Cute Note

I have stopped using the P.O. Box. We almost never receive any mail there, and the price of it has skyrocketed. It’s just such a waste of money that I can no longer justify keeping it. We receive only a fraction of its cost over the year, so it’s ridiculously wasteful to keep paying for it.

If you need to mail something to us, simply contact us by leaving a message here, or message me (Lorraine Belcher Chamberlain) on Facebook and I’ll give another address.

Thanks to all!

No makeup

I feel the need to post the photo Rena took of me on Halloween, just after taking some of her. We couldn’t retrieve Wilson to join me, as it’s become increasingly difficult to get him down the 5 steps from porch to sidewalk without the help of a BigStrongMan. There aren’t any handy at a moment’s notice, it turns out. We must both put on back braces, then coax & pull & cajole, beg, nag & threaten as we hold him up while making the descent. He is ornery & uncooperative at such times…revealing no loss of these qualities from earlier years, before his injury. So I stood there solo, while Rena snapped a photo.

I looked a bit WAN that day. It was much quicker to draw lips and shades with lashes on this picture than run back inside & apply them in reality. Better than photoshop…which I don’t know how to do, and so much more efficient!  Boo! With neon lips. I took the cat down, finally, only yesterday. We’re close to Thanksgiving, after all! Time to re-decorate. More to follow, with His Majesty, in coming days. Hoping for rain tonight, and cleaner air tomorrow.

Halloween Honeys

I’ve never hung up the cat&mouse ON HALLOWEEN in the ten years since Wilson was injured…until TODAY! I just couldn’t seem to do it, in light of this day having been the anniversary of the last day Wilson was fully himself. Ten years ago HE had hung up the cat himself…for the last time. He had just finished a drawing for Kevin Webster’s birthday surprise, and we took it to Folsom Street to have Kathleen scan it. Wilson was wearing his brand new wolf mask all the way there, window down, sticking his head out at frightened children in the Mission. It had already been been a really happy morning together, and I was enjoying his glee…about being finished with the drawing on schedule, and it being one of his favorite holidaze. We were in great spirits. The following day, November 1, 2008 he was injured, and our worlds changed forever.

Rena

Today, Wilson’s caregiver, Rena, dressed up as a baby in order to embarrass her 9-year-old son at his school Halloween party. I loaned her Wilson’s striped sock monkey, and my fuzzy slippers. I think she will succeed in her perverse goal even without a giant pacifier hanging around her neck! She is a very funny woman, with a delightfully sick sense of humor.

Kitty pumpkin

The kitty pumpkin was from Doug&Heather, our upstairs neighbors.

with the dead cat, and the graffiti garbage can which is now a work of art, I believe our Halloween presentation is complete.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Shirt by Rick Veitch

Captain Pissgums & his crew

Hi kids! Rick Veitch sent some t-shirts to Wilson, and this is my favorite. It just makes me laugh, and the color is great. Wilson and I will just have to share it, after fighting over it. (Not really)

I get to wear it next time!

its TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY today, so here’s a Pirate Drawing for you, as well.

Shakey Cake

On Saturday, I made a lemon cake and attempted to write “Wilson 77″ on it with a faulty, clogged tube of green frosting. (I know, it’s a lousy worker who blames his tools…but seriously! It wouldn’t come out smoothly. Drips & blobs only!) I added Peter Pan, Pink Flamingoes, seven striped candles, and festooned with a teensy strand of mini lights, I placed it on the rolling hospital tray and steered it down the long hallway to the living room, where three of Wilson’s pals and our caregiver, Rena, waited with the Guest of Honor.

Baker/decorator

Bill & Eugene

Rick London, Eugene McCarthy, and Bill Carlson brought a smile to Wilson’s usually very serious face. He was thrilled to be the center of attention, and to listen to his old friends do all the talking.

Rick London

Rena lit the candles, I reminded him to make a wish, then managed to blow out the candles for him without lighting my hair on fire.

