Well, the big day is almost here and boy has it crept up on us. Friday we will celebrate our 12Th Christmas together with mom, her best friend Peggy and a few close friends. We are planning on 10 to be exact. Food, drink, caroling around the piano. It will be a great day. A day that represents what Christmas is to me. Laughter, family, friends, love, music and great food.
Of course the Holiday is bookend with a busy trip before and two busy trips after. Tomorrow morning, well actually I have to get up at 3:30AM so I should say "tonight", I leave for San Jose, California and on to Austin, Texas. One of my favorite new cities. I do the reverse on Christmas Eve and arrive back in Portland about 7:30PM. At least that's the plan. Fingers and everything else are crossed.
Saturday morning, I work the Disneyland Express to Orange County.....and back and Sunday I am off to Denver and back. The Holiday is smack dab in the middle of 8 completely booked full flights.
Here's to a wonderful, peaceful, safe and prosperous Holiday to you and yours!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Weekend funny II
A passenger asks "do you like being a Flight Attendant?" I reply "Yep, I have been doing it quite a while. The hours are long, but at least the pay is bad!". Silence. Awkward silence. "Now, would you like something to drink?" Such fun. They are never really sure what to say. Actually, we are fortunate to live a very comfortable lifestyle, but it has taken a long time to get there! It's all about the journey and not the destination, right?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
I'm doing my best.....
I'm doing my best I really am! I have tried my darnedest to keep my head up and continue to help mom in her continuing recovery efforts. I am trying not to allow her situation to completely consume me and my life. It's hard. I am trying to do my best, I really am. One day at a time.
It has never been easy for me to pick up the phone and call my mom. Hell, she lives 4 minutes away by car or 15 by bus, but just picking up the phone for a quick call seems to take a minimum of 30 minutes. At the very moment I am prepared to call her to see what she is having for dinner and how her afternoon was. I called her quickly at noon today on a break from work.
There is never a great deal of new information during the calls. I expect "hey I started a great book!" or "boy, I saw an awesome movie!". Instead, I get "I had so many damned people here today I cant keep track of them!" or "when are you coming by, I sure miss you (this usually just after a visit to her apartment) or " I am just not doing that well, I sure would love to see you". It was this last statement that prompted a visit Tuesday afternoon. A short visit after a long work day that turned in to a 2 hour visit.
"Maybe I should go to the emergency room. I'm just not doing all that well". "Maybe 911 can help". "I cant seem to catch my breath. I sure am weak". "They can give me some sort of shot". Skin color good. Pulse good. Breathing fine. No coughing, shortness of breath. "Mom, I said, why would you want to go to the emergency room? The last time we were there, we spent 3 hours before you got checked in and you were ready to walk out because you were so frustrated!" I called her home health nurse and gave her a report. "Everything seems fine, I am not sure what she needs other than companionship".
She has someone with her now just about every day. She is fortunate. She has Home Instead visits for 3 hours a day, twice a week, someone delivering her groceries, a home health nurse 2-3 times a week and a bath aide. We visit 3-4 times a week and make sure we do whatever is not done by the several people assisting her during the week.
The bottom line here is that the time has come for her to make the move. She clearly is not recovering at the pace we thought she would. She may never. Her continuing health issues are consuming her. It is consuming us and she needs help. We need help.
We will enjoy Christmas this week and we hope she is well enough to make the short journey to the condo. We have dinner planned and we would love to have her over to sit by the fire. We have invited her best and dearest friend to join her. It should be a great day. Family, friends, food, music. All the things that are important.
Come January, we will begin the search for a new place for her to call home. There is no reason for her to continue to fight being alone, being lonely, struggling to take care of the day to day things that have become so challenging. Wanting and needing someone to be close at all times. She will have good care, safety, companionship. She says she is not ready, but when I looked into her eyes this week, they told a different story. She has help and support and friends and social workers all pulling for her.
Please keep your thoughts and prayers coming. They have meant so much to us during this journey.
