A Prize in Every Box

I think it was Cracker Jack that promised a prize in every box, and I've come to think of mom's house as one big Cracker Jack box. Every cupboard, every drawer, every closet, under every bed, and not to mention the basement and the attic are as full of prizes as the ones you see here. Some of the prizes have been forced in so hard that the back of the cabinets have come unglued. My challenge is not to look at the big picture, but to focus instead on one "prize box" at a time. I've spent the last couple of weeks doing just that. I started with the immediate living spaces, the bedroom, living room, bathroom (where I threw away at least a dozen bottles of iodine) and sunroom. I'm still working on the kitchen drawers, which are full of old dirty tools and the everyday stuff that had nowhere else to go. It's a good challenge, and I'm able to feel a sense of accomplishment when I get things cleared and cleaned, walls washed and carpets shampooed. I have all winter to continue unearthing prizes and deciding whether they are keepers or destined for the Salvation Army or the Goodwill store.

As for mom, it seems that Tom and I made a very good decision to have her placed at the Crawford County Care Center. She is surrounded by loving. helpful, cheerful, wonderful people every day. Mom has been flirting with all the male nurses and aids, blonde Shane is one of her favorites, and darker Joe knows mom, as she was his guidance counselor in high school. She teases Rose and Lindsee and anyone else who crosses her path. And they all obviously enjoy her sense of humor and they respond in kind with hugs and laughter. Mom thinks of the Center as "her house" and when we go out to the courtyard, she talks about the "help" who mow her lawn and keep the bushes trimmed. The center recently got a new kitty to join their current pet residents (birds, fish, couple or 3 doggies, and at least one other kitty). This one is Charlie, and when you stop to pet him, he rolls over on his back for more. I've met a wonderful woman whose father is a resident there, and she and I often run into one another. We trade emails and she says her dad has sort of taken to looking after mom. What a blessing Jen and her dad are.

Mom's friend Ed and I talk frequently, and he has been to see her often. Yesterday he said he was going to take her out of the center for the first time since she was admitted. I'm looking forward to talking with him to see how that went. I know mom has been wanting to "go for a ride" for some time now. Tuesday I am meeting one of mom's close friends there for lunch.

So, in closing, I have to say that while her physical world has shrunk to a couple of long hallways and a lovely circular courtyard, her social world has opened up so wide that I don't think she notices that she is not in her dark and lonely house anymore. Now she lives in a world of light and laughter and round-the-clock care, and for those things I am so grateful. Thanks to everyone who sends good thoughts our way. I'm sending them right back.

Kathy