Making a wish…

Rick jumped up to assist, as Wilson has recently found it confusing to use utensils. We must feed him unless it’s apple slices or sections of a sandwich. If he tries, he will often turn it upside down on the way to his mouth, dumping its contents onto his shirt, or into his lap.

A little help from a friend

It was sweet to witness this act of kindness. And it gave Rena and I a break for a change! Rena sat protectively nearby, but got to relax from such duties, and have some cake as well.

Rena, Mother Hen..

Thanks for coming over, boys! It was only after looking at my photos that I realized I forgot to invite some gorgeous babes for Wilson to look at. I’m a terrible wife! I’ll try to do something about that, next year. And maybe go back to ordering a professionally decorated cake. Although it really was fun doing it myself, no matter the outcome.

It was a happy afternoon, and Wilson kept on smiling well into the evening. I’m so glad he was born, and thrilled he is still alive so we can celebrate it!  He can’t speak any more, but says volumes with the expression in his eyes. He’s still very much present. And I love being in his company, even though now I must put words in his mouth. Believe me…when I’m wrong, he says “NO”! with profound conviction.

His Majesty

It was a good day.

Thanks for all the birthday greetings, and generous donations to            his Special Needs Trust! We are most grateful for them all.

Time zooms by in a drawing by Kliban

Wilson turns 77 today. It’s been a very rough month, with a trip to the ER only ten days ago. He was groggy and congested in the morning, even though his blood pressure was good, and he didn’t have a fever.

So I called 911, and we spent the entire day at Davies Hospital, having tests & scans done. Around 6pm, they finally released, rather than admit him, and we took an ambulance back home. There was no diagnosis of anything, but a suspicion that the shunt in his brain might not have drained a buildup of fluid as fast as usual. It was two more days before he perked up, and his eyes resumed their blue, wide-eyed expression. I must have checked him at least five times during the night, and hovered like a hen over him during the daytime.

Sitting up at dinner on the third night, after Rena left for a vacation at Disneyland, Wilson was a bit puny, and kept his cuddle buddy, Mambo, close by. It was so cute, I placed him on Wilson’s shoulder and took this photo.

Mambo, the smiling giraffe

He has been gradually improving over the weekend, while the fabulous Paula O’Rourke came to help out in Rena’s absence. He used this time to be as obstinate as possible, making it difficult to get him up, get him moved over by the windows for a cheery meal, and just generally reduced us, at times, to near BEGGING for his cooperation. It was an exhausting five days! I am so glad Paula was available to assist. He alternated between staring at her with enraptured interest to glaring with what we refer to as that “stink-eye”, which can reduce a person to tears sometimes, if he does it for too long. The brain is a mystifying thing, I must say. Especially HIS! Even with this devastating injury, he is still creative. Even if it’s occasionally in the torture department.

Tuesday, Rena returned to work, and Wilson resumed actually WALKING UPRIGHT, and smiling at me as I held his hands, guiding him across the room or down the hallway. I will have to nominate him for an Academy Award this year for his performance in the production of “Torturing My Wife (and everyone else)for No Good Reason”!

I hope you will remember to send a donation to the Trust for his birthday, if you can. Yesterday the washing machine died, and flooded the entire back porch laundry room. It took nearly two hours to clean up the deluge and dry things off. What an awful time…at day’s end, for this discovery! Thankfully, Paula was still here to help throw things into the garbage outside. It was a terrible mess. It’s a used one, which would cost more than I paid for it to get it repaired AGAIN. (Since it was already chewing holes into everything, I’d prefer to replace it.) So until later, it’s back to the laundromat over on 17th street with everything piled onto my walker. Our car, you might recall, was totaled last Valentine’s Day. It was too damaged to afford getting it fixed, so we have been living like real hermits ever since. I was hoping to get another used car this year, but first it’s going to have to be a washing machine. *Sigh….*

If it isn’t ONE THING, I always say, it’s TWO.

