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So What is There to Do in Heaven for all Eternity?

So What is There to Do in Heaven for all Eternity?

I’ve been cooped up in this apartment for two weeks now ever since this corona virus pandemic has been going around and I have been thinking about things. I shouldn’t think this way but I’m 75 now and most of my life has passed me by. Anyway I wondered what it’s going to be like when I am dead. Is there a Heaven? I don’t know. Everybody from the time I was born always said there was but how do they know. Let’s just say there is. So you go to heaven for all eternity. Now what am I suppose to do with myself in Heaven for all eternity? I have been cooped up in this apartment for two weeks now and it’s driving me nuts. I can’t imagine being stuck in my apartment forever. If there is a Heaven there better be something for me to do for all eternity. Yes I’ll be able to see my Mom and Dad and the rest of the family, I HOPE but then what? 

 I love photography and playing craps at the casino but we are talking all eternity here. I would surely get bored doing that after a while. So my question still remains, “What is there to do in Heaven for All Eternity?” 

The second possibility is that there is nothing. There was nothing before I was born so why would there be anything afterwards? I remember when I had a heart attack. I was 49 at the time. I had to have open heart surgery. Just before I went into the operating room, I laid there on the gurney with tubes going into me. I just knew I wasn’t going to make it. “I wonder what it’s going to be like being dead,” I said to myself laying there. I was calm about the thought of not coming out of this alive. Maybe it was all the tranquilizer medicine that they injected into the tubing that ran into my arm. This guy came into the room and said, “I am going to put you to sleep now.” He injected something into my tubing and that was it. I don’t even remember going out. It happened so fast. The next thing I remember was all these doctors and nurses surrounding me. I had this big hose going down into my throat that was pumping oxygen into my lungs. The doctor started pulling it out slowly. “Can you breathe,” he asked me. “Yes,” I told him. Right then I realized that I wasn’t dead. But I was scared now that I would die all over again. In the beginning I was prepared to die and I was alright with it but now that I had made it through the surgery, I could feel my chest after they had cut it open and I was scared that I would die. I was angry at first. “Why did I have to wake up? I don’t want to go through this dying again,” I thought to myself. 

 I learned later that they had kept me under for 36 hours. The doctor said I was having some trouble with my blood pressure. From the time they put me under until the time I woke up there was no sense of time going by. They had stopped my heart and my lungs. That’s about as dead as you can get without actually being dead. I didn’t see anybody when I was under. My x-wife asked me that question. There was just nothing at all. So I am thinking that’s probably the way it’s going to feel like when I am dead. I truly hope I am wrong. I have prayed every night since my Mom died when I was 17 and I am looking forward to seeing her again. I sure would love to see my Mom again and wrap my arms around her and hug and kiss her. Then we could hang out together in Heaven. That would be awesome.

Everything seems to be getting worse

WTF, they are taking my car away in June because I have no money and now Illinois Governor Pritzker (D) issues “Stay At Home Order” starting tomorrow (Saturday March 21st 2020.) Everything is shut down except for the grocery stores, Drug stores and the bank. The only good thing to look forward to is a check for $1,200 from the Government, I HOPE. But what comes after that?

I went to the VA hospital

   I went to the VA hospital today to get my 6 month checkup. They called me up yesterday to see if I would see the doctor over a video conference instead of coming there because of the Virus. I told them I had no way of doing that so they told me just to come in and see the doctor. When I got there all the veterans must have stayed home because it was really empty inside the VA hospital. Usually the place is packed. I got a blood test and saw my doctor. And then Voted on my way back home.

Coronavirus and Panic Buying

This coronavirus outbreak has caused a panic in the grocery stores. 

All I wanted at the Jewel grocery store was some ground sirloin, some beans and tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes so I could make some chili. Well it was a job trying to fine the fixings. I can tell you that. There was no meat. One of the girls working there saw me taking pictures of all the empty shelves. I told her, “All I wanted to do was make a bowl of chili.” “Maybe I can help you,” she said. “I need a pound of ground sirloin,” I told her “Wait here. There’s a pallet in the back. I’ll see if I can get you some,” she said. I waited about 5 minutes and she came out with my meat. I couldn’t find any other of the normal things I usually get when I go to the store. The shelves were just empty. I still don't get the hording of toilet paper. You can't eat it. Here are the pictures I took today (Sunday March 15, 2020)

It was 1951 when Polio stuck me

 

With this coronavirus going around, it brings up memories of my past.

It was 1951 when Polio stuck me. I was 6 years old.

One day I was walking home from school and I was so tied, I could just barely make it home. As soon as I got home I went to bed. I guess I was really sick. And my Mom took me to the doctor’s. They found out I had Polio. So they put me in the hospital. I had Bulber Polio, worst kind you can get. I almost died from that. They almost put me in one of those Iron Lungs machines that help you breathe. I used to call them “tin cans.” I guess I really got sick and my Dad told me later on, he says, he had collapsed on the hood of the car after he came out from seeing me and started crying to my Mom, “He’s gonna die, he’s gonna die.” My Mom had some Holy Water that one of the nuns from St Juliana’s gave her. Some Holy Water from Lourdes, you know France?  And she brought it up and she poured this Holy Water from Lourdes on me. And son-of-a-gun if I didn’t start getting better. It was like a miracle. I don’t know if that’s what it was or caused it or what but that’s what happened. So I got over that. 

