Sometimes I Feel Like I'm drowning...

     Not in the sense that I can't breathe but that the day to day stuff doesn't seem to end. Rick and I are both the oldest of our respective families and the ones most able to help whoever whenever. Last night Rick's dad called concerned about some bills he wasn't sure about. So after church today off he went to see what the matter was. When he got to the assisted living place where his dad is, one of the staff members grabbed him and filled him in on the latest. Apparently, Dad got on his scooter and headed off somewhere NAKED! Or at least just in his underwear I'm not sure. It seems that the meds they're giving him for his heart issues are causing him to do strange things. We're investigating the need for such medications.

     My dad doesn't change much from one day to the next, but there's always something. I think I mentioned before that I'm responsible for his daily meds. We have two pill containers. I fill one and drop it off and pick up the empty one to be returned the following week. Every week, a day before he needs a new batch, he'll call 2 or 3 times wondering what we're going to do about his meds.

     Niece Staci stayed with the parents last week. Dad let me know that she had gone to the shopping center by herself and he didn't think that was good. I reminded him that she is 25 years old, the shopping center amounts to a small strip mall with a grocery store, hardware and furniture stores, and a not-so-hot Chinese restaurant. We don't have vagrants, teenagers, or other people lurking about that may cause trouble. I think she was fine. He was never one to let us girls sit out on the front step as he thought it might give neighbors the wrong idea...about what, I'm not sure.

     The moving in of my daughter isn't progressing as quickly as we would like. It just seems that day-to-day life gets in the way. It's not depressing or anything, it is what it is. The kids are all in school now and Terri and Katy are also taking classes. Rick works a lot of weekends so spending a whole day moving/rearranging things isn't happening. We had planned to get a lot done yesterday but decided to have a party for Terri's birthday. We all loved it! We had a great time visiting with friends and eating some amazing food...no moving got done, no regrets.

     On the up side, Mom is very agreeable to the move. I think she realizes that Terri will give her some emotional support and be helpful with things she doesn't really want to do much anymore anyway. It also helped that we made sure she knew we weren't getting rid of her "stuff" to accommodate Terri and her family. We also made her part of our conversations about where to move things around to make more efficient use of space. Now Dad seems to be concerned that the town may have ordinances about how many people can be in a home and whether or not they might be breaking a law by having Terri's family there. It comes up often enough but we let him know that we don't think there's a problem and don't intend to investigate the issue.

     I love my family and know full well that a sense of humor and God's tender mercies will get us through all this!

    

It's Funny How Often Things Continue to Come Up

     This week has been busy trying to get things done in the Parents home so we can move Terri and her family in. We've made Dad's office/library into a more user friendly place; it's a work in progress and may be for some time. For now it looks really good. I continue to come across pictures, letters etc. of things I haven't seen before. We took the long table out of the library and almost got to the point of pulling Dad's old desk in there. This will make the rest of the room into a family room of sorts for Terri. I'll figure out how to post pictures when we're closer to being finished.

     Dad sometimes comes downstairs while we're working. I often wonder if he does it because he wants to see what we're doing and visit, or if he wants to make sure we aren't tossing things with reckless abandon. We have tossed a lot of stuff but so far it's been pamphlets, odd papers and things that should have been thrown away YEARS ago. So much of what he used to use in lecturing and counseling is still relevant but the documentation of such is not. There has been so much newer information in the last 15-20 years and those looking to follow his footsteps won't use the old information as references.

     Well, today was one of those days. He came downstairs and sat in the only good chair that currently occupies the room. Terri and I are working with piles of books, phonograph records and loose "ash 'n trash" on the desk and surrounding area. Sitting there he says, "you know, with this area's German heritage (some Coffmans mostly), I wonder if the museum might be interested in the beer stein collection".  Holy moly!! How many times is this going to come up? "No, Dad. David gets the steins. We've all talked about it and for a number of reasons he wants them and gets them. The only rule is that he has to come get them, we're not going to mail anything." "Well, that makes sense - there's no time like the present. When is he