2016 has been an interesting year for many reasons. SO many famous people have died, and some NOT so famous.
At one point in my life I had 3 brothers all of them older than me. As I was told my whole life I was the "mistake", the "accident", or any other term my mother could think of, but I was the LAST of the Compton siblings. Well siblings is probably the wrong term. We were years apart, and all lived away from home. My "youngest" brother was 17 years older than I and he did live at home for awhile, but then went into the Army and made a career out of it. It was after the Korean war, but he went there for awhile. He also served in Viet Nam, as well as France, Germany, and many places here in the US. He retired from the Army with a medical retirement due to a bad heart. (Seems like that runs in the family big time).
He and his wife settled in Pennsylvania close to her family, where they lived for many years. They would come visit from time to time, but not often. Sometimes there were phone calls, but thats not like a face to face visit.
Well all of that has now stopped. David J. Compton, passed from this life yesterday around 4am STL time.
The irony is that because of something that I really dont honestly know, I was not in contact with him for several years. With my goofy family who knows what reasons are behind such decisions. The sad part is, I am the ONE that is left out of the 4 Compton brothers. Might I suggest that if you have an issue with someone in your family, or even a friend that you care about, that you not let something petty get in the way of what a family or friendship should be. While I really dont know what caused this disruption in a relationship, it happened, and I was pretty much helpless to reverse it. My brother had been in bad health for many years. I had joked many times about him having one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. Yesterday his foot slipped off the banana peel. He met God. Im hopeful that when he met Him that he was welcomed in the presence of the Almighty with open arms. For all of my parents faults, they did get us into church on a regular basis, and we all heard the word of God, and for that Im grateful. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
No truer words. God is always faithful, EVEN when we are not. So I ask you, do you have anything that you are dealing with in your family or in your friendships that is hindering a good relationship? TRY to fix it before you cant!
And then there was ONE!
Stories about life in general, politics, where I have been, where Im going, what I like to do.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
LIFE AT 65 -- THANKS LIVING
THIS is a re-write of a blog I wrote 4 years ago. THANKS for reading.
YES you read the title right! I know today is THANKSGIVING but if you think about things, we should be LIVING thankfully! I'll go into some details in a moment. In the meantime, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you who have read my posts for the last 4+ YEARS and to all my friends and family who have been reading as well.
As I said when I 1st started writing these blogs, I have found it very therapeutic and a way of keeping everyone updated on my health and status of this illness. Well the illness is gone, and of course Im extremely thankful for that.
OK WHY THANKS-LIVING. This is a term I heard some years ago from a Pastor during a sermon. It sounded strange then, probably because I was a teenager, yes I can remember that long ago. LOL (Cant remember what happened yesterday sometimes, but yeah years ago is like a brilliant light.
I never really paid much attention to living the THANKS-LIVING way, until 2012. Oh Ive always been thankful for the life I had. I've never been rich, but I've always had plenty. Ive been blessed with an incredible daughter and a wonderful wife. Ive been blessed with a business that has provided when I needed it the most. So why did not live the THANKS-LIVING way? I guess because even though I was thankful, I just did not tell people about it.
You can translate the term THANKS-LIVING to THANKFUL LIVING. Giving thanks everyday for life, for waking up on the green side of the grass, for what you have, and even what you don't have. Yes I said that right, give thanks for what you DON'T have. If you don't have it, perhaps, even though, you might want it, you really don't NEED it. I might WANT a lot of money, it would sure make things easier at time, but I really don't NEED it. I might want a new SUV or a CORVETTE, but I don't NEED either one. (Corvette is really just a dream.) I own an SUV, nice but horrible gas mileage, but at this time one I need! LOL
So 2012 has been WAAAAAY different than any Ive experienced. If you have been following this blog at all you know what Ive gone thru with the cancer thing and treatments and Gods healing. If you have not been following, shame on you!! LOL, actually you can go and read all of them. Im so very thankful that God chose me to heal. WHY? I really don't have an answer to that question. I just know that from the moment of the real diagnosis, I never one time doubted that God would do it. That brings me to the word FAITH. Im very thankful for FAITH. Without it no doubt, I would still be dealing with a disease that has some many complications and ill effects, I would probably be wanting to die. As it is, Im LIVING THANKFULLY!