 This is the report from the Edison Parker, Edison Park News paper Sept 26, 1951. Report first Edison Park polio cases. Boy 6, girl 14 both in hospital. Edison Parks first cases of Infantile Paralysis cases of the year were reported last week, as two youngsters, a 6 year old boy and a 14 year old girl. Both were stricken with dangerous Bulbar Polio. The Children are Billy Kaufman 6 of 7415 N. Ottawa and Jacquelyn Dee 14 of 7025 N Overhill. After becoming ill Monday September 17th. Jacquelyn Dee, daughter of Mr & Mrs Eugene Dee, was taken Wednesday to Municipal  Contagious Disease Hospital were her condition still is report as critical. Doctors said the girl is still running a temperature and is very week and is receiving oxygen thru the nose. Jacquelyn a student at St Patrick Academy has an older sister 18 and a younger brother 6.  6 year old Billy Kaufman son of Mr. & Mrs. Robert J Kaufman became ill last Wednesday and was hospitalized the following day at the Cook County Contagious Disease Hospital. His condition still is critical doctors reported but has shown improvement. Billy is no longer in oxygen although he is still running a temperature and is paralyzed in the throat and internally. Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman have younger daughter Jeanne 4.

  This is a follow up article in the Edison paper. 3 Polio cases reported in Edison. Jacquelyn Dee 14 of 7025 N Overhill, Edison Park’s first Polio victim was still in critical condition following an emergency tracheotomy at Municipal Contagious Disease Hospital Wednesday. Also in critical condition following polio attacks are Billy Kaufman 6 7415 N. Ottawa and Jeanne Knorst 13 6950 N Overhill. All 3 victims were suffering from the Bulbar type of Polio. After becoming ill on Sept 17th, Jacquelyn was taken to the Municipal Hospital Wednesday were doctors described her condition as very critical. It is hoped Thursday’s operation will help her for her fight for her life. 6 year old Billy Kaufman became ill last Wednesday and was hospitalized the following day at Cook County Contagious Disease Hospital. Doctors this week reported Billy’s condition improved. His fever dropped Sunday and is now able to eat some soft food. Jeanne Knorst was stricken Tuesday and was removed to Municipal Contagious Disease Hospital. Her condition is report as serious. 

  This is a follow up article number 3. Edison polio victims reportedly improved. All three make gains during week. The condition of Edison Park’s three young polio victims showed marked improvement this week. According to word received from the parents of the patients, fevers in each case have subsided and all appears to be on the road to recovery. Edison’s first victim Jacquelyn Dee 14, 7025 N Overhill was rushed to Municipal Contagious Disease Hospital September 19th, is now permitted to be out of her iron lung for two 50 minutes periods daily. A victim of both Bulbar and spinal polio, the extent of Jacquelyn’s paralysis is not yet known.  Billy Kaufman 6, 7415 N. Ottawa, having been released from Cook County Contagious Hospital Saturday, was taken to St Francis Hospital this week when his parents noticed muscular spasms in parts of his body. He will remain one month for therapeutic treatments. 13year old Jeanne Knorst, 6950 N Overhill ave was reported as improving with still no evidence of paralysis. Jeanne is also at the Municipal Contagious Disease Hospital. No release date has been given. 

Some of my memories of that time in the hospital with Polio. When my parents brought me to the hospital, they put me in this big ward with a lot of beds on one side and a whole lot of Iron lungs on the other side of the room.  This was the first time I had ever been to a hospital. I was scared and when my Mom and Dad went to leave that first day, I cried. I didn’t want them to go. This would be the first time I would be alone in my whole life. Kind of like it is with me now. 

  The nurses were very friendly, in fact I saw the prettiest nurse I ever saw in my life. I only saw her twice but I will never forget her. Maybe that’s why I have a thing for pretty nurses these days. The next thing I knew, I was put in a small room with three other kids. The nurse put me in diapers and then put me in this metal crib with clear plastic all around the top and sides of the crib. It was an oxygen tent.

  My parents visited me every day and when I started to feel better, I asked my Mom if she could bring me a strawberry Sunday. I wasn’t supposed to have it but the next night my parents snuck a strawberry Sunday up to me. Did that ever taste great. It’s funny how certain things stick out in your mind. 

  I finally got back home and I started having problems right away. So they put me back in another hospital for a month. The only thing I remember about that hospital was the whirlpool that I would have to be put in everyday. It was called the Hubbard Whirlpool Tank. The nurse would take me behind some curtains and take my clothes off. Then she started putting a diaper on me. I said to the nurse, I don’t want to wear a diaper. The nurse told me that everybody had to wear one before they put you in the whirlpool. I do remember this other kid across the room from me. He kept turning his light on and off all night one night. I couldn’t stand that.

 I finally got back home. Right after I got out of the hospital Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine. Well, I was out of school quite a while but I got back to school and I graduated from 1st grade. But later on I’ll pay for it.