Wait… you mean everyone’s not addicted to the Internet?
This week I’ve been on a little odyssey that started innocently enough on Facebook – I found there were groups for my old middle and high schools (Merrill and Roosevelt in Des Moines), so I started friending several people I knew from that time. One had posted pages out of the 10th grade yearbook to [...]
Christmas cards to Dad mean others are thinking of him too
This week I am working on a sad and unanticipated task. When my dad was very ill, we started having his mail forwarded to my house. Then after we moved, I of course had everything forwarded to our new address. His mail has mostly been doctor bills and the occasional solicitation from the Danbury Mint, [...]
Gardening challenges old and new
I have been in love with gardening since the mid-70’s, when I used to collect houseplants and make terrariums as a kid. I didn’t really get to have a permanent garden, though, until we moved to Holcomb Avenue in November, 1991.
While I had many lovely perennial plants and thoroughly enjoyed planting annuals each year, my [...]
The ongoing saga of our flooded “stuff”
One of the loose ends still hanging from our summer of loss and relocating is the fate of all our “stuff.” Lots of people have asked whether we were able to save a lot of stuff prior to leaving the house. Though you’d think this was a simple yes or no question, it really isn’t.
First, [...]
You are what you bring – Thanksgiving with my husband’s family
Thanksgiving these past few years has been a chance for me to marvel at how much I’ve moved up the “acceptance scale” in my husband’s family. Since we’ve been married, we have always gone to Thanksgiving at either his mother’s house or, more recently, his sister Gloria’s house. This year the meal is being held at [...]
Things in the new house I’m grateful for
I promise I won’t do too much blathering about our new house, but one of the advantages it has over the old one is STORAGE. And lots of it! The old house was sorely lacking in this department. I just thought I would share a list of things the new house has that the old [...]
My dad, my home, my life
Hi all – it has been so long since I posted anything I am not sure if you are even still here. That’s okay, I haven’t really held up my end of the bargain for the past few months.
I did want to give a (probably) final update on this blog. On June 8, our “senior [...]
Family health issues take a downturn this week
It has been a tough week in the “senior living journey” department. I have been waiting to hear from our assisted living community with a move-in date (we are getting closer!), but in the meantime, Dad had a relapse of sorts this past week that has left me reeling a bit. I received a call [...]
One person’s junk is another person’s memorabilia
As we get closer to moving Dad into an Assisted Living apartment (he’s back in the hospital, btw), the prospect of somehow disposing of his lifetime of “stuff” now looms nearer. He’ll be moving from a three-bedroom house (with garage and finished basement) into a one-bedroom apartment.
My brother and I have been discussing how best [...]
Dad’s senior living journey: affordable assisted living
Yesterday I finally had an opportunity to visit an assisted living facility I’d been hoping to see. It’s called Walden Point, located on 4th Street just north of Mercy Hospital. I think this is the place I would like to move my dad, and we have begun taking steps to get him there.
I drove to my [...]