Ive had the opportunity over the last few years to make contact with others who have had cancer. Ive met others who have had family members with the disease. Ive been able to talk to these people and connect on a level that I never would have, had I not had cancer. Ive been able to relate, somewhat, with their treatments, though NOT ALL cancer receives the same treatment. We've compared scars where we had ports, (I still have mine, kinda like it, makes drawing blood quite easy and painless). We talked about different doctors, even discovered that a couple of us had the same doctor or received treatments at the same place, and even at the same time, though we had never met. Ive had the opportunity to talk face to face with people who are angry because they feel that this disease "destroyed" their life. NOT TRUE is what I told them. They still have life. YES they might have scars, or need some reconstruction, but they are still ALIVE. They can still walk and talk and function pretty much normally. SCARS are totally OK. No need to hide them.
Im thankful that as recently as July and August 2012, I could hardly walk thru SAMS or COSTCO, in fact I resorted to using the little motorized cart a couple of times. Just absolutely did not have the strength. NOW Im able to ride my bike again, miles and miles. Im able to workout at the Y. Im able to take cycling classes at the Y. Im able to hike thru the woods and climb hills and walk up steps. So you see, I very thankful for the ability to do this. God really kinda knew what HE was doing when he made the human body. Its able to recover from almost total destruction, and come back and function. Chemo and radiation pretty much destroy everything it touches, which is what it is supposed to do, it destroys the cancer cells and unfortunately everything else around them. :)
Im thankful for the friends I have at church and literally around this country and around the world, who so faithfully prayed for my healing. IT WORKED!! Most of these people have never met me, yet they prayed because they were asked to. Pretty amazing.
Im thankful for excellent health that I have right now. So many that have gone thru treatments, are still struggling with theirs, Ive only got to deal with a dry mouth, and that is nothing compared to so many others. So YES Im even thankful for the dry mouth, I carry a bottle of water, no big deal. Call it MY thorn in the flesh.
Im thankful for taste. I had the opportunity one night not long ago, to chat with a friend who reminded me of his mother who in the 60's had a tumor removed from the back of her tongue and lost all of her taste. She went on to live almost 40 more years with NO taste. I can only imagine how awful that would be. I lost my taste for a couple of months, I would not want to go thru the rest of my life without it. God did indeed have mercy on me. I cant imagine having to eat really good food without being able to taste it. UGH! :(
Im thankful for a VOICE. I have a voice. There was a good chance, had the doctors had their way, I would not have a voice. Sometimes it is a bit raspy, sometimes it is clear, but ALL the time it is VERY low. :) Ive always loved to sing, and Ive always been able to sing Tenor AND Bass, now it is strictly bass. A very low bass. Kind of a J.D. Sumner bass. (Google his name if you don't know who he is). But you know, I have a voice, and its fun singing, and speaking in that very low tone of a Barry White style. :)
In short, Im LIVING THANKFULLY! Think about your life and just imagine if you did not have what you have and then be thankful. Today is a day of giving thanks. Make everyday a day of giving thanks. Make it a day of THANKS-LIVING! NO matter what you are going thru, be it big or small, GIVE THANKS for what you have, its WAY better than the alternative.
YES you read the title right! I know today is THANKSGIVING but if you think about things, we should be LIVING thankfully! I'll go into some details in a moment. In the meantime, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you who have read my posts for the last 4+ YEARS and to all my friends and family who have been reading as well.
As I said when I 1st started writing these blogs, I have found it very therapeutic and a way of keeping everyone updated on my health and status of this illness. Well the illness is gone, and of course Im extremely thankful for that.
OK WHY THANKS-LIVING. This is a term I heard some years ago from a Pastor during a sermon. It sounded strange then, probably because I was a teenager, yes I can remember that long ago. LOL (Cant remember what happened yesterday sometimes, but yeah years ago is like a brilliant light.
