FEB 10, 25 ( 1 / 2 ) .. SUPER BOWL SUNDAY.. THE GOOD LORD.. MAYO CLINIC PHOENIX..
If you our reader, read this Post as if you were reading a chapter in a book, you might enjoy it.
It’s about me sharing a real victory-over-self by putting another person’s wants and / or needs and wishes ahead of my own.
God IS first. You are second. I am third in the game of life.
If I can share and celebrate this small victory-over-self, then YOU too can do the same with YOUR life victories.
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Gullible wrote the following comment to yesterday’s Post..
You aren’t going to watch the Super Bowl?
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I responded..
Where did I say or write that Gullible?
Then I added the following sentence.
Please see The Rest Of The Story tomorrow on Monday the 10th of February. Cap
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This is important. Gullible DOES NOT text message. She knows how to text and she will text, but only when she must do so for certain reasons especially when she is travelling out of the country.
As a result Gullible did not receive a text message that some of you did on Sunday the 9th as Patti and I were driving South to Phoenix from Lake Havasu City.
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And now.. The Rest of the Story
During the 25 years that we owned our place up in Manley Hot Springs, Alaska, we had two next door neighbors. Ernie and Ann Russell, and Terry and Bea Russell. Ernie, who has passed away, and Terry are brothers.
Ernie’s wife Ann, who has also passed away, had a sister Mary who lives here in Phoenix, Arizona. Through Ann, and all of our Mayo Clinic visits to Phoenix beginning in late November 2016, Patti and I have gotten to know her sister Mary here in Phoenix.
Mary, now age 94, is one very special lady. Mary is alone. Both her husband and only son, have passed away. Every time we are down here in Phoenix, we stop by Mary’s home and visit. Mary IS one very special lady.
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As we enter and proceed through the Phoenix Megapolis, Mary’s home is no more that one quarter of a mile off Interstate 10.
On the other hand, Mary’s home is a full 20 minutes South from where we locate while here in North Phoenix where Motel 6 and the Mayo Clinic are located. It is “Duck Soup” to visit Mary when we arrive here in Phoenix because it takes only 4 minutes to get to her home from I-10. During our Mayo Clinic visits we are busy, we get tired, and stressed out. So we visit Mary on our way into Phoenix and when we leave to return to Lake Havasu City.
The last part of the overall puzzle is this. We usually leave Lake Havasu City sometime between 11am and 1pm. It is a 210 mile drive. We take from 3 hours and 15 minutes (our best time ever) to 4 or more hours depending upon the weather, the traffic density and how often we stop en route here.
If we don’t stop, and the traffic is light, we have a 3 hour 15 minute trip:
Leaving at 11am we will be at Motel 6 at 2:15pm. If we leave at 1pm, we will be here at 4:15pm.
We did not look at the timing of the Super Bowl when we arranged our February Mayo visit beginning today.
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“Doing the math.”
We actually pulled out of Lake Havasu City at 12:40pm. A fast trip would put us at Mary’s home at 3:55pm. Super Bowl kickoff was at 4:30pm Arizona time.
What to do?
Bypass Mary, who has known since early December 2024 when we would be coming to Phoenix, and who almost desperately looks forward to seeing us!
Stop and make it a Bam Bam Thank You Ma’am 10 minute visit. Sorry Mary BUT .. we’ve got a football game to watch..
We pulled up to Mary’s home about 3:45pm (a best time ever trip).
What will it be?
Bam Bam Thank You Ma’am. But we’ve got a football game to watch
.. Or a full, solid, satisfying visit.
We selected the satisfying visit. “So nice. Oh So Very Nice Mary to see you and to visit with you and your neighbor Bertha. It’s now 5pm and we can see you are tired.” She had put (literally) her head down upon her kitchen table as we left a little past 5pm.
Yes God?
Captain “You Got It Right! I am proud of you Captain!”
