Saturday 13 October 2012

Steps Of Life

Photos copyright: Maggie May

It seems that living is just a series of steps and at the end of the flight of steps, is our departure from this world. This seems to be another subject that people don't like to talk about but I believe that when you get to the door at the top of the steps, then life goes on. 
I happen to be a Christian so I have my own set of beliefs but I know that others have theirs.

Last week I went to my friend, Pietra's funeral and as soon as her personal choice of music started as she was brought into our church, the tears rolled down my face as I sobbed silently. However, by the time we were asked to do a Mexican Wave (yes, really....... Pietra had written her own funeral and she had a great sense of humour), we couldn't help but smile and get into the requested task and there were many people in the church so it took a while for the wave to reach the back and then go down to the front again. I went home having gained something from this experience and I learnt many things from older friends that I didn't know about her.

Now I have learnt, this morning, that one of my Blogging Buddies has died of cancer too. Moannie  whose blog was called The View From This End  will be really sadly missed. She was a very clever writer and I have been following her blog for a good few years now. 
She had the knack of writing about her life in the past and it seemed so vivid and real and she did have a great sense of humour too. She even laughed at her cancer and called it The Fecker. Her computer was called Pacco and she was always moaning about the way Pacco was behaving.
Her daughter, Saz has kept all her Followers informed of her wellbeing, in the Hospice and when she was at home and Moannie didn't feel well enough to blog herself. However, we've been informed that  Moannie did follow all the comments and news on line which makes me feel that Blogging Friendship is a very special thing.

Now to turn to the other unmentionable subject that I referred to in my last post about head lice. Yuck!
Thank you to everyone who gave me advice on the subject and I did take it all on board. I hadn't realised that I'd get so many comments.



This is a marvellous little comb that I got on line and it gets rid of everything, nits and eggs and all.
I was amused and somewhat horrified to read of one of my bloggers who was a teacher in a school and she had travelled some distance up a motorway and found a hair with nit eggs in it, stuck on the bottom of her shoe. This could have hatched out if it had come into contact with another person's hair. However these things cannot be passed on through combs and hats and pillows etc like one reader thought, unless there was a hair with a live egg on it that was transferred onto someone else's head. The lice need blood to survive and the nits need a scalp to chew on too when they hatch out. They can't live in bedding or carpets.
Anyway, as long as the other mothers have got rid of their daughters' problem too, then that should be the end of it. Everything is nit free this end! Lets hope that, with the regular use of this trusty comb after conditioning each time their hair is washed, will be an end to the possibility of any more establishing themselves in my granddaughters' hair.
I hope that this will be the end of a nasty subject.



21 comments:

Brian Miller said...

that comb is much better than the little nit comb i got....need to look into that...

and ugh on losing moannie...i remember barry passing from cancer (blog friend) almost 2 years ago now...its hard...never would have though back when i started how connected i would be....and how much it would hurt...

and smiles at the wave...i wanna do that at mine...

Sueann said...

Glad the little buggies have left.
Love the idea of the "wave". Very cool.
I long for my eternal art studio and endless supplies.
Ha
Hugs
SueAnn

Akelamalu said...

I love the idea of a Mexican Wave at a funeral!


I think nits are like cockroaches and rats they just will never be extinct. :(

Gail Is This Mutton? said...

Yes the Mexican Wave is a wonderful idea. Glad the nitty problem has been sorted!

Hilary said...

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, Pietra. Clearly that woman had a delicious sense of humour. The wave.. what a cool request.

You know I mourn our dear Moannie alongside you. She will be missed deeply.

The rest of your post had me scratching my head. ;)

RNSANE said...

Hi Maggie...it's been awhile since I visited. One more month of my five months stay in Jaipur and I'll be back in San Francisco for six months.

I didn't know Moannie but there was another lovely blogger who death was greatly felt by many of us. She was so brave and stoic and became a friend to so many. This blogging world is a special place, really. '

Years ago, I was an RN on an adolescent psych unit. We had an outbreak of lice and it took us two weeks to elminate the darn things. Only one staff member ( not me, thankfully ) got them but every patient on the unit had them and we were shampooing hair and linens and clothes, etc. Administration felt they were in the air and didn't want them transferred to the main hospital.

Mimi said...