Happy Birthday, my darling!

Back to party plans;

I will try to get it together by Saturday, and invite a couple of people over to celebrate Wilsons birthday with us. Today just isn’t possible, so I’ll open his mail with him at lunchtime, and show him his gifts & cards. He will be happy to see his pals just as much in a few days…and I will be ready then, too!

It’s a nice day for…

So today is a nice day for BIRTHDAY PART ONE! Please write Wilson a birthday note or an anecdote about him, and I will read it to him!

I’ll read belated ones to him at BIRTHDAY PART TWO, on Saturday.

Thanks so much for looking in on him! And thanks in advance if you donate to the Trust, for the Washing Machine Fund. Not glamorous, but so very much needed. Cheers from the Barbary Coast!

Checkered Demon ring

Great news! Chrissie is coming to San Francisco June 22, 2018!

This is her hand. She is wearing the Checkered Demon ring by Chris Van Laer, may he Rest In Peace. He never got to see this photo, but he knew I was sending her the extra ring he had made. She LOVES it!

Sadly, I can’t take Wilson to the show, even though we are invited. He has suddenly become much more wobbly, and is also unable to handle too many people all at once. He becomes very fearful and claustrophobic.

I am EXTRA DISAPPOINTED since Friday, June 22 is MY BIRTHDAY

That’s whazzup for now.

Paula O’Rourke & Wilson

The fragrant roses on Prosper Street

Julie’s memorial day

Our friends had a memorial for the beautiful Julie Willing. It started with the brass band playing in a procession from Dolores Park, through the neighborhood to the school across the street, where they played for about an hour. I took Wilson out to join in this joyful celebration of Julie with her husband Tim Dougherty and their daughter Siobhan, and a crowd of their friends and Julie’s family. It was so good to spend some time with them. I miss her so terribly much! It was wonderful to see the fabulous Paula O’Rourke again, back in town from Barcelona after so many years. She hasn’t aged a day! Wilson liked all the attention. I think he gets a bit weary just looking at Rena and me all the time!

I wore the delicate scarf Julie gave me over 15 years ago.

Yesterday, walking back from the clinic, I noticed this huge rose bush. Wilson and I always loved it, and stopped to smell their incredible fragrance whenever we happened by and it was in bloom. I took this photo to show to him when I got home, telling him how BEAUTIFUL they still smell! His eyes were wide with wonder, smiling as I shared this with him. I was so glad I could bring him this little moment of joy.

Tiny Shamrocks & Ladies

Wilson skipped his traditional Guinness & shots of Whiskey again this year. He hasn’t had a drink on this day since 2008, and no longer misses it. But the first year after his injury, whenever his former drinking pals showed up, he’d throw his arm around a shoulder and try to drag them on over to the door, saying

“LETS GO HAVE A POP!”

I spent about a year repeating a concept I was trying to imprint in his mind, which was;

IT’S SOMEBODY ELSE’S TURN. You drank your trainload of booze. You had your turn. Now pass it along.

It took awhile, but eventually he grew fond of that idea. He still is.

This has been a cold month in our usually moderate California. Even WORSE across the country to the site of those Nor’easters…one after another. I hope everyone is able to stay warm. Our heating bills are bad enough this year to just about break our budget. I try to LAYER, but sometimes wearing gloves in bed can get depressing. I put fingerless ones on Wilson sometimes, even in the daytime!

Yesterday I was horrified to find he had pulled his colorful Tinkerbelle blanket off, wadded it up and put it under his head, on top of his pillow. He still had his little giraffe cuddle buddy, Mambo, nestled next to his neck. I use long garters on the covers at the foot of his bed to keep him from uncovering himself in the night, so I can see I’ll need to clip Tinkerbelle in with his other blanket. Otherwise he might end up completely uncovered in our freezing cold bedroom. He cannot problem-solve….he cannot cover himself back up. But he did look awfully cute, so I took a picture before putting the blanket back over him.

Blanket Wars