New hip, new kittens, new citizenship…

How did October fly past so quickly? ?  I really should make a point of posting something once a week when I’m super busy with life happenings. But sometimes it isn’t that simple. In my defence, at least this time, a lot has been going on, as you will see…

I went through a lot of waiting in October–waiting for all my tests to be set up, waiting in waiting rooms to have my tests done, and then waiting for test results. Waiting waiting waiting. I still have some waiting to do, but most of it is over. I have all my test results, I mean.

The most important result is that my PET and CAT scans were both negative, meaning that I don’t have any bone lesions (NO BONE LESIONS, yaaaay!!!) and there are no signs of cancerous activity in my body. Nothing. Nada. Big relief, for sure.

This means, among other things, that I’ve been cleared for my hip replacement surgery, which is scheduled for the end of this month. After spending three nights in the hospital, if all goes well, fingers crossed, I will be sent home and should make a full recovery in about a month and a half. My hip has really started acting up lately, ouch, so I’m ready…

And here’s another, HUGE bit of news: about a year and a half ago, after spending many months collecting all the necessary documents, having them translated, authenticated, etc., I requested Italian citizenship. Well, just recently, toward the end of October to be precise, I received my citizenship letter, and about a week later Stefano and I went to the municipality of Florence where I took my citizenship oath. So now I have dual citizenship, U.S. and Italian. I’m ecstatic…completely ecstatic. I’ve wanted Italian citizenship for so long, so this is a dream come true…

And…more good news. After vowing that (Harry) Potter was going to be our last cat, that we are getting too old to adopt any more cats, blablabla, we recently fell completely in love with two Maine Coon kittens–siblings–who are now a month old. Potter and the two kittens, a male and a female, have the same parents. They will be joining our family in mid January, at the age of three months. We are soooo happy about the kitties…they are so adorable…

So, Italian citizenship, kittens, no cancerous activity, and a titanium hip…What else could I want?

I actually have a bit more news, but it’ll have to wait for another post…I have to go now.

Take care, everyone! Ciao! 🙂 

5 Comments

  1. Dear Margaret: Congratulations on your Citizenship for Italy, good Luck with your upcoming operation and so happy for your new members of the cat family scheduled to move in soon. I have to tell a wonderful story: I live in a retirement home and one of our residents, age 95, widowed, a retired artist and teacher felt lonely. He asked 2 other residents to drive him to a rescue center to adopt a cat. “Winslow” was named and now is a wonderful companion while his master paints. Just in case, the son will adopt the cat…..if necessary. So its never too late…Wishing you the best, Beatrice.

  2. Congratulations Margaret, on all fronts. I attended my daughter’s citizenship ceremony in Canada. It is a very moving experience. Also, I don’t think you will ever be too old to take cats into your family. At 78, I just added a dog to ours’. At this point, I either have a younger person who has agreed to take the pet if I can’t care fir it. Or, as in the case of Coco, my new dog, I take older rescues

  3. How wonderful that there is so much good news for you! I so admire anyone who can take in pets after losing one. The heart ache is cloying. I was 17 when I received my US citizenship but fear I was too young/immature to appreciate the gravity of it. Congrats on your dual status!
    My labs were trickling in for my 6 month follow up and I think the waiting is the worst thing, ever. I fear I am like one of your friends whom you wrote gets so worked up as to get physically sick from waiting. I am happy the waiting is over and that you are doing so spectacularly well. Best to you on the hip and speedy recovery!

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