Hi Everyone! So sorry that I haven’t updated in a few days. Mom had a couple of difficult days where her blood pressure dropped and it was difficult to keep her with us. No matter what I did, I couldn’t raise her blood pressure. She would talk from time to time, with a lot of encouragement. But, her words were slurred and she could barely keep her eyes open. I thought that she might have had another stoke. But, the day passed by and each day since has been better than the day before. Again, I’m sure, thanks to the prayers that people continue to offer up for her.
She improved so much further than we had even hoped for, given the way she was the first day. I have thought a lot about what is reasonable to ask God for………….and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it’s OK to ask for more…………more life………..more function……….more peace of mind………..as MUCH as God can give us! I want …….I so hope for……..Mom to be as complete when she returns home as possible. Even though healing takes so much patience and the time seems to crawl, in many ways the days are flying by and she’ll be home before we know it. We’ve been discussing the reality of it all and planning to put in cameras and hire someone to help out. Hopefully, Mom will improve over the two weeks to a point that we WON’T need someone to live in. She is someone who cherishes her privacy. So, KEEP ON PRAYING!!! I don’t think that God is finished with her, yet. You are making such a difference. Her guests yesterday, that I saw, were Toots, Anne Harrington and Barbara Larkin. I’m sure that others of you have been by. Thank you for that.
So far, she still struggles with where she actually is. It’s very interesting to watch and to talk with her about. She is herself in most ways………her great sense of humor……..her ability to see beauty in everything………her grateful nature. She’s beginning to have more eye contact and I’m seeing less of the pupil constriction than a few days ago, I think. She has a less painful look in her eyes and isn’t calling me in the middle of the night to console her or pray with her anymore. Yesterday morning she called about 7:30 and asked me to tell her what the plan was for the day…………she said that she just needed to hear who was going to coming to see her and that we were planning to bring her home………….She was setting goals for the day and said that she needed a reason to live for that day. Without being prompted, she asked us to get her Norman Vincent Peel’s book, “The Power of Positive Thinking”!!! This is the Mom that I know and love so much
- We spend a lot of time in the lunchroom
The downside is that she still struggles with understanding and believing where she is and she so wants to get a ride home from anyone who might take her. She’d even like to book a flight to get home. **chuckle** It wouldn’t be humorous if she did this in a desperate way or paranoid way. She simply believes that she isn’t close to home and wants to get there. Once we talk it through each time, she concedes to the reality. I took her out of the hospital, yesterday, drove her by our home and into Delta. She often says things like……..”Isn’t it interesting that they have nearly the same murals HERE as they do in OUR Delta…….They have the same street names in THIS town as back HOME”……………….Then we’d read the signs and as long as I ask her the right questions so that she can’t help but come to the right conclusions, she accepts that OUR Delta is where she is.
She did great, last night. James and Camille Smith had invited us for dinner and we stopped by for a quick bowl of chilie. Then they were taking the girls and their children to the movie “UP”. Mom wanted to join them at the movie. She got tired and we went home after about an hour. But, it was a great for her to see that she hasn’t lost her handle on being social and she obviously wanted to be part of the group.
My goodness, I’ve written so much and I haven’t even written about MY wonderful couple of musical days. I’ll try to write more, later. But, thanks to James Smith and his gentle guidance, I had a wonderful couple of master classes at Mesa State. He was also available to spend a long concentrated time with me, yesterday and it was tremendous therapy for my soul. :o) He went back to the hospital with me and we played Carruli’s Duet in D for Mom and she loved the music and the attention. He is truly a kind and talented man. Thank you, James.