San Diego Zoo Pictures and J

My favorite Christmas present this year was the one that I gave to J. The week before Christmas, I put everything else on hold and I madly scrapbooked for six to eight hours a day, when J was at work. Several years ago my mother-in-law had given me two boxes filled with photos from J's life, from 1987-1994. All of the photos were in order, and I just needed to put them into scrapbook form.

As I was going through the pictures, I came across a photo taken of J at the San Diego Zoo. I immediately recognized the set and pulled out my own scrapbook. I found a similar picture of me, in the exact same spot, although mine was taken a year before the one of J. The romantic in me had hopes that our pictures were taken the same year (what if we were at the zoo on the same day?!?), but I do like the fact that we are both six years old when our respective pictures were taken. I don't think that this photo op set exists anymore, but it would be fun to take a trip to San Diego and have a similar picture taken when Sam is six.

Several times I have been thinking this month about how much I love J and I'm lucky to be his wife. He is such a considerate, kind man who constantly considers what Sam and I need to be happy and comfortable. I love that he is such a thoughtful person too: he likes to reflect and tackle deep questions and ideas. Some of my favorite moments with J involve discussions that we have had about films, art, religion, philosophy, etc.

I can only hope that Sam grows up to be as good of a man as his father. Sam is a sensitive and kind person by nature, I think, which is a good start. He also likes to emulate his dad: he was thrilled the other week when he and J were wearing similar outfits to my choir performance. I hope he continues to want to be like his dad.

I love these two boys, and I think the world of them.

Emails from Mom

December 2008

I pointed out to J recently that this year my mom's death marks the halfway point of our marriage. The time that we were married before my mom's death is now the same amount of time that we have been married since her passing. It seems strange that so much time has gone by since she passed away. It seems like we, as a married couple, have spent more time with her than without her.

This morning I have been going through the emails that my mom sent to me. Some of the emails that I found occasionally talked about family happenings. Usually, though, my mom would just email me a tidbit of information that she thought I should know, often without prompting. These emails often included citations of articles from medical or health journals, but not always information from the cited articles themselves. (I also usually didn't understand all of the words or the medical terminology in these articles.) The earliest email I have in my current account is from 2007. It was typical to receive these types of emails from my mom:

Dear M
It was so nice to hear how you are doing and what you are doing.
 
Here is a good basic link on the BBC explaining some of soy's problems for men: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3513607.stm
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This link below also explains soy's effects on men and explains how some medical articles support soy's use and are supported by the soy industry http://www.ndmnutrition.com/estrogen%2F_men.htm
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Another article I noticed by G. Eda Akbas et. al of Yale University
School of Medicine finds that in adult women exposure of soy genistein alters 'uterine HOXA10 expression a potential mechanism by which this agent affects fertility'. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metab Sep 19, 2006

Phytoestrogens in soy cause endocrine disruption in male and females and affect fertility of both sexes in a dose responsive manner.
 
So avoid soy if you can.  Love Mom

I have emails about synthetic Vitamin A; why I should take Carlsen Cod Liver oil (although I don't think she would like how they have modified their product today); a quote which criticizes FDR and and offhand comments he made about the excessive birth rate of Puerto Rico; why I should avoid flu shots and take Vitamin D instead; how to avoid a flu pandemic; and Alfred the Great and Asser the Monk. Some emails are about news or topics related to the Church. Others have instructions for me to put something on her blog (a project we started together after she was diagnosed) or to have me leave a comment for her on a blog. One of the last emails she sent to me was a forward about someone who was killed because they answered their cellphone while it was charging (and still was plugged into an electrical outlet).

This eclectic collection of emails is a pretty good way to sum up my mother. I love her.