Last year, at this time I was in a hospital bed unable rise, walk, and mumbling absurdities. \u00a0We were facing the abyss. \u00a0Yet, I was unready to leave. \u00a0“I don’t want to die,” I growled decimated in the sticky hospital bed. \u00a0Scrappy, I clung to life even though my body was no longer hospitable to my soul. \u00a0At one point, I was chasing what would-have-been my last breath, and without competent nurse intervention it would have been my premature end. \u00a0The doctors had asked my loving husband to, “Bring the kids in to say goodbye.”<\/p>\n
He refused. \u00a0Instead he stood up to the medical establishment, with my Oncologist’s backing, and demanded they keep treating me. \u00a0I am very fortunate in that my choice of husband has never disappointed. \u00a0Seventeen years of happy marriage behind us, \u00a0I keep learning what it means to be loved. \u00a0Now, I know what it means to be loved beyond youth, past good looks, and to the brink of the grave.<\/p>\n In January 2016, almost a year ago today, I was released from the hospital. \u00a0They let me go home with the tacit understanding I’d die there, soon after. \u00a0My husband, had other plans. \u00a0Almost immediately, he carted (wheelchair required) half-dead but happy me to a Mexican restaurant so I could pretend to drink and eat. \u00a0Most importantly so I could see people and be among the living.<\/p>\n Flash forward to yesterday, Christmas Day, 25th of December 2016: we celebrated the day by watching professional surfers on the beach in Northshore, Oahu, brave the colossal waves. \u00a0This is the famous, Pipeline, of waves which every surfer dreams to conquer. \u00a0Yet, no amateur would dare go out there. \u00a0It is too dangerous! \u00a0These waves were deemed, “Unsurfable!” \u00a0by Hawaii Authorities up until the 1950’s, according to Joe Kaiser<\/strong>, a future film star, who has surfed Oahu’s waves since early youth.<\/p>\n Joe Kaiser generously gave me the history of Surf Culture, in a nutshell, as we watched professionals do the impossible. \u00a0Joseph Kasnetzkov, who I call “Joe Kaiser,” for the majestic color of his gorgeous ocean blue eyes, and whose local friends and fellow surfers call, “Joey,” because they have known him since he was too little to be Joseph. \u00a0As it rings out on the beach, the diminutive form of Joseph, “Joey,” is steeped with affection and trust.<\/p>\n “Not too long, ago…” \u00a0Kaiser smiles, “Surfing was associated with the idea of beach bums.” \u00a0The general public had an image of surfers as drug users who loafed and lazed, catching waves and allowing their lives to revolve around the ocean’s whims. “That changed.” \u00a0 He continues, “Surf master Kelly Slater<\/a>\u00a0elevated the image of surfers by becoming a model of spiritual development. \u00a0He does not party. \u00a0He meditates. \u00a0He surfs.” Besides, Kaiser goes on, “He dated Pam Anderson,” when he was twenty.<\/p>\n Here is an excellent short video, by Hartmuth C. Kolb, of an elegant professional surfer managing a Pipeline way with finesse:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_3881.jpg?resize=980%2C735&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/talkinggrid.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_5706.jpg?resize=980%2C735&ssl=1\")
<\/a>The Pipeline in Oahu, Northshore, Hawaii:<\/h2>\n
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