Followers of this blog know that I have a cadre of people I call my “senior pals,” or LOLITS (little old ladies in Tennis Shoes.) I have 16 “regulars” who live near me and for whom I look after in various ways.
Mostly, I take them grocery shopping two or three times each month. Occasionally, I will do some home fix-it jobs to enable them to live safely in the home where they live. I also may, as time permits, take them to medical appointments if they are unable to drive themselves.
I also have one senior who my Spouse and I look after — the Spouse’s mother — who is not a joy, unfortunately. The comparisons and contrasts are stark.
I try…
Continue reading
This is the season for parties… holidays and family events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) I am still mustering the spirit, which is difficult for me personally what with the National Embarrassment of the DIC and with my own spouse’s ongoing battle with what seems to be flares of illness that probably will haunt him for the rest of his life. (Oh well, at least we can celebrate a little bit that there will not be a homophobic right-wing extremist hypocrite in the U.S. Senate).
Last week I was speaking with The Spouse about Christmas. For the last several years, our Christmases have been rather depressing. What with The Spouse’s illness that made Christmases of 2012 and 2013 awful, then having to spend the holiday at his mother’s dark, decrepit small town and home since we aren’t bringing her to our house (she can’t handle it any more), Christmas has been dreary. I have just wanted to get through the end of December and move on to the next year. (Photo here, though, of me in years past.)
So this year’s Feastival is over. I think we would call it a success. 106 guests over 12 hours, with two prominent elected officials that I could not chase away because my guests liked to talk to them. (As long as they did not bring an entourage of handlers and turn my event into a photo op, I could tolerate having uninvited guests.)
Today is the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday… Yay! Spouse and I are just about ready to…
My boots are busy this week. Not only do I have an enormous amount of catch-up to do at work after being forced off-line last week while on business travel, in just two days the Spouse and I will be inundated by…
I have been exceptionally busy this past week at work. It is just that time of year. On top of that, I have been busy in my personal life with driving my spouse to-and-fro to seemingly unending doctor’s appointments and errands, almost nightly meetings in my community for one-thing-or-another, and another funeral to attend today for my senior pal Mary. I barely have had a time to breathe.
Lately, I have been dealing with the loss of three people I have known for a long, long, time. Each of these women died within the last week. I am not bereft or wailing inconsolably; death is the end of the circle of life, and I recognize that as I get older, I will be having more experiences with this situation.
Last weekend,