Grateful

Accessibility

It has been an adventure away from home. After two sleepless nights and days, I was determined to try to do “normal” things. That included getting mom in the shower. We are staying in a handicapped “accessible” room. It is really set up quite well. The bathroom and shower area accommodates either mom’s walker or […]

Ice Packed

The roofs in our housing complex were damaged in a hail storm last summer. After months of waiting, they are now being replaced. Last week, they worked on our neighbor’s roof. The noise was very disturbing for my mom. Today we got notified that they will be working on our roof in the next few […]

Contemplative Lent

I was feeling stressed this afternoon, so when a caregiver came to stay with my mom I went to church. The Good Friday celebration was beautiful. There were 3 priests, 2 deacons, and about 20 altar servers. The church was packed and people spilled out into the gathering space and even into the meeting room […]

Easter Crafts

It has been a long time since we had my grandchildren over for a visit. My mom’s anxiety seems to get the best of her when there is a lot of commotion. However, we have changed up some of her medication, which seems to be helping. Since it was school break, my son and his […]

Her Hands

Yesterday I took a picture of my mom’s praying hands and shared it. When I read the comments, it gave me reason to pause and contemplate. My mom’s hands did indeed reflect those of God’s servant. For most of her life, my mom played the organ for the local church. Even while they moved often, […]

Previous Lives

We had a Hospice CNA come over today. She gave my mom a little pampering with lotion and oils. Then she got out a pack of question cards that she picked up. She had told me about them before and was very excited to use them. She told us about some of the questions and […]

You Are My Sunshine

Today after lunch, our new caregiver, me, and my mom were all in the kitchen. My mom was sitting in her wheelchair while we were cleaning up. Suddenly, I heard my mom singing, “You are my sunshine…” The caregiver and I joined in, “my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you […]

Flossing

After dinner this evening, my mom has something stuck in her teeth. We had to stop saying our prayers so that she could get it out. However, she couldn’t do it. My sister got her a piece of dental floss to see if that would help. Unfortunately, my mom couldn’t figure out how to use […]

Best Ships

Today I was in a texting group of some friends that I have had for over 35 years. Everyone was posting Happy St Patrick’s Day messages. One of them shared an Irish toast that I thought summer it up: There are good ships and wood ships,  Ships that sail the sea,  But the best ships […]

Laughter

My mom has been feeling pretty bad for quite some time and her cognition continues to decline. Last week we found that she has had a UTI for who knows how long. She is currently on her 2nd round of antibiotics. We have also made some adjustments to her other medications. It was good to […]