It has never been easy for me to pick up the phone and call my mom. Hell, she lives 4 minutes away by car or 15 by bus, but just picking up the phone for a quick call seems to take a minimum of 30 minutes. At the very moment I am prepared to call her to see what she is having for dinner and how her afternoon was. I called her quickly at noon today on a break from work.
There is never a great deal of new information during the calls. I expect "hey I started a great book!" or "boy, I saw an awesome movie!". Instead, I get "I had so many damned people here today I cant keep track of them!" or "when are you coming by, I sure miss you (this usually just after a visit to her apartment) or " I am just not doing that well, I sure would love to see you". It was this last statement that prompted a visit Tuesday afternoon. A short visit after a long work day that turned in to a 2 hour visit.
"Maybe I should go to the emergency room. I'm just not doing all that well". "Maybe 911 can help". "I cant seem to catch my breath. I sure am weak". "They can give me some sort of shot". Skin color good. Pulse good. Breathing fine. No coughing, shortness of breath. "Mom, I said, why would you want to go to the emergency room? The last time we were there, we spent 3 hours before you got checked in and you were ready to walk out because you were so frustrated!" I called her home health nurse and gave her a report. "Everything seems fine, I am not sure what she needs other than companionship".
She has someone with her now just about every day. She is fortunate. She has Home Instead visits for 3 hours a day, twice a week, someone delivering her groceries, a home health nurse 2-3 times a week and a bath aide. We visit 3-4 times a week and make sure we do whatever is not done by the several people assisting her during the week.
The bottom line here is that the time has come for her to make the move. She clearly is not recovering at the pace we thought she would. She may never. Her continuing health issues are consuming her. It is consuming us and she needs help. We need help.
We will enjoy Christmas this week and we hope she is well enough to make the short journey to the condo. We have dinner planned and we would love to have her over to sit by the fire. We have invited her best and dearest friend to join her. It should be a great day. Family, friends, food, music. All the things that are important.
Come January, we will begin the search for a new place for her to call home. There is no reason for her to continue to fight being alone, being lonely, struggling to take care of the day to day things that have become so challenging. Wanting and needing someone to be close at all times. She will have good care, safety, companionship. She says she is not ready, but when I looked into her eyes this week, they told a different story. She has help and support and friends and social workers all pulling for her.
Please keep your thoughts and prayers coming. They have meant so much to us during this journey.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
You are as constant as a northern star
Always there for me. Always there for my family and others. Smart and organized. Honest and up front. As strong as steel. Tender as the night. You always like to leave them laughing, but with just the right amount of whit. I love your "dry as a bone" sense of humor. The kind that leaves so many guessing as to whether you were serious or not, long after you have left a room
So how could it be that you came into my life like an angel, at just the perfect time, and you haven't stopped holding my hand once. I needed you then more than you will ever know. And there you were. I need you just as much today and here you are.
It's been a great ride hasn't it my friend? 12 years. Not many years for some. It probably seems like ages for other. Sometimes I feel like I have known you for far more that 12 years. Other times I look at you as if looking into those beautiful eyes for the very first time.
To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health (a little more health would do us both some good), to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death do us part. Whether that be tomorrow or another 50 years, you have made my life complete.
Here's to being my northern star. My constant in life. I love you and celebrate the man that you are today.
Happy Anniversary!
So how could it be that you came into my life like an angel, at just the perfect time, and you haven't stopped holding my hand once. I needed you then more than you will ever know. And there you were. I need you just as much today and here you are.
It's been a great ride hasn't it my friend? 12 years. Not many years for some. It probably seems like ages for other. Sometimes I feel like I have known you for far more that 12 years. Other times I look at you as if looking into those beautiful eyes for the very first time.
To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health (a little more health would do us both some good), to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death do us part. Whether that be tomorrow or another 50 years, you have made my life complete.
Here's to being my northern star. My constant in life. I love you and celebrate the man that you are today.
Happy Anniversary!
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