It's not EVERY day that you get to move back into your childhood home, and there are many pleasures associated with it. First of all, you appreciate many things that you took for granted when you were small, like your very own mother for instance!
After staying with her in the house for a week, I admired how nicely she had appointed our family's home, and how carefully she had maintained it. She had expanded the kitchen and enlarged the deck, smoothed the popcorn ceilings and refurbished the bathrooms. And the neighborhood lake at the bottom of our sloping backyard was full of interest for me, not so much to swim in now, but rather as a nature preserve and a thing of natural beauty. On mornings when I rose early enough, I hurried to the kitchen to try to catch the sun as it rose. One time I made it out to the deck in the morning dawn when five deer came into focus as they grazed and played.
On days when I went to the grocery store with a list from Mom, I marveled at how we bought many of the same foods. One thing she splurges on which I'd like to too is fresh flowers which she arranges and places in her kitchen. As the days passed and we talked more and more, I realized how much we had in common and how we looked at many things in much the same way.
Movies, for instance. To pass time in the evenings we decided to watch a Netflix movie on TV. "How about Raising Ned Divine?" she suggested. Indeed the story of a dead man in Ireland winning the lottery--and his friends doing all that they could to cash in-- is one of my own favorites too. Taste like ours in movies is probably an inherited trait. :)
As mom slowly recuperated, we found our days largely filled with the business of living: making and enjoying our daily meals, talking and sharing the things in our lives, making executive decisions in tandem as we discussed the issues and concerns affecting us and the people whom we love, and greeting the thoughtful friends who came by for visits and to wish her well in her recovery.
I am truly humbled at the kindnesses offered by so many to Mom and to me as we waited for her knee to heal. Friends came over bearing bowls of homemade soup, bouquets of flowers, get well cards, and even the daily newspaper. One neighbor offered to witness and sign mom's absentee vote and take it to the post office before election day!
Now that is above and beyond.
When my sister and her husband offered to fly in for a week to stay with mom and give me a rest, we happily agreed. While with mom they not only cooked and cleaned, but also bought all kinds of things to make home health care easier for us both. They put rails on the toilet, a portable potty by the bed, a bench in the bathtub, arm pillows on the crutches, and tennis balls on the walker. When I returned to duty after they went home, I found that mom could take care of most of her daily bathing and sanitary needs with the help of the new devices.
Home health care is a growing need in our country and there are so many wonderful products on the shelves to make it easier! I am most grateful of all for the portable potty liners which make emptying the potty a pretty painless process...
I may even buy some for my camper! (Which I took to the beach with Evie while my sister was here!)
After staying with her in the house for a week, I admired how nicely she had appointed our family's home, and how carefully she had maintained it. She had expanded the kitchen and enlarged the deck, smoothed the popcorn ceilings and refurbished the bathrooms. And the neighborhood lake at the bottom of our sloping backyard was full of interest for me, not so much to swim in now, but rather as a nature preserve and a thing of natural beauty. On mornings when I rose early enough, I hurried to the kitchen to try to catch the sun as it rose. One time I made it out to the deck in the morning dawn when five deer came into focus as they grazed and played.
On days when I went to the grocery store with a list from Mom, I marveled at how we bought many of the same foods. One thing she splurges on which I'd like to too is fresh flowers which she arranges and places in her kitchen. As the days passed and we talked more and more, I realized how much we had in common and how we looked at many things in much the same way.
Movies, for instance. To pass time in the evenings we decided to watch a Netflix movie on TV. "How about Raising Ned Divine?" she suggested. Indeed the story of a dead man in Ireland winning the lottery--and his friends doing all that they could to cash in-- is one of my own favorites too. Taste like ours in movies is probably an inherited trait. :)
As mom slowly recuperated, we found our days largely filled with the business of living: making and enjoying our daily meals, talking and sharing the things in our lives, making executive decisions in tandem as we discussed the issues and concerns affecting us and the people whom we love, and greeting the thoughtful friends who came by for visits and to wish her well in her recovery.
I am truly humbled at the kindnesses offered by so many to Mom and to me as we waited for her knee to heal. Friends came over bearing bowls of homemade soup, bouquets of flowers, get well cards, and even the daily newspaper. One neighbor offered to witness and sign mom's absentee vote and take it to the post office before election day!
Now that is above and beyond.
When my sister and her husband offered to fly in for a week to stay with mom and give me a rest, we happily agreed. While with mom they not only cooked and cleaned, but also bought all kinds of things to make home health care easier for us both. They put rails on the toilet, a portable potty by the bed, a bench in the bathtub, arm pillows on the crutches, and tennis balls on the walker. When I returned to duty after they went home, I found that mom could take care of most of her daily bathing and sanitary needs with the help of the new devices.
Home health care is a growing need in our country and there are so many wonderful products on the shelves to make it easier! I am most grateful of all for the portable potty liners which make emptying the potty a pretty painless process...
I may even buy some for my camper! (Which I took to the beach with Evie while my sister was here!)
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