I never really paid much attention to living the THANKS-LIVING way, until 2012. Oh Ive always been thankful for the life I had. I've never been rich, but I've always had plenty. Ive been blessed with an incredible daughter and a wonderful wife. Ive been blessed with a business that has provided when I needed it the most. So why did not live the THANKS-LIVING way? I guess because even though I was thankful, I just did not tell people about it.
You can translate the term THANKS-LIVING to THANKFUL LIVING. Giving thanks everyday for life, for waking up on the green side of the grass, for what you have, and even what you don't have. Yes I said that right, give thanks for what you DON'T have. If you don't have it, perhaps, even though, you might want it, you really don't NEED it. I might WANT a lot of money, it would sure make things easier at time, but I really don't NEED it. I might want a new SUV or a CORVETTE, but I don't NEED either one. (Corvette is really just a dream.) I own an SUV, nice but horrible gas mileage, but at this time one I need! LOL
So 2012 has been WAAAAAY different than any Ive experienced. If you have been following this blog at all you know what Ive gone thru with the cancer thing and treatments and Gods healing. If you have not been following, shame on you!! LOL, actually you can go and read all of them. Im so very thankful that God chose me to heal. WHY? I really don't have an answer to that question. I just know that from the moment of the real diagnosis, I never one time doubted that God would do it. That brings me to the word FAITH. Im very thankful for FAITH. Without it no doubt, I would still be dealing with a disease that has some many complications and ill effects, I would probably be wanting to die. As it is, Im LIVING THANKFULLY!
Ive had the opportunity over the last few years to make contact with others who have had cancer. Ive met others who have had family members with the disease. Ive been able to talk to these people and connect on a level that I never would have, had I not had cancer. Ive been able to relate, somewhat, with their treatments, though NOT ALL cancer receives the same treatment. We've compared scars where we had ports, (I still have mine, kinda like it, makes drawing blood quite easy and painless). We talked about different doctors, even discovered that a couple of us had the same doctor or received treatments at the same place, and even at the same time, though we had never met. Ive had the opportunity to talk face to face with people who are angry because they feel that this disease "destroyed" their life. NOT TRUE is what I told them. They still have life. YES they might have scars, or need some reconstruction, but they are still ALIVE. They can still walk and talk and function pretty much normally. SCARS are totally OK. No need to hide them.
Im thankful that as recently as July and August 2012, I could hardly walk thru SAMS or COSTCO, in fact I resorted to using the little motorized cart a couple of times. Just absolutely did not have the strength. NOW Im able to ride my bike again, miles and miles. Im able to workout at the Y. Im able to take cycling classes at the Y. Im able to hike thru the woods and climb hills and walk up steps. So you see, I very thankful for the ability to do this. God really kinda knew what HE was doing when he made the human body. Its able to recover from almost total destruction, and come back and function. Chemo and radiation pretty much destroy everything it touches, which is what it is supposed to do, it destroys the cancer cells and unfortunately everything else around them. :)
Im thankful for the friends I have at church and literally around this country and around the world, who so faithfully prayed for my healing. IT WORKED!! Most of these people have never met me, yet they prayed because they were asked to. Pretty amazing.
Im thankful for excellent health that I have right now. So many that have gone thru treatments, are still struggling with theirs, Ive only got to deal with a dry mouth, and that is nothing compared to so many others. So YES Im even thankful for the dry mouth, I carry a bottle of water, no big deal. Call it MY thorn in the flesh.