Hi Maggie, I read thismorning of Moannie's passing, and wondered if you wre one of her followers. I'm sorry for your loss (yet another loss).
On the head lice...preventative measure is a bottle of Aussie Mega No Tangles Conditioner. Boots sell it. It has Tea Tree oil in it, but I added 20 drops of Geranium, which the lice don't like the smell of so they stay away.
A quick spray in the morning before brushing, and it also helps to de-tangle the hair. The bottle should last about 4 to 6 weeks.
Good luck, and take care of yourself.

Irene said...

I think there are steps of life and then landings to rest on for a while until the next set of steps and death is just another landing and your journey continues. I can't imagine that I won't sse the people that I loved and lost ever again. Maybe that is so much wishful thinking. xox

Leave It To Davis said...

I love you analogy of life and a staircase. I am a Christian, too, and I believe their is life after death also. I do believe that Moannie has a special place in Heaven along with other nurses who tended to the sick. You are right...she had a knack with words, and that's what I fell in love with. I actually felt like I was there with her in the closet hiding from the bombs. I will go visit her blog over and over, rereading her stories.

So glad you got the lice problem nipped in the bud! That was one horrifying experience for me when my youngest son came home with them! I feel for you!

SandyCarlson said...

You are grounded in life, and what you say makes sense. Thank you.

Secret Agent Woman said...

It's very true that we mourn the loss of blog friends. A lovely blogger named Renee died a year or so again, and I still often think about her. I like the idea that there are a few people out there who have never met me in real life but who know me through my blog who will miss me when I'm gone.

A story I thought you'd like: When my younger son was 6, his teacher sent him home saying they'd done a lice check and he had them. We got out the clippers and gave him a buzz cut. There was absolutely nothing there - not a nit, not an egg, nothing. False alarm, and now he was nearly bald. The next day was Sunday and we went to Meeting (Quaker). In the time at the end where we go around the circle saying our names, someone asked my son what happened to his hair. He stood up and announced proudly, "I had lice!"

Jeni said...

When I opened my reader this morning, the post on the top of the heap was the news from Saz about her Mother's passing. Like so many others here, I too followed Moanie's blog and very much enjoyed and appreciated her wisdom and her wit. She will be greatly missed. But I also appreciated that her family is leaving her blog open for people to come back to and to refresh their memories of Moanie. Reading that, I found myself wishing that the family of one of my early favorite bloggers (Bob Johnson from Alberta, Canada) had done that as I would dearly love to go back and reread many of his great posts again. Also, the interjection of a bit of humor into a funeral does wonders to help begin the healing process. And that comb looks to be like it too would work wonders and I'm glad for you and the girls that apparently it did just that! Peace.

Suburbia said...

Just heard of poor Saz's loss and although I didn't follow her I did sometimes read Moanie. So strange how blogging makes us part of people's lives and then their deaths.

The dreaded nits! Good luck! We used that sort of comb and it was definitely the best but the trouble is you can't rely on the other parents to do the same!!

Coey said...

Watching your people pass on is very hard. I have had many friends go this past year and a half. It is bitter sweet. First, to know their brave comments will stop and then to know that they are finally at rest after such long battles.
I am so happy to hear the lice has been stopped dead in their scalps. Thanks for stopping by the blog...

Coey said...

Watching your people pass on is very hard. I have had many friends go this past year and a half. It is bitter sweet. First, to know their brave comments will stop and then to know that they are finally at rest after such long battles.
I am so happy to hear the lice has been stopped dead in their scalps. Thanks for stopping by the blog...

FeltByRae said...

So sorry to hear of the passing of your friend, she sounds an amazing person, I love her idea of a mexican wave and am tempted to pinch it as I know my son would love it too

Glad to hear the nits have gone and hope all the other mothers keep on top of their kids' hair too

Expat mum said...

Poor Saz. Moanie will be greatly missed.

Suldog said...

So sad about Moannie. Such a nice woman. Of course, as you point out, the hope is that she is now in a place where no pain is present.

Rose said...

I'm so sorry about the loss of another friend. Cancer claims far too many. I don't like going to funerals, naturally, but I do like those that add more personal memories of the person and celebrate their lives. I've never done the Wave at a funeral before, though! Your friend Pietra sounds like she had a great sense of humor.

cheshire wife said...

Sad news about Moannie. Better news I hope about the nits.

Jackie said...

Love the analogy of the staircase, Maggie. Beautifully done....
Hugs and love,
Jackie