It's time for another planted blog post. This will be the final one for 2023. As you know this month, marked one year since Bloom with Brenda began. I want to thank my special guest contributor and companion, Trevor aka T Man, for once again bringing a heartfelt tale. 💛🦮❤️ This time I will be walking alone in my figurative garden. As you know, this blog was created in memory of my mother. She loved her garden so much. I never understood as a child, why that was so important to her. Now as a grown woman, I totally get it. My writings have a special meaning for me. It's something that is created before my very eyes, watching the words flow across the page, line by line. My mother described my first blogs much the same way. She said; "I didn't know you could write like that, it just flows." My response; "I didn't know I could either." I guess in some small way, I found my love of writing, much like my mother loved her garden. Some of what I write and ...

It's Trevor aka T Man with another planted blog post. This one is significant, as this marks the 1st Blogiversary of Bloom with Brenda. Brenda asked me to once again, be her guest contributor. It makes sense, because this month marks 13 years that I have been her companion. Now you know where the title comes from. Brenda's late mother told her, that I would be that companion for years. This blog was created in memory of Brenda's mother and part of that promise to live her life. Every day, she strives to keep that promise. I think that is beautiful!  It can be lonely at times, even in our gardens of life. Brenda wants me to bring out here, that friendships and  companionship, are vital in navigating and surviving in this thing called LIFE. There are many types of friendships. At the end of this planted blog post, her poem 'Connections' will be shared. It encompasses different kinds of friendships. Brenda wants me to concentrate on her close-knit circle of friends, fo...

Hello, it's Brenda with another planted blog post. I have completed my brain tumor survival month, as my craniversary was on September 8th. It was a month filled with celebration, memories, advocating and some great news, which is the whole reasoning for this title. I had my 6 month visit with my rheumatologist and he told me, that I continue to be in clinical RA joint remission. Let me be clear. I still live with this disease. It's not as active at this time. This has been going on now, for over 3 years. I had a brief stint with remission the first time in 2010, but that was short-lived. I never gave up HOPE that it could happen again and in August of 2020, I found out while reading my rheumatologist's notes from my visit, that it had. It would have been nice to actually hear those words out loud, which I did have a discussion with him about that at my next visit. He did apologize for not telling me straight up. It seems like I'm never told anything outright and it get...

Well, I'm back after a brief hiatus, with another planted blog post. This one is going to be centered around an event that took place 7 years ago. As you know, there are 7 colors in the rainbow, so this is my reasoning behind the title. I always try to bring meaning to anything I set out to do. I'm a visual person, so this is the best way I know how to share something with my readers.   Today is my 15th Craniversary or the anniversary of having had a craniotomy to remove a right frontal lobe nonmalignant meningioma brain tumor. Boy, that was a mouthful! My life has never been the same since and to be honest, I wouldn't want it any other way. You're probably thinking, why would you want to go through an experience like this? The brain is a strange organ. It doesn't weigh that much, only about 3 lbs. yet, it is one of the most important organs that we possess. It's funny but this whole experience changed me in ways, that I can't even begin to describe. My crea...

Hello, it's Brenda once again planting another blog post. This one is in the early hours on a Sunday morning. I'm wide awake, so I thought that sitting down and sharing with my readers what has been on my heart these past few days could be another source of therapy for me. As this blog post is being planted, I am listening to soothing guitar music playing in the background.  Last week Wednesday, was the 12th anniversary of my mother's passing. It was a day of reflection and yes, also a day of tears. Along with that came a nice surprise. I don't believe that anything is a coincidence. It was late in the afternoon, when I had a knock at my door. When I went to go see who it was, I saw that a package had been left. I hadn't ordered anything, so I was a bit puzzled. I believe my mother was working her magic in this happening on that day. Let me continue in the next paragraph. I received a certificate encased in a beautiful crystal glass frame, in commemoration of my 35t...

Hello, it's Brenda back with another planted blog post. I was going to save this for next month, but I have something on my heart, that I wanted to share with you. Call this therapy, if you will. It has been a tough month. Let me try to explain in the next paragraph. First on the 9th of this month, was 3 years since my oldest sister Sharon passed away. I am so grateful that we had that last visit over the phone, although I'm not sure she could really understand. She lived with a disease that takes your mind, Alzheimer's. I was able to tell her several times that I loved her during that visit. I guess that was my goodbye to her. I was unable to attend her memorial service due to COVID-19 and the fact that I live with 2 autoimmune diseases. It wasn't safe or wise for me to attend. I was able to see it afterward, as it was live-streamed. My most cherished memory is being photographed with her, as I was a flower girl at her wedding. I was 5 years old and still have the bask...

