Spring 2024

J anuary 1: Just had our best New Year’s celebration in decades! We—who only have peo- ple over once a year, at Christ- mas—hosted a New Year’s bash with our best friends. The house is trashed but what a blast. As far as resolutions go, I’ve narrowed it down: Not to panic about the upcoming biopsy of the mole on the bottom of my foot, and not devouring—all at once—the one pound block of See’s English Toffee that was gifted to me. January 3: Why didn’t I do that biopsy when the dermatol- ogist offered on December 22nd? Oh yeah, because my whole family was coming to town the next day, and she promised it would hurt—a lot—for up to two weeks. But I’ve only eaten four bites of toffee. Go me! January 5: It’s never a good thing to hear “mom” screamed from upstairs so loudly that it’s an all-caps MOM. My 27-year- old daughter Morgan comes down the stairs with a panicked look and a plastic stick in her hand.“Mom, I know the timing is crazy, but I’m…” I finish her sentence.“Pregnant!” I blanch with shock, smile and embrace my daughter. All she’s ever wanted is to be a mom, but she’s currently in grad school in NewYork, and her wedding’s in June. I guess a seamstress will let out her dress. Don’t stress, granny. I hit the toffee—hard. January 9: Reality is settling in. My husband Scott, Morgan and I are having some laughs discussing our impending parent- and grandparenthood. It takes my mind off what the doctor thinks could be a melanoma on my foot. Scott casually says he’s going to pass out, then drops to his knees and sprawls out like Superman. Ha ha, joking, right? Nope. Off we go to the ER. They admit him overnight so he can be tested more quickly to confirm whether it’s just dehydration. January 11: Scott needs urgent open heart surgery. He has a congenital defect in a valve which has badly calcified. While digesting this, I go get my biopsy, which—what’s the big deal?— only hurts for 10 seconds. I get Scott home, where he’ll sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing until surgery, not even drive or play his saxophone. I find a box of toffee I’d bought for guests but forgot to serve. Buttery, soul soothing morsels. Doesn’t modern psychology call this “self care?”Toffee and dis- count shopping. Could be worse. January 16: I drive us to Stanford, feeling like a blow torch is being fired under my right foot, gingerly pushing the gas pedal. Meantime, the newly pregnant lady, her fiancé and their bulldog are driving back to New York through winter storms that are making national headlines. The heart patient remains nonplussed. Is it “Crappy” or “Happy” NewYear? I gnaw on my toffee—better than biting my nails. January 18: Scott sails through surgery and several doctors tell us how lucky he is to be alive.They cringe when I explain he’d ridden his bike 25 miles the day before he passed out, and how a few months prior he’d hiked half of the Tahoe Rim Trail—alone. My tear ducts finally burst. I’m stressed. I need to find a Marshall’s or Ross for some retail therapy but it’s mid- night so I have to settle for Safeway, where I limp through the aisles and buy a coffee mug, some hair clips and six other items I don’t need. January 23: We’re home. I’m elated.The surgeon has only ever released one patient after four days. Scott’s the second. As we hobble into the house, I find the freezer has defrosted, the TV remote was washed with the sheets, and our five dogs have made sure to remind us they never pee outside when it rains. I dig out the toffee block while I work on not melting down like the freezer. January 25: I’m getting a new TV remote in Seaside, and Marshall’s is practically in the same parking lot, so I dash through, exiting after 10 minutes with 10 superfluous items: A shirt and tooth-paste for the dogs. Mascara. A fry- ing pan. Picture frames. And a bag of toffee. My husband’s alive, my daughter’s nauseous, but safely back in New York, and I can walk on both feet. The biopsy’s benign, and it’s a Happy New Year! Dina Ruiz is a former news anchor at KSBW TV, past host of “Candid Camera” and has starred on a reality show on the E! Network. She is a writer, editor and yogini. She resides on the Monterey Peninsula. BEHIND THE SPOTLIGHT D I N A R U I Z Happy New Year! (Or is it Crappy New Year?) 52 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4