TheBanyanTree: A Life Lived Online

[Sally Larwood]

Thanks Jim. I'll look into this........after Christmas. 

At the moment, with presents to wrap, a raspberry cheesecake to make and Christmas shopping for my husband's present to do (remember its Christmas Eve here in Aus) sitting here reading two days' emails is not what I should be doing. I am getting up now!!!!!!

Sal 

Sent from my iPad 

> On 24 Dec 2013, at 11:18, Jim Miller <jim at maze.cc> wrote:
> 
> Sally,
> 
> Last time I sent money that way, I went onto my PayPal account and had the
> amount I wanted to send emailed to the recipient. If I didn't have a
> balance, it was charged to whatever I had designated. There was no charge
> for the service to me. I don't think there is a charge to the recipient
> either.
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
>> On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 4:15 PM, Sally Larwood <larwos at me.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I'll have to look at this Monique. I've never done a transfer that way. I
>> only use paypal with a debit to my cr card. If you can explain, I'm happy
>> to do that.
>> 
>> Sal
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>>> On 24 Dec 2013, at 8:58, Monique <monique.colver at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Sally really is.
>>> 
>>> I am not.
>>> 
>>> By the way, Sal, I don't think we take PayPal, but you can send me money
>> by Paypal and I can add it manually. I did that with a check my cousin gave
>> me Friday.
>>> 
>>> Monique
>>> Sent using alien technology
>>> 
>>>> On Dec 23, 2013, at 11:45 AM, Indiglow <indiglow at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> You are such a sweet and loving soul!
>>>> J
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: Sally Larwood <larwos at me.com>
>>>> To: A comfortable place to meet other people and exchange your own
>> *original* writings. <thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>
>>>> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 2:34 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: TheBanyanTree: A Life Lived Online
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I saw that on FB but didn't realise what it was about. Good on you
>> Monique. A worthwhile cause.  Great that people are contributing. Can we
>> use paypal?
>>>> 
>>>> Sal
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>> 
>>>>> On 17 Dec 2013, at 9:06, Monique Colver <monique.colver at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> His wife died Friday while in the hospital. She never got to go home.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I've started a fundraising campaign for their daughter's education
>> find. So
>>>>> far, we've raised over 2k.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Monique
>>>>>> On Dec 3, 2013 10:17 AM, "Monique Colver" <monique.colver at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Not mine, of course, though it may seem like it.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I'm on this list. Not this list, another list. I've been on there for
>> years
>>>>>> -- it's for people in my profession -- bookkeepers, accountants,
>> CPA's,
>>>>>> EA's, etc. I've been on there for so long that after my surgery in the
>>>>>> distant past a group from the list sent me flowers. Some of us have
>> met,
>>>>>> some of us are friends, some of us are friends but haven't met yet.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> There's a guy on the list. There's always a guy. He shares everything
>>>>>> that's going on with his life, and many people find him insufferable
>> not
>>>>>> from the sharing, but because he's often a key troublemaker when
>> political
>>>>>> discussions go awry. There aren't supposed to be any political
>> discussions,
>>>>>> but they pop up now and then. He's annoying enough with his
>> pronouncements
>>>>>> that I've considered switching sides merely because I don't like
>> being on
>>>>>> his side.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> But that's a pretty weak excuse for switching my political
>> persuasion, so I
>>>>>> haven't. But this guy . . . he was a history major in college, so he's
>>>>>> certain he knows everything and those who disagree with him are
>>>>>> fearmongerers (?) and not paying attention. And when it's pointed out
>> to
>>>>>> him that he's often the problem, he doesn't get it, his level of
>>>>>> comprehension often being not as much as is required.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> A couple of years ago he shared that he had a girlfriend, Shannon,
>> and that
>>>>>> they were going to get married.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He kept us apprised of their march toward the altar. Many wished him
>> well.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He keeps us notified of scifi marathons and classic radio shows. He
>> talks
>>>>>> about how well done some tv shows are, like the Walking Dead (which
>> I've
>>>>>> never seen, despite my love of zombies).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He told us of a car accident he was in where the other driver, who had
>>>>>> caused the accident, was killed. That shook him up.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He told us when he married Shannon.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Then Shannon got pregnant! While some of us may have thought, "poor
>> kid,"
>>>>>> we congratulated him.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He talked of his wife often, and her pregnancy.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He emailed me once and asked if my book would offend his wife. She's a
>>>>>> psychiatric nurse and he thought I might be in the business of bashing
>>>>>> people in the industry. He's oblivious to what goes on around him in
>> the
>>>>>> wider world. I told him I didn't know if it would offend her, or if
>> she'd
>>>>>> like it, that I really couldn't tell him. So he didn't buy the book,
>> and no
>>>>>> big deal to me. It was just a strange question, I thought.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Shannon got transferred to a remote location, as if West Virginia
>> itself
>>>>>> weren't remote enough. Now they were moving to a remoter place.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> He wrote about his struggle with his business, how he didn't know how
>> to go
>>>>>> remote with his clients, and he kept asking the same marketing
>> questions
>>>>>> year after year until some people threw up their hands in impatience.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The baby was born, and he often talked of taking care for her while
>> he was
>>>>>> working.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The baby's not yet a year old.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> And Shannon, a lifelong nonsmoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer,
>> and they
>>>>>> couldn't fix it, they could only slow it down.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> And this guy is faced with losing his wife and having a small baby who
>>>>>> won't remember much of her mother.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The other day she went to the hospital to have her lungs drained, and
>> they
>>>>>> found more cancer they hadn't known about.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> They're getting a second opinion.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Meanwhile, people send emails telling him they can beat it if they
>> will
>>>>>> just think positively.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> We're a stubborn people, us humans. That's probably a good thing, but
>> if I
>>>>>> ever get cancer, which is likely with my family history, and people
>> tell me
>>>>>> that I can just think it away, I'm likely to virtually smack them
>> upside
>>>>>> the head.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I've never smacked anyone anywhere except in self-defense, so that's
>> really
>>>>>> not likely. I'm more talk than bite.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I can't add to the chorus of "We're praying for you!" because I don't
>> do
>>>>>> that, but I can hope her cancer goes into spontaneous remission and
>> then
>>>>>> goes away by magic. I hope the same for another friend on the east
>> coast
>>>>>> who also has a terminal lung cancer. And another friend's daughter on
>> that
>>>>>> same list, who has been fighting cancer for six years. It just keeps
>>>>>> getting worse and they've removed much of her. She has three
>> children, two
>>>>>> of them not much older than the cancer. They're all young, all these
>> women.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> We're no longer bound by geography, by a closeness in knowing people
>>>>>> face-to-face. We live in a world where Don's sadness can be shared
>> with a
>>>>>> group of people all over the US and Canada, some of whom don't care
>> for
>>>>>> him, but when someone's faced with the horrible things that happen in
>> life
>>>>>> that doesn't matter so much. We're all of us united against the common
>>>>>> enemy. We hope for the best for those we know, even if they've
>> annoyed us
>>>>>> in the past. We can transcend social constructs and meaningless
>> barriers if
>>>>>> we just listen.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> M
>>