Jan's Story Read Online Free
Author: Barry Petersen
surprise exception I never expected; turns out that recently, after a few days of my being somewhat âwackyâ we took me off for a check up and here's the good/bad news ⦠I've been diagnosed with (Early Onset) Alzheimer's. Don't know how or why ⦠doesn't run in my family, etc., so I can't figure this out ⦠however, the really GOOD news is that we live in the age of miracles ⦠instead of being doomed to being shut in the attic, I am blessed with a bushel basket of pills which I now RELIGIOUSLY take ⦠morning and evening ⦠and as far as I can tell (well, actually it's BARRY who is my weather vane) it appears that the triumph of medicine is WORKING!
I know it SOUNDS GHASTLY ⦠but as Barry will tell you, I am now my usual self thanks to the miracle of meds ⦠and long may they reign!
So in the âDon't Cry for Me Argentinaâ mode ⦠this does entail my carrying around the assorted pills, but hey! Consider the alternatives! I'm all for pills ⦠morning and evening ⦠the neurologist is pretty clear on what I can and can't do, which principally means I will never, ever miss a pill ⦠but that's not such a big deal ⦠and as it turns out there are all kinds of researchers out there trying to develop even BETTER meds for all of us âboomersâ ⦠talk about the world's largest captive audience!
Love, Jan
2
âThe leaves of memory seemed to make
A mournful rustling in the dark.â
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
About Jan
Every couple's life is their own private novel. It is a little personal history added day by day, experiences that can be remembered later with a word or even a look. Someone else talks about visiting some place ⦠and with a glance at each other you can remember being there, the two of you.
Our private novel was about happiness and love. As simple as that.
She had favorite stories.
âDo you know when my dad was born?â she would ask friends who clearly did not. âHe was born on January 14 th . And one of my brothers was born on January 14 th . And you know who else? Barry was born on January 14 th !â
It was Capricorn destiny, proof that we were fated to be.
Her favorite story was how we first met, in the newsroom at the Seattle TV station where she was working as a reporter and anchor. I was there covering a US Senate race for the CBS Evening News. This was before the days of laptop computers. I had commandeered her desk and typewriter and was frantically working on a script against a tight deadline. Jan came back into the newsroom from an assignment.
âI walked in and saw this man sitting at my desk,â Jan would say. âI walked up and told him, âthis is my desk, and I need it because I have to write my story.ââ
Then came the part she loved the most. âHe looked up at me, and he RIPPED his paper out of the typewriter and stomped away.â
When she can remember, it always makes her laugh. I didn't laugh at the time it happened and not for a while afterwards. But in time it became one of my favorite stories about us. It reminded me of how she was pretty and spunky and totally unimpressed by me, the big-time network news correspondent who was a touch too impressed with himself.
I blessed the day we were married and look at the wedding picture of our blended futures ⦠Jan and me and my two daughters, Emily (7) and Julie (2), from my first marriage. When I look at the pictures from that night, I see in her face a radiated joy, a kind of total, sheer happiness that I never believed I could give a woman, and yet it seemed natural. My smile is real and, if you look closely, maybe a bit unbelieving that someone this amazing was about to become my wife. Until her, I had never believed a man could be that happy, and I definitely never thought it would be me. But she made it so.
It was going to be a struggle combining the girls, Jan, and me into one family, but we
I know it SOUNDS GHASTLY ⦠but as Barry will tell you, I am now my usual self thanks to the miracle of meds ⦠and long may they reign!
So in the âDon't Cry for Me Argentinaâ mode ⦠this does entail my carrying around the assorted pills, but hey! Consider the alternatives! I'm all for pills ⦠morning and evening ⦠the neurologist is pretty clear on what I can and can't do, which principally means I will never, ever miss a pill ⦠but that's not such a big deal ⦠and as it turns out there are all kinds of researchers out there trying to develop even BETTER meds for all of us âboomersâ ⦠talk about the world's largest captive audience!
Love, Jan
2
âThe leaves of memory seemed to make
A mournful rustling in the dark.â
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
About Jan
Every couple's life is their own private novel. It is a little personal history added day by day, experiences that can be remembered later with a word or even a look. Someone else talks about visiting some place ⦠and with a glance at each other you can remember being there, the two of you.
Our private novel was about happiness and love. As simple as that.
She had favorite stories.
âDo you know when my dad was born?â she would ask friends who clearly did not. âHe was born on January 14 th . And one of my brothers was born on January 14 th . And you know who else? Barry was born on January 14 th !â
It was Capricorn destiny, proof that we were fated to be.
Her favorite story was how we first met, in the newsroom at the Seattle TV station where she was working as a reporter and anchor. I was there covering a US Senate race for the CBS Evening News. This was before the days of laptop computers. I had commandeered her desk and typewriter and was frantically working on a script against a tight deadline. Jan came back into the newsroom from an assignment.
âI walked in and saw this man sitting at my desk,â Jan would say. âI walked up and told him, âthis is my desk, and I need it because I have to write my story.ââ
Then came the part she loved the most. âHe looked up at me, and he RIPPED his paper out of the typewriter and stomped away.â
When she can remember, it always makes her laugh. I didn't laugh at the time it happened and not for a while afterwards. But in time it became one of my favorite stories about us. It reminded me of how she was pretty and spunky and totally unimpressed by me, the big-time network news correspondent who was a touch too impressed with himself.
I blessed the day we were married and look at the wedding picture of our blended futures ⦠Jan and me and my two daughters, Emily (7) and Julie (2), from my first marriage. When I look at the pictures from that night, I see in her face a radiated joy, a kind of total, sheer happiness that I never believed I could give a woman, and yet it seemed natural. My smile is real and, if you look closely, maybe a bit unbelieving that someone this amazing was about to become my wife. Until her, I had never believed a man could be that happy, and I definitely never thought it would be me. But she made it so.
It was going to be a struggle combining the girls, Jan, and me into one family, but we
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