Live From New York City It’s… Family Visit – Day Five
My cousin’s GF got sick yesterday right before their flight left, and the two of them stayed an additional night. Voice mail at 7:30 this morning (who knew silent phones would be such a necessity) from my uncle was full of anxiety about ‘she probably didn’t tell her parents, what if she needs to go […]
Family Visit – Day Four
Overall, the day went well. Extrapolations from my Fitbit, estimate we walked mom at least 6000 steps. The festival we attended was underwhelming. We found a varied craft show going on in another building. It was incredibly noisy, full of people, and wonderful art. Mom got through it, walking in lock-step with me, surprisingly well. […]
Family Visit – Day Three
The garden we toured, originally created by a world renowned horticultural superstar, who still consults and volunteers for the local Indian tribe who now owns it, was a delight. The family elders enjoyed what we saw of it, and were very interested in what I shared with them about the plantings. I joined the garden […]
Monologues
The dialog(ette)s or conversations that comprise my mother’s communication consist of the following topics. This has been consistent for the last 10ish years: While listening to music, of any flavor, she’ll start tapping her knee in a syncopated rhythm and explain how she figured out, some years ago, the ‘beat’ is on the up tempo. […]
Family Visit – Day Two
Day two went better than expected, as it usually does. Upon greeting her brother at lunch, mom said, “I haven’t seen you since your hair turned grey!” She saw him four years, three months ago, and his hair was the same grey then as it is now. Charmingly, their hair color is almost identical. After […]
Family Visit – Day One
My day launched when my daughter texted to share that mom was freaking out due to her brother telling her, the evening before via phone, that I’d told him she would need to be institutionalize for the rest of her life. On a scale of 1 to 10, my anxiety was at an instant heart […]
June 16th, 2017 – Home Again
Waking up early allowed me to, barely, catch an earlier (three hours) boat. I was the third to last vehicle aboard, and being a 21 foot long truck, asking the universe for a big favor, until I set my parking brake, seemed to do the trick. No sooner than sitting down with my husband, after […]
June 13 – 16, Island Compulsiveness
While here I have: Never gotten to bed before 11, usually not before 1am. Vacuumed the house, twice. Weed whacked for hours. Watered plants, twice. Washed all the curtains in the house. The smoke stains remain, but they no longer smell. Edited mom’s vast magazine collection, ruthlessly. Started working on my dad’s dark room office. […]
Mom’s Flowers
Mom has a fine touch growing what most of us call Christmas cactus. Her versions of these plants bloom right now. For the last four years, each June she calls me, over and over, to tell me her cacti haven’t bloomed like this in years, or ever. I realize she just doesn’t remember how well […]
Dementia Dance - Travels with Mom 