Hi all :)
Just thought I would add my thoughts to Lisa's stories about the last few days. The family gathering at Dolly and Gary's was so much fun for all of us. It gets hard to get everyone together as we all get older and have our own families so these get togethers are very special. We all had a great time catching up and hearing how Brett, Mandy, Matea and Dahlia are doing in their current home of Denmark, grateful that they are here for a visit :) So fun to watch all the little kiddies run around and it reminds me of when Brett and Bryan and me and Lisa were little and all hung out like best friends. Then a second round of cousin kid friends with Johnathan and Allison, Daniel and Aaron, and Ryan and Justin. I miss being a kid! I love my cousin in laws Mandy and Jen though so there's a plus to growing up :)
So as Lisa talked about, all the commotion was a little overstimulating for Dad, but after most people went home Mom, Dad, Dolly, Gary, Brett, Mandy, Johnny, Jay and myself all sat around the table and talked for a while. Auntie Dolly asked Dad if he remembered the name of their old neighbor. He did right away. Dad does way better in a quiet setting. It is easier to hear him and easier maybe for him to organize his thoughts. People who may think he is more "out of it" would be surprised when they sit down with him one on one. He's still in there he just needs people to be patient and wait for his answer. Dad does like to be social though and loves having people around. One of his concerns about sticking to his new schedule, that Lisa was talking about in the post before this one, is that he will miss out on seeing people if they stop by or something. I hope that his new schedule will actually make it easier for people to visit. As how it's been before he's missed a few callers because he's sleeping or just not ready for the day. We will see...
So that was Sunday. Tuesday morning I got a teary call from Mom asking if I could help her. She came down with a case of shingles (induced by stress I'm sure) and could not take Dad to his physical therapy and doctor's appointment. Unfortunately I was in Bremerton and would not be able to get to them in time. I got my butt to Seattle as fast as I could though and delivered some food and other necessities to them.
If Dad had agreed to take the Providence bus to his appointments in the first place there would not have been a problem with him getting to his appointments. So now, as Lisa said, he is going to have to do that in the future. He's not happy about it, but Mom needs the relief. She is doing a great job taking care of him but now she needs to take care of herself. Johnathan explained it perfectly by comparing it to being on a plane. They always instruct you to put your mask on first in an emergency before helping someone else. Mom needs to put her mask on and this is where setting boundaries is going to be good.
Mom was barely well enough to attend the meeting yesterday morning but she rallied.
Tomorrow I am going to go with them to mass for Palm Sunday, Tuesday is Dad's birthday and I will be cooking a nice meal for the family and then Wednesday I go with him on another lunch date with his buddies so I'm sure I will have some stories from those outings to share here.
:)
Angie
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