heard that good things come in three’s. I’m hoping the same is true for bad things after having three rough years in a row.

I even bought a lottery ticket dreaming that in 2021 the Big “C” stands for CASH. 

I’m feeling lucky.  I hope you are, too.

Happy New Year! 

If you like my humor, you might enjoy my book, The Perks of Having Cancer – An Inspirational, Positive and Humorous View of a Not-So-Inspirational, Positive or Humorous Situation available on my website at www.dianabosse.com or www.amazon.com. It’s actually a wonderful gift for someone newly diagnosed with cancer or has traveled the journey. A portion of the proceeds of each book purchased is donated to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society as well as the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati (my day job).