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Fountain Pens And Cancer


Bklyn

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I've done a lot of volunteer work with " special " needs cases. When I get home from being with my special friends I do find writing with my pens a marvelous way to calm my thoughts. Other wise I'd be concentrating on the patients late into the night.

 

That and prayer, which I send you & your wife, is what does it for me.

Prayer will be just great. I'll gladly take it.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Hi Bklyn,

 

Tears fill my eyes as I type this; not with pity but with a deep sense of connection on a number of levels. Fountain pens - collecting, writing, day dreaming have gotten me through many a difficult time. My wife had breast cancer and (thankfully) survived. My partner in a winery had stage 4 breast cancer and also (thankfully) survived. Both of these women mean the world to me so I empathize with your situation.

 

Like you, I live in Boston. I collect fountain pens. I have had women who matter survive cancer. I will pray for you and your wife.

 

Best,

John

I am so happy that your outcomes are good and I hope that I am lucky enough to have the same with my wife.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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My wife just completed her chemotherapy sessions last week. I found myself also sitting there and sketching. We would go to the Cancer Center at 9:30 in the morning and leave about 4:30 in the afternoon. I also found that sitting and doing some pen drawings relaxing and more during those long hours.

I used them by her bedside today as she slept. Very relaxing. I mention ed ti her and told her that I might get a MB 149 and use it at her bedside. She asked the price. I told her. she said that she is not THAT sick. Oh well, nice try.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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I do find that fountain pens and writing are a good way to focus oneself... there are many levels and facets to them, from appreciation of the aesthetic side of pens, how they look and feel to the tactile and visual act of writing, nib meeting paper, the feel of it, smooth or rough, gliding or draggy, ink flowing to the paper, the color, line variation, shading... be it "mindless" doodles or a more concentrated effort to chronicle or create something, it all makes you focus and concentrate so that you can escape the situation for a bit of emotional relief. I know what the pain and fear of the ones loved and most close can make one feel, the feelings of hopelessness, frustration and uselessness as the result of it. But you steady yourself and stay strong for them. Anything that helps with that is valuable.

Staying strong is so difficult and so mandatory. Thanks for your comment.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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I am so sorry to hear about your wife. Cancer is an awful business.

 

I just finished a few years of treatment & did so always with a pen at hand for writing and doodling except when I was radioactive.

 

I also noticed both my endo doc and nuclear med. doc favored Waterman Exception Night and Day pens. heh.

 

Take comfort in all that you can. Accept every bit of help and kindness offered to you.

Yes, good advice. Perhaps we need to get the pens that the docs use?

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Bklyn,

 

You and your wife will be in my prayers today. John

I thank you John.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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I am a survivor of Stage 4 brain cancer, and the after effects still plague me today. From being a hotshot Big 10 college athlete and All American to a guy who is more or less a cripple is the state I find myself in today. Throughout, my pens have been my constant companion, along with on of my manual typewriters!!!!! :):)

 

Please PM me your contact info, and I will write you and we will exchange ideas and thoughts and sorrows.

 

Best of luck, Brooklyn.

I will PM you in the AM.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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My late wife suffered with ovarian cancer from 2009-2014 when the Demon finally got her. We were lucky to live only a 2 hour drive from M.D. Anderson

Cancer Center in Houston. To pass some time I started another journal strictly for our time in waiting rooms and treatment area. I used the Starwalker FP for this as she gave it to me for my b'day in 2007. It did help feeling and seeing the ink flow out to the paper effortlessly as I wrote.

Also I discovered that Dromgoole's Stationery and Fine Writing Instruments was only a 10 minute drive from the treatment center and I would go and hang out with the family while waiting for my wife's chemotherapy to be completed. Sometimes this would be 6 hours! I still try to visit the store once/month. When my wife passed away in 2014 the first sympathy card I got was from the Dromgooles. There is nothing really say to make your situation better as I'ver been there

and still suffer the loss two years later. But I still write with my pens as therapy.

So nice that they sent you a card. Just wonderful. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope your pens continue to comfort you.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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I'm so sorry to hear about your wife, I wish the best to you both, I just went through something similar. I can only suggest to celebrate every day with her.

 

Writing with a well behaved pen can definitely have a soothing effect, I cannot say zen like for myself but at least I went from a sort of frenzy to a sort of calm; exactly today I was hoping someday to be able reach a state of zen like calm instead of battling with my handwriting.

Thanks so much for the kind words my friend!

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Dear Bklyn, first of all I would not feel sorry about you ! You are in a very difficult phase of life I can understand and appreciate fully .This is definitely a situation which demands a lot of composure and emotioal strngth but I hope you will handle this part of your life in a well-planned manner.I sincerely pray to GOD (ALLAH ) for your wife to return to good health with speedy recovery and a happy life .This is an opportunity to show your love ,your care to your wife and prove her that she is your most most treasured possesion ,and by Grace of GOD you will win .If you find fountainpens as a source of calming your thoughts and help compose or express yuor innerself so continue to write something that you and your wife would love after. I am myself a surgeon and my wife got that tumour in her breast and after long tretment ,, she is surviving now .And during those days of her intensive treatment I was doing all my duties and surgeries believing that this might help me in the future .Its atleast a way to make ourselves able to appreciate other peoples,sufferings . In those days I used to think that someone at some place would be with his beloved one with same fears and anxieties.

