tygerbryght

📍 Mississippi, United States

Member since August 2005

The icon is a photo I found on so many sites I lost count. Attribution is impossible. Historically, in literature, the willow tree is a symbol for grief, appropriate for me today.

June 22nd


I'm still mostly not gonna be around.

My son died this morning (US time) in the Phillipines. He caught the flu, then pneumonia. This morning he apparently had a heart attack and fell. I talked briefly with the pneumologist, who said they were attempting to resuscitate, but he'd flatlined. I asked them to continue trying, but after some additional time, they gave up.

This will be a difficult period, as I'm still not well, but I will have to tend to all the legal stuff, as I'm the only one who understands what all has to be done.

If you believe in prayer, I'd appreciate yours. I may pop in occasionally, as I'll be looking to distract myself at times, but I really don't think I'm going to be able to discuss him any further for quite some time; sorry. He was only 44 years old.

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Other personal information? I'm over 60. I love the mountains, though I've never lived in them. I also love tigers, and (to answer a frequently-asked question) am fond of the William Blake poem. To reduce the amount of explaining about myself, I've decided to add the following about me: I'm not doing every grid, so participation and posts may be sporadic. I am, however, checking my email regularly, and do respond to messages - but not always immediately.

Like many other Babblers, I have some long-standing chronic health concerns. In 1966 I was thrown up in the air from a car wreck. I came down head first, injuring both my head and my neck. Three years later, I was hit on the head by a chain that broke on a fully loaded steel truck. At the time of the first head injury, it seemed that the only significant consequence was bad head pain. Following the second head injury, the head pain persisted until I had surgery. But my memory had been exceptional - nearly eidetic - and was now merely very, very good.

Over the years, there have been changes - none for the better, and I'm reluctant to blame them all on aging; I've known entirely too many people who were still very sharp at advanced ages. My grandfather was one of them. As long as he lived, he still took an interest in serious conversation, especially politics and religion, and was able to make valid points.

Some days the memory works okay; some days there are holes. :( There is the problem of chronic pain related to the old neck injury (in addition to pain related to an even earlier back injury from my teens), and pain from a congenital hip defect, which still causes some problems despite my now having artificial hip and knee joints on that side). I am thankful for what I have, and for friends. I am VERY blessed.

There Was A Time when I would might have been among the fastest to complete grids here. These days, I can manage about 50 words per hour when things are going well - but some days are worse, and some days are much worse. However, there are people with far, far worse health problems than mine, and some of them are Babblers. I am thankful for what I have, and for being blessed with great friends who are very good to me. To email me - use tygerbryght at yahoo.com and put Babble in the subject line, please, so I don't think it's spam. :)

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I do love tigers. That's why I keep this reminder in my profile: No tiger in the wild - or even loose in a refuge - is really safe. We humans are still proving to be remarkably poor custodians of the planet, alas. I'm not sure even the best and most environmentally conscious zoos are a good idea (though I do approve of keeping specimens of endangered species to maintain breeding populations and avoid extinction - especially of those species which are aggressively poached, as all the tigers are). I think we need new ideas about how humans can see wild animals.

Every sub-species of tiger is desperately endangered in the wild. I believe it is our responsibility to do what we can to help preserve both the wild and its creatures.