Friends and friends and MORE friends!

Those of you reading this likely remember my friend and former boss, Nina.  Nina did a wonderful thing this month - she invited me and two of her other friends, women I had never met, to visit her at her home on Cape Cod.  We all have many things in common, not the least of which is our love for Nina.  But to hear her tell it, we also are very strong-willed, independent, and intelligent women who have in one way or another faced great adversity in our lives and have overcome it or have come to terms with it.  We all four are the better for our trying times.  I made new friends yet again, thanks to Nina's generosity of spirit, friends for life, I think.  As a side note, we spent a lot of time at the beaches, attended a great Oyster festival, and ate like pigs every single night.  What a great time I had!!!

I've also been appreciating the friends who have left such uplifting comments on this blog for me to read and re-read, especially if I've had a trying day with the mom.  Those friends are also friends for life, even if only via cyberspace.  Sandy and Sue especially, thank you for your prayers and support.

So, the mombat was overjoyed to see me upon my return from the Cape.  It was the first break I've had from her since mid-August.  I thought about her every day, but was secure in the knowledge that brother Tom was doing a great job in my absence.  Mom is still losing ground daily, but remains adamant that she will never leave her home, and that if anyone tries to "put her in a home" she will "run away from home."  Straight from the horse's mouth, I guess.

I'll end this now but will be back soon, I have much more to say.  So here's a picture to make you laugh.  Aren't we a couple of pearls?

Strange Partings

I know, I know, I keep promising more pictures.  Unfortunately, the only ones I've taken recently were from the Pumpkin Festival at Conneaut Lake Park.  That being said, I had a great Sunday there, spent an hour watching an artist carve an alligator from a log.  He was awesome.  I also met an amazing woman while out on the deck by the lake, she was traveling alone from Chicago, flew into Pittsburgh, rented a car, and was touring around just for shits and giggles.  I saw her sitting alone and asked her to join me for a beverage.  We had a lot in common, and I hope I'll hear from her once she is settled back into the Windy City.  There were about a million bikes there (Keystone Riders) too, and I enjoyed looking at all the pretty rides.  I sure do miss Hoss.

So, back to my title.  I haven't really been on-site here in Meadville for more than a day or so at a time in the last 16 years.  My job in Buffalo kept me at what I considered a good distance.  In the past, when I would do a "drive-by" and stay with mom overnight, I was always up and out early, headed back to my real life in Buffalo.  Now, I'm a daily part of her life, and she is a really important daily part of mine.  So, leaving her today was bittersweet, and we both shed some tears over my impending 4 day vacation to the Cape to spend time with girlfriends.  When I asked her what she wanted me to bring back for her, she said, "Just bring YOU back to me."  I'll miss her a lot lot lot.  Go figure.

Happy Days

So, yesterday was a very long day for this caregiver.  Mom's friend had called me on Tuesday evening to say that he and mom had been invited out to some old friends' house in the country to spend the day.  He was going to pick her up at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.  Even though this friend said that he and their friends would be happy to take mom "as she is", I felt like I should go over early and make sure she was dressed in something appropriate and that her hair was combed.  So, I shagged out at 6 a.m., showered by 7, and was at mom's door by 8.  She was ready by 9, when her phone rang and her friend said that the day had been "called off" because of the rainy weather.  He hoped he hadn't ruined anyone's plans and would be by to take mom to dinner, as he always does on Wednesdays. 

I usually try to give mom her morning space, let her get up and make her breakfast and take a pill if she remembers, before I show up after 10 or so.  In this case, the day was cold and rainy for the most part, and we wound up spending the entire day together.  We did lunch at Wendy's, came up to my place for a cup of tea and to pet Butterball (she and Butter get along so well!), then went home and got her hair washed and curled for her dinner date with her friend. 

And then I got my prize.  Just before I left at 4, as we were sitting on the couch and holding hands, she turned to me and said, "This has been a really happy day for me.  Thank you."  If someone offered me a million bucks to trade that moment, I'd have to turn it down.  What a great -no- HAPPY day for me too.