Hello my fellow readers, it's Trevor aka T Man back as a contributing writer for Bloom with Brenda. I've been hearing that some of her readers are happy that I'm going to be sharing once again. As one of her faithful readers who is a great friend, shared the following comment which was appreciated so much. He so eloquently put it; "Great having T Man back in the writer's chair."  You do realize I stand? BOL Seriously, I crack myself up. No bones about it. Speaking of bones, you're probably wondering about this title, that Brenda came up with? It actually has a two-fold meaning. Let me explain in the next paragraph.  It happens to be both Brain Tumor and Arthritis Awareness Month. Brenda is the brains of all of this and for my part, I will be receiving some bones. BOL This all came about because as you know, her last blog was titled; Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor. It was retired last year, but you still can go back and read those posts at your leisur...

It's time to plant another blog post. This one has been in the works for several months. I will be sharing how my path to advocacy became significant... all centered around a special day almost 11 years ago. I had shared a piece that was originally published in the CreakyJoints Newsletter with one of my readers and friend, who has been so supportive of this blog. The suggestion was that it would be a good idea to include this particular piece in one of my planted blog posts. This got my wheels turning and thought of several other items I could include that would put all of this together beautifully. I want to thank my friend, for offering me this great suggestion, in order to get all of this planted. The title was also an inspiration from that wonderful idea, which marked a new beginning for me personally. Let me expound in the next paragraph.  On April 20, 2012, I had the great pleasure of working with CreakyJoints for the first time. It was in commemoration of my 11th anniversary...

10 years ago today, on March 11, 2013, I testified at the North Dakota State Capitol on a very important issue. It was all centered around my taking a biologic, which I started administering in 2001. It truly became a game changer in living with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).  I titled this planted blog post; "Knowing Your Soil" for several reasons. First, anytime you are planting your garden, you need to have some good soil underneath to help in building a firm foundation. If your soil is not healthy... then your garden certainly will not thrive. Second, we all have to start somewhere with anything that we want to build upon. Let me illustrate in the next paragraph.  I was asked by the Global Healthy Living Foundation aka CreakyJoints, if I would be willing to share my story of taking a biologic. You see, there was Senate Measure 2190 that simply stated that if you were to go into your pharmacy and pick up your medication in my case the biologic, that my doctor and I would be no...

Well here I am planting another blog post this month. I had not intended on doing so, but I have something on my heart that I want to share with my readers. As one of my friends told me, not to be concerned what others might think, as that could block the creative process. So, I'm taking their advice and going full steam ahead.  As some of you know I had a brain tumor removed from my right frontal lobe, That right there, can cause me to become more emotional at times. I can be laughing one moment and then see or hear something touching and wham, just like that I'm brought to tears. Frontal lobe syndrome was explained to me, as you can become angry or brought to tears more easily. I was told to embrace it. WOW! It's actually caused by trauma to the brain. It's considered an acquired brain injury.  The past couple of weeks have been difficult in that I've been experiencing bouts of frontal lobe syndrome (FLS). I know it's completely normal and we have even been ta...

It's that time again to plant another blog post. This is Brenda and I am happy to introduce my companion and golden friend, Trevor aka T Man as my contributor for this month. As some of you may know, my other blog Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor ended last year. You can still go back and read our posts at your leisure. I would like to share a link to the first blog post where Trevor was introduced. It was in February of 2011, after my mother entered the nursing home. It will give you a background on how that whole journey started and my reasoning for this particular title.  https://brendasbrainstormandtrevor.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-tell-tale-dog_7.html Without further ado, here is Trevor aka T Man to share his pawspective. Thank you Brenda, for that wonderful introduction. As you know, Brenda has done a great job of bringing me to life. Some of you thought in the beginning that I was real. Don't feel bad, because even in person others have said the same. Click on the link...

Dear Mom,   It's Brenda, wanting to share some thoughts with you. This is our birthday month. Your birthday would have been on the 24th and mine is coming up next Monday, the 9th. I'm going to be 63 years old and honestly, it doesn't bother me. I am grateful for each day to help others.  So much has happened since you left this earth on May 31, 2011. I fulfilled my promise and read the blog post I wrote for you in the past tense at your funeral. It even got a few laughs about the Sparrows, when I said we don't eat little birds.  I found out that day that you used to write poetry. I never knew that and wished I could have seen some of your work. You were very creative with writing, so I can only imagine it was beautiful. It was a year after you passed, but one day I sat down and composed my 1st poem. It even ended up getting published in an online publication. I also had 2 blog posts published in 2012. You're not going to believe this, but Trevor was the storyteller ...