Im thankful for taste. I had the opportunity one night not long ago, to chat with a friend who reminded me of his mother who in the 60's had a tumor removed from the back of her tongue and lost all of her taste. She went on to live almost 40 more years with NO taste. I can only imagine how awful that would be. I lost my taste for a couple of months, I would not want to go thru the rest of my life without it. God did indeed have mercy on me. I cant imagine having to eat really good food without being able to taste it. UGH! :(
Im thankful for a VOICE. I have a voice. There was a good chance, had the doctors had their way, I would not have a voice. Sometimes it is a bit raspy, sometimes it is clear, but ALL the time it is VERY low. :) Ive always loved to sing, and Ive always been able to sing Tenor AND Bass, now it is strictly bass. A very low bass. Kind of a J.D. Sumner bass. (Google his name if you don't know who he is). But you know, I have a voice, and its fun singing, and speaking in that very low tone of a Barry White style. :)
In short, Im LIVING THANKFULLY! Think about your life and just imagine if you did not have what you have and then be thankful. Today is a day of giving thanks. Make everyday a day of giving thanks. Make it a day of THANKS-LIVING! NO matter what you are going thru, be it big or small, GIVE THANKS for what you have, its WAY better than the alternative.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
LIFE AT 65 - SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS
This weekend is a bike ride that after tomorrow, I will have done for 5 years. Hard to believe its been 5 years, but rode the FIRST one in 2012, and it was a very cold Sunday in October, there was a wind chill, and of course that is multiplied because you are creating wind when you ride. It was also only 10 weeks since my last radiation treatment. Most people at this point would wonder WHY I was doing it that soon after treatments. Honestly, It was a desire to possibly help someone who might need encouragement. Here it is, not 2016 and Im doing the 5th ride. Jerseys are different, the survivor shirts that we who have gone thru the ugliness of c, and lived, get one, they are a different color, water bottle is a repeat color, but the ONE constant is a desire of the people in charge, and the riders, volunteers, corporate sponsors, all have ONE goal, and that is we want to see cancer wiped off the planet. My desire is still the same, to try to be an encouragement to someone that might need it. Im so blessed in that God chose to heal me. I think of those words, "God healed me", and it blows me away. God actually chose me, to be healed. This blows me away. I know people who have had cancer in one form or another for years, and are still fighting it. Ive known others who had it for a very short time, and have gone on to meet Jesus face to face. In some respects this makes me very sad to know that Ive lost friends while Im still around. It makes me sad when I think about it, to think of others who are still fighting and Im not.
I had occasion tonight to go to part of the "event weekend" at PTC, and hundreds if not thousands of people crowding the Chesterfield Amphitheater grounds eating, joking walking around and all with a common cause. There were probably close to 100 of us wearing purple shirts that say that we are "Living Proof". Yes I am living proof of several things. FIRST that God is still in the healing business. 2ND that Im 65, and am still going after going thru all the c treatments. I looked around at the survivors and some could barely walk, at least one had a similar c to me, and barely had a voice, yet he was still upright, others were still fighting. Please make NO mistake, it is a fight. Treatments are NO joke. They make you sick, some people dont react well to them at all, some are sicker than the c makes you, others fight thru it and go on with life. Others, like me, were just incredibly blessed and really had no issues.
WHY am I writing this tonight. I guess I was feeling a bit nostalgic, and a LOT blessed. These days OLD age sometimes makes my bones creak. LOL I have pains that can be a bit weird, but I KNOW beyond any doubt that I was healed of this insipid disease. THAT is another reason that I ride this benefit ride. Really 20 miles is not a big deal when it come to trying to bless someone.
If any of you feel the urge to pray for me tomorrow between 930 and about 1230, I would greatly appreciate it. If you dont, that is fine too. While you are doing that, please count YOUR blessings and see what God has done in your life. Did you maybe miss out on an accident by being "delayed" at some point? Have you been healed of something? Have you NOT been sick in a long time? These are ALL blessings. COUNT them, and think of someone that is not as fortunate as you are. IF you feel so inclined to donate to Pedal The Cause, I will include a link on here. IF you dont feel so inclined that is fine too, just pray for those who cannot, or perhaps dont know Jesus and know that they can call on HIS name and be healed.
Love to all of you that read this.
http://stlouis.pedalthecause.org/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=17912
I had occasion tonight to go to part of the "event weekend" at PTC, and hundreds if not thousands of people crowding the Chesterfield Amphitheater grounds eating, joking walking around and all with a common cause. There were probably close to 100 of us wearing purple shirts that say that we are "Living Proof". Yes I am living proof of several things. FIRST that God is still in the healing business. 2ND that Im 65, and am still going after going thru all the c treatments. I looked around at the survivors and some could barely walk, at least one had a similar c to me, and barely had a voice, yet he was still upright, others were still fighting. Please make NO mistake, it is a fight. Treatments are NO joke. They make you sick, some people dont react well to them at all, some are sicker than the c makes you, others fight thru it and go on with life. Others, like me, were just incredibly blessed and really had no issues.
