December 13, 2003

The reason Mom was so lethargic last week was because she was coming down with a bug. On Sunday she was throwing up, but by Tuesday her personality was returning. She didn’t seem to be terribly ill, so I guess she had what she used to call ‘a touch of something’. She still is not eating well, so I’m sure she’s not 100%.

So far, I remain healthy.

Speaking of health, I have already received my $50 benefit payoff from my insurance company. Let’s hear it for Colonial Life. I received a check from them the same week as my phone request! How impressive.

I have been excitedly busy getting ready for Josh and Leah to arrive on Wednesday. They are planning to stay about a week and a half. I wish they could stay forever, but they are headed all the way to the left coast. Perhaps I will be able to make the trip to CA sometime.

The Alzheimer’s Caregivers’ luncheon was yesterday. We all had a wonderful time. I loved seeing my old friends, but a few of them were missing due to illness and such.

Some of the women have husbands in the dementia unit of the VA Hospital. Apparently they have just been allowed back in to see their loved ones after a two week quarantine. The flu was going around and four men died during this time. I cannot imagine not being allowed to see my loved one and then being told he had died. I would want to be there, holding his hand, stroking his face, just quietly present. I wouldn’t want him to die alone. I think it should be my choice to expose myself to his germs.

They didn’t report these men on the news as flu deaths in Virginia. I guess when you’re old and demented and already so weak, it doesn’t count. I do believe that after holding on to a ‘no deaths by flu’ status in Virginia we now are receiving reports of some children here having lost their lives to the flu. This is surely one wicked virus going around. I’m glad Mom’s illness was so mild.

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We are preparing for our second snowstorm of the year, which is supposed to be a repeat of the last one, with 4-6 inches of snow topped off with sleet and ice. Chris went and got the station wagon and left his car at Mom’s house.

This will give the neighbors a new color of Mustang to look at. The snow is supposed to start sometime after dark and continue all night. I hope the roads are passable for Chris when he gets off at 1:30 A.M.

Tomorrow I may go in an hour late and make Chris go in a half hour early so we can ride together. The bad part is he gets off 3 1/2 hours later then me, so if there is no overtime available, I’ll have a long, boring wait. I guess we’ll wait and see how slick the roads are tomorrow afternoon. Everything should be over by Monday, with temperatures in the high forties.

Unfortunately, snow is predicted for Wednesday, the day when Josh and Leah are planning to arrive. They were planning to bring Josh’s Mustang, but if it’s snowing, Leah’s Integra will be the better choice, I think. However, her car has been having a couple of problems lately. I’ll watch the weather reports carefully and hope the snow disappears.

An email from my brother came in yesterday that was copied to my sister asking if either of us wanted to try to get together for Christmas. I told him to let me know if he came in because I have presents for everyone and my sister said she would like to get together, to let her know when and where. [We never actually get together on Christmas Day. My brother and his family save that to be with people they like. *smile*]

Anyway, I suggested that we meet at Mom’s facility. So far there has been no reply. We could also meet at Mom’s house, like usual, but *I* am not volunteering to go fix it up for company. I have had to prepare for all the holiday get-togethers several years in a row and it’s been very stressful. One advantage to not living in Mom’s house is that it is no longer my responsibility.

Plus, I already have to get my house ready for Josh and Leah. Josh told me not to tell any of my family members that he will be here because he doesn’t want to see them. I am not going to try to convince him to go. I’m not going to make Chris go, either. I just plan to stay long enough to say hello, give them their gifts, and wish them well.

If my brother decides not to come into town, I’ll just take all the gifts to Mom’s and each family can pick them up whenever they go by there. I had assumed my brother would be here sometime in November or December to start clearing out Mom’s house, but it hasn’t happened yet. So far her house is just sitting there with all her stuff in it, collecting cobwebs. My sister can easily drop by over there to pick up her family’s gifts.

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Our Christmas celebration will include Josh, Chris, Leah, Mom, and me. Maybe Mindy (Chris’s girlfriend). Nice and small and everyone likes each other. No one will be waiting for someone to leave the room so they can start saying bad things about them while they are gone. There won’t be tension in the air so thick you can cut it with a knife. There won’t be people you don’t like trying to kiss you. There won’t be a room full of people who are all suffering through some obligatory session, watching the clock, longing for the moment they will be set free.

Wow.

Well, it will be fun to try something new, right?

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.