Once again wish you best of everything for you and your wife .

I am so happy to hear from you and I wish you and your wife only good things.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Praying for her and for you. I'm just a little over a year now as a widower, having lost my wife to liver cancer last March. I was so scared and she was so strong. Our faith got us through the horrible time of her illness and has helped me not only survive but to thrive afterward.

I am sorry to hear of your loss. I wish you peace and good things.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Bklyn, I wish your wife and you much strength.

 

 

Yes, there are many members here who have "something" to worry about, be it the unfair battle of a loved one, one's own health, or more pedestrian problems like a lost job. And for many of them fountainpens offer a solace. Tinkering with the pen, cleaning and filling it, ordening the collection, looking up facts, it takes the mind away from the sorrow for a moment. But also writing a journal, the pen helps regulating the flow of thoughts.

 

For me personally, I have some problems, that are not worth talking about in the light of your sorrow, but for me the above processes, but also being able to help here looking after the forum is a great relief.

 

I hope you too can find those moments of quiet, of just pushing the sorrow away for just a little while.

 

D.ick

Just using away the sorry for awhile. that is a good place to begin. I thank you for taking the time to write.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Bklyn, I am very sorry to hear about your wife. When my uncle was struggling with lung cancer back in 2012, I found my solace in nature photography. I'm glad you have a hobby in fountain pens. I find them very therapeutic myself.

 

I wish you and your wife the best of luck, and both of you will be in my prayers. Hang in there, my friend, and remember that your faith will help you get through this.

Hanging in there is in the plan. I thank you for writing.

Anyone like Ray Bradbury? Please read "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" if you have about 12 minutes.

 

You will not forget this wonderful gem that is largely obscure and sadly, forgotten. http://bit.ly/1DZtL4g

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Hi Bklyn, my wife survived a kidney cancer, my sister in law passed away with a metastasis not a year ago, and now a close friend has been diagnosed with a colon cancer whose prospects don´t look good.It seems that this illness is the curse of our times. We will have to bear with it.

 

Good to hear our hobby is helping you along. My best wishes to both of you.

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Bklyn-

 

Thank you for sharing your story and being vulnerable here with us on FPN. I'm sure there are many of us here who have turned to fountain pens, inks, and journals because of difficult times in our lives. I know that I bought an Aurora Optima the day I heard that my mother had stage 4 lung cancer, and I still go to FPN when life's troubles become overwhelming.

 

I think you need to take care of yourself to be able to take care of your wife and if a MB149 does the trick, why not. Isn't it relatively insignificant in the face of what you two are going through? As humans, we need to find solace where we can.

 

I would like to share with you a book that has been enormously helpful to me. It's Pema Chödrön's "When Things Fall Apart." It takes a Tibetan Buddhist approach to pain and suffering, and no matter what your religion is, I find it is completely practical and honest about facing the challenges of life altering events.

 

Be in touch.

Derek

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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I wish you peace and consolation. It's the way so many of us end our lives these days - you can't do much to actually help but your presence must be a great source of comfort.

 

I spent six weeks at Cedars Sinai when my husband's liver failed. I mostly read to him from the Fortean Times Magazine, but after he died I started journaling, which led inevitably to pens.

 

I'm glad I spent the time with him instead of the inside of my own head.

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Bklyn my heart goes out to your wife and yourself. I have, in the last couple of years, lost both my parents to this insidious disease, people I loved and cherished deeply and now miss so much. I have been married to my wife for thirty two years, if it is possible to feel worse under these circumstances it must be when it is your wife.

 

I have counseled family and friends, since my parents passing (I am a professional by no means, just full of life experience) in circumstances such as yours. It is my strong belief there is no right of wrong way to deal with this type of situation. You will know in your own heart what is the correct way to deal with each day as it unfolds.

 

Finding solace in your pens, writing, drawing or just holding them, is a way to help you cope with this situation and again my belief is it is not the incorrect response. With the aid of hindsight I'm sure now I should have kept a journal of my experiences with my parents so I could look back on the good and bad times on this unwanted journey.

 

I am not a really religious person but last night I did reflect and ask God to help you and your wife through this part of your lives.

 

 

 

Greg

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

Handwriting - one of life's pure pleasures

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our family's prayers are with you. find peace wherever possible, cherish the time you have together and seek the company of those you value. won't go into our life's story; suffice it to say, as is clear from this thread, you are not alone.

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Peace be with you and your wife as you travel this path. I pray that it's a healing path and a return to good health for her.

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