WHY am I writing this tonight. I guess I was feeling a bit nostalgic, and a LOT blessed. These days OLD age sometimes makes my bones creak. LOL I have pains that can be a bit weird, but I KNOW beyond any doubt that I was healed of this insipid disease. THAT is another reason that I ride this benefit ride. Really 20 miles is not a big deal when it come to trying to bless someone.
If any of you feel the urge to pray for me tomorrow between 930 and about 1230, I would greatly appreciate it. If you dont, that is fine too. While you are doing that, please count YOUR blessings and see what God has done in your life. Did you maybe miss out on an accident by being "delayed" at some point? Have you been healed of something? Have you NOT been sick in a long time? These are ALL blessings. COUNT them, and think of someone that is not as fortunate as you are. IF you feel so inclined to donate to Pedal The Cause, I will include a link on here. IF you dont feel so inclined that is fine too, just pray for those who cannot, or perhaps dont know Jesus and know that they can call on HIS name and be healed.
Love to all of you that read this.
http://stlouis.pedalthecause.org/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=17912
Thursday, January 28, 2016
LIFE AT 64 - 4 YEARS AGO
Today is a day that is burned into my memory. NO nothing historical happened here, at least not that I know of. The earth did not stop. No one famous passed on. NOTHING EXCEPTIONAL happened, EXCEPT to me
4 years ago, last night, I was honored to be able to be part of a group of veterans to read the names of FALLEN military at the Soldiers Memorial. It was a huge honor for me to do that. Renita was able to join me as well, as she is also a veteran. It was a cold, rainy, snowy, icy night, and it did not start till after 930pm. I developed a sore throat, hoarseness, and by the next morning I was unable to swallow much more than my own spit, and even that was difficult. Kinda scary too. That brings us to THIS date January 28, 2012.
After getting up, sore throat, unable to swallow, not even able to get down a smoothie, Renita took me to the ER. A resident Dr that I do not know the name of probably saved my life. After an initial exam, he came and said that he could not see ANY inflammation and since I was complaining about a sore throat, he should have, and asked if they could do a CAT scan. He was suspicious of something. After the scan he came back and asked how long I had been a smoker, and when I replied that Ive NEVER been one, he literally asked if I was sure!!!! Well DUH, of COURSE I was sure, he kinda laughed and said that was a silly question, but what they were seeing they usually only saw in heavy smokers. He told me that he thought I had squamous cell carcinoma on my larynx. THAT was the beginning of a story that Ive told on here many times, but I was in SHOCK. They put me in the hospital overnight for observation because I was having trouble swallowing. They put me in a room in the Heart Hospital at Mercy. NOW I HATE hospitals, but if ya gotta go, that place was amazing. I would literally compare it to a room at a Hilton Hotel.
After the initial shock of all of this wore off, I had to dig deep into my soul. Deeper than Ive ever gone. I had to find faith. I found it. Not at all sure where it came from, but from early on, I declared that God was in control and would heal me from this disease. I had been in church and Sunday School my whole life. I had heard all the Bible stories, I had seen healings in the past, and even had small healings, but this was a giant in my path, and I needed some stones to knock him out. I discovered that I had people literally all around the world praying for me. THAT is an incredible feeling in itself. Those prayers were some BIG stones!!!!
I had to meet at the end of that next week with an ENT. Since I did not have one that I normally go to, the one on call happened to be the head of the ENT department at St Louis University. He confirmed what everyone had been saying, but he still needed to do the biopsy. He started out by saying that surgery would be necessary, and that I would have to have a breathing tube, and a feeding tube and on and on, and on. I had to stop them and tell them that there would no surgery other than the biopsy, and that God was going to heal it.
Here we are 4 years later. I still have my voice. I NEVER had a breathing tube! I NEVER had a feeding tube, though the one nurse practitioner almost demanded that I would! Honestly I really never had much pain in the throat, at least nothing that was as bad as what they were describing. Im still cancer free, and knowing that God healed me.
