Getting back to a normal routine is my goal for mom and the rest of the family. Our lives have been turned upside down with all that has happened to my parents recently that we have not done many of the things that we used to do. Getting back to the gym is first on the list. We still have mom’s cancer to deal with which means appointments frequently, but being down to one ill parent hopefully means the appointment schedule will be more forgiving.
Yesterday was the first full day without dad. We are holding up the best we possibly can, but I know that we will have rough patches ahead as we carry on with life. Mom has been so strong, but she has got to learn to relax and let other people throw that piece of paper away or fold that blanket. She does not have to do it all. I can’t really fault her for it, because I know she is struggling with what to do with herself and her time now. She has to remember that she wants to be around as long as possible and that means keeping herself well. Running oneself down is not a good way to keep well. I hope this gets easier for her quickly.
The medical equipment company came yesterday and removed all the stuff dad left behind. Getting that bed out of here was important for mom. She hated looking at that empty bed. We got the living room back to its former glory and that feels right. It is more comfortable having things back in their place. My nephew, Andrew, thought the new layout of the furniture was better and wanted it to stay, but we were not having that. After the room was put back in order, we sat in the quiet for a little bit and relaxed. Afterward, we decided it would be good to get out of the house for a tad. Mom, Andrew, Jason and I went down the road a piece to get frozen yogurt and Starbucks and just sit outside enjoying the afternoon sun.
My older brother, Jeff, was over here for several hours on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday he and mom got to spend some time alone and talked about all sort of things. That was really good for mom. She needed that alone time with him. She was so happy he was there. My sister, Jodi, got here last night. She had to stop in Reno on her way here and check in with the orthopedic surgeon to see how her knee was healing and get the stitches removed. She was tuckered out when she got here and could barely keep her eyes open long enough to have some dinner. I made pulled pork for sandwiches and baked beans. Something simple and quick, but oh so tasty!
I want to thank our friends and family for the wonderful support. Peg was so generous in bringing over an assortment of goodies for us to snack on for lunch on Monday, it was one less thing we had to do. Larry from the Y stopped by and talked with mom for a long time. A couple people from the church have been here to lend support and they are bringing dinner over tonight. Mike T, a woodworking genius, has made dad an urn and we can’t thank him enough for that (and for everything else including being a very important friend in dad’s life). So many of you have called or stopped by to comfort mom and get some comforting of your own. It is so nice to see that my parents are loved by so many. There are people that we did not get around to calling and I cannot tell you how sorry I am, but there is only so much time available to do things. One of dad’s long time friends called Monday night to see how he was doing and I realized that there are a number of folks that dad knew who have not been contacted. I went through dad’s contact list on his phone and made a list of the people we need to contact. I had a cousin on my father’s side call dad’s phone yesterday and when I answered she said, ‘Oh you sound so good. Are you feeling better.’ It broke my heart. I told her that it was his son and that dad had passed. I have to figure out how to forward dad’s number to my phone so that I don’t have to carry around two phones. So please call mine, my mother’s or the house phone rather than dad’s phone if you want to get a hold of us.
Okay, it is time to get on with this day. This post was really to make up for missing yesterday. I may (or may not) do another post about today, later tonight.