Thanksgiving 2008

The Bird

Leon & Wynell, Gracie

Bret

This year Thanksgiving was kind of a letdown for me since there were only 5 of us and that's a lot of work - cooking for 7 hours on Thanksgiving morning for only 5. Mom was not ready to tackle walking up our steep driveway with a walker and since Amanda had recently come up to help with Mom, she couldn't come back so soon. I thought Brittany and Randall were going to make it by later in the day, but it proved to be too much driving to try to make the rounds in one day.

Here's a very funny poem that a friend of mine gave me:

HOLIDAY TURKEY

The turkey shot out of the oven

and rocketed into the air.

It knocked every plate off the table,

and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner

and burst with a deafening boom,

then splattered all over the kitchen,

completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows,

it totally coated the floor.

There was turkey attached to the ceiling

where there had never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance,

it smeared every saucer and bowl.

There wasn’t a way I could stop it,

that turkey was out of control!

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,

and thought with dismay as I mopped,

that I’d never again stuff a turkey

with popcorn that hadn’t been popped.

The Calvary Arrives

While we were in church, Amanda arrived. Although Mom was glad to see her, later in the day, she got really upset with me for calling her without discussing it with her first. She kept saying how she was such a burden and now she felt even more like one. I was thinking "please just shoot me" and at the same time, feeling a little guilty that I had to call for backup. By this time, I was exhausted and very worried about Mom staying by herself, even though she has friends and neighbors who check on her frequently.

Amanda stayed until Thursday, Nov. 20. I was sad because I didn't get to spend much time with her and also that I wouldn't get to see her again at Thanksgiving because this was an unplanned trip for her. I miss my sister and wish we lived close.

Today I'm Kicking Myself

Mom was feeling pretty good this morning when she got up so I went home to get cleaned up and do some shopping. She was doing some exercises and overdid it and called me almost in tears because of the pain. I hurried to finish my shopping so I could get back to check on her. I was doubting the wisdom of not insisting that she stay longer in rehab. As far as her level of pain, this was the worst I had seen since the day of her surgery.

I called Amanda and made a plea for help since I needed to return to work the following Monday and was not comfortable with leaving Mom alone just yet. Amanda made plans to come up on Sunday and we decided not to tell Mom that she was coming.

There's No Place Like Home

Mom's first full day at home went very smoothly and she kept saying over and over again how great it was to be home. I took the rest of the week off so I could stay with her. She felt good all day and I was feeling pretty good about my decision to bring her home. Little did I know that the following day I would be kicking myself for letting me talk her into it.

Breaking Mom Out of Rehab

Mom had a doctor's appointment today and told him she was ready to go home. He told her that he wasn't keeping her there and that was all she needed to hear. She couldn't get out of rehab at Parkwood soon enough, so I made arrangements for her to leave.

The following morning she packed all her things and was chomping at the bit to get out of there. I was waiting on them to get all her paperwork completed and when I arrived around 2:00, I expected everything to be taken care of. The administrator there told me that she had not expected Mom to be leaving and that all the paperwork wasn't done and that it wouldn't be completed until Wednesday. I told her she could finish it without Mom being there because I was taking her home. At this point, if I hadn't taken her home she might have called a cab!!

I woke this morning and was very saddened to learn who had won the presidential election. I felt like calling in to work and saying that I was in mourning. Then I remembered that I need to keep my focus on this - God is still in control no matter what. That will be my mantra and I need to stay focused on this and that I don't see the big picture - only a very small part of it.

Dakota and Nick - Doggy Wrestling

I took a video a couple of days ago and took my camera with me when I visited Mom yesterday in rehab. She got a real kick out of seeing them play - this was something we never thought we'd see Nick do.

As soon as I figure out how to reduce the file size of the video, I'll post it here.