Prayer works. Ive talked to a few people even lately that are incredulous that I dont want to go to the Dr every few months, or that Im so confident of my healing. I will go to the Dr on prescribed appointment times. I will do what they ask, but I KNOW where I my healing came from. YES I did chemo. YES I had radiation, but I also believe that there are times where God wants you to go through something like that just so YOU will have that witness to others when they are going thru it.
Do I have all the answers about healing? NOPE! Do I have all the answers about WHY? NOPE! I dont pretend to. Do I sometimes feel guilty because someone that I know does not get healed and dies? YES! Do I know WHY sometimes God chooses how and why He chooses. NO! I just know that HE healed me!
Continue to follow my blog, there is more to come as this 4th year unfolds.
4 years ago, last night, I was honored to be able to be part of a group of veterans to read the names of FALLEN military at the Soldiers Memorial. It was a huge honor for me to do that. Renita was able to join me as well, as she is also a veteran. It was a cold, rainy, snowy, icy night, and it did not start till after 930pm. I developed a sore throat, hoarseness, and by the next morning I was unable to swallow much more than my own spit, and even that was difficult. Kinda scary too. That brings us to THIS date January 28, 2012.
After getting up, sore throat, unable to swallow, not even able to get down a smoothie, Renita took me to the ER. A resident Dr that I do not know the name of probably saved my life. After an initial exam, he came and said that he could not see ANY inflammation and since I was complaining about a sore throat, he should have, and asked if they could do a CAT scan. He was suspicious of something. After the scan he came back and asked how long I had been a smoker, and when I replied that Ive NEVER been one, he literally asked if I was sure!!!! Well DUH, of COURSE I was sure, he kinda laughed and said that was a silly question, but what they were seeing they usually only saw in heavy smokers. He told me that he thought I had squamous cell carcinoma on my larynx. THAT was the beginning of a story that Ive told on here many times, but I was in SHOCK. They put me in the hospital overnight for observation because I was having trouble swallowing. They put me in a room in the Heart Hospital at Mercy. NOW I HATE hospitals, but if ya gotta go, that place was amazing. I would literally compare it to a room at a Hilton Hotel.
After the initial shock of all of this wore off, I had to dig deep into my soul. Deeper than Ive ever gone. I had to find faith. I found it. Not at all sure where it came from, but from early on, I declared that God was in control and would heal me from this disease. I had been in church and Sunday School my whole life. I had heard all the Bible stories, I had seen healings in the past, and even had small healings, but this was a giant in my path, and I needed some stones to knock him out. I discovered that I had people literally all around the world praying for me. THAT is an incredible feeling in itself. Those prayers were some BIG stones!!!!
I had to meet at the end of that next week with an ENT. Since I did not have one that I normally go to, the one on call happened to be the head of the ENT department at St Louis University. He confirmed what everyone had been saying, but he still needed to do the biopsy. He started out by saying that surgery would be necessary, and that I would have to have a breathing tube, and a feeding tube and on and on, and on. I had to stop them and tell them that there would no surgery other than the biopsy, and that God was going to heal it.
Here we are 4 years later. I still have my voice. I NEVER had a breathing tube! I NEVER had a feeding tube, though the one nurse practitioner almost demanded that I would! Honestly I really never had much pain in the throat, at least nothing that was as bad as what they were describing. Im still cancer free, and knowing that God healed me.
Prayer works. Ive talked to a few people even lately that are incredulous that I dont want to go to the Dr every few months, or that Im so confident of my healing. I will go to the Dr on prescribed appointment times. I will do what they ask, but I KNOW where I my healing came from. YES I did chemo. YES I had radiation, but I also believe that there are times where God wants you to go through something like that just so YOU will have that witness to others when they are going thru it.
Do I have all the answers about healing? NOPE! Do I have all the answers about WHY? NOPE! I dont pretend to. Do I sometimes feel guilty because someone that I know does not get healed and dies? YES! Do I know WHY sometimes God chooses how and why He chooses. NO! I just know that HE healed me!
Continue to follow my blog, there is more to come as this 4th year unfolds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)