I texted the following to several friends as we were sitting at Mary’s kitchen table.
“We ARE now safe and sound IN Phoenix. Yes we think we may watch or / we may not (watch The Super Bowl). We are visiting a 94 year old friend here. She IS top priority over any football game!!”
Beginning with “Our Creator” and continuing with each and every single friend I texted, all said Atta Boy Captain! You did the right thing.
We checked into Motel 6 around 5:20pm.. We turned on the T.V. late in the 1st quarter and the Philadelphia Eagles were leading 7 – 0 over the Kansas City Chiefs. By the end of the 1st quarter it was still Eagles 7 – 0. Then, Eagles 24 – 0 at the half. Into the second half it became Eagles 34 – 6. Final Eagles 40 – 22.
Patti and I oh so enjoyed this game and a great, almost an hour and a half visit with Mary.
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Monday, February the 10th a/k/a “Today” the date of this Post.
11am the beginning of our Mayo appointments.
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Cap and Patti
4 thoughts on “FEB 10, 25 ( 1 / 2 ) .. SUPER BOWL SUNDAY.. THE GOOD LORD.. MAYO CLINIC PHOENIX..”
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The stars aligned and you had the best of both worlds – a long visit with your friend and watching the Chiefs get demolished. I feel a bit guilty about experiencing schadenfreude as I know what it is like to have an amazing team and see their fall from grace. I was joined by several other friends who felt the same and wished both teams could lose (as did I – yes, I know it’s not logical – feelings aren’t about logic though). My usual mentality is to be happy for others when they experience good things and so, today I feel a bit of an emotional hangover. I think a meeting and a few phone calls are in order (I already talked to my sponsor last night after the game-was a pre-scheduled call as if the universe knew I would need it. We both agreed I needed a meeting. :-) )
I will think of both of you this week and hope every visit brings positive news.
Thanks Kathleen. I don’t know how many people read comments, but I want to give those who do a definition of schadenfreude. Schadenfreude means the emotional experience of pleasure in response to another’s misfortune. Schadenfreude certainly applies here for us as well. I will let it rest there simply repeating the real joy and pleasure that I received from the Eagles destroying the Chiefs. The Chiefs quarterback was long overdue for an “off game” and, IMHO, he sure was “off”. Still smiling. I will bet Buffalo and Baltimore and, and, and others were also happy about the game. We have friends here in Phoenix who are from Philadelphia and they were so delighted. Still Smiling. Cap and Patti.
My heart is filled with the ‘warm fuzzies’ knowing that you spent quality time visiting Mary. It took me to our trip from your family home in Detroit and then hit the wagon trail on our trip to Toronto in 2005. As we went under the river and entered Canada you both informed me we were stopping to visit ‘Danny’ your longtime Canadian widow and friend. I believe she was in her 90’s at the time? And our visit with her was magical. She was a writer/poet and regardless of her husband’s passing several years earlier she still had a zeal and zest for life and meeting, greeting and interacting with people from all walks of life. And as she and I chatted I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and they sparkled with joy and merriment….and mischief. Although quite a number of years younger Danny and I had a fun flirtation, and soul-felt admiration. And all of us, you, Patti, Danny’s son, and me celebrated our lives together. In that moment.
And after our 4-6days going, attending the convention in Toronto, you delighted Patti and me by being the tour guide showing us Niagara Falls, for our very first time. Continuing our trip the 3 of us stopped again to take Danny to lunch. What a glorious time I had, we had all visiting Danny. And she didn’t want me to go home. lol I will be forever grateful for you both introducing me to this grand lady. She even gifted me with a book of her poetry. I will forever be enamored with our trip….and Danny.
Thanks Michael. How nice to go back in time to our visit with Danny in Windsor and our time with her. Yes indeed our visits with Danny were magical” a nice way to put it. Our trip, first to Toronto and then on to Niagara Falls was also just great. Smiling with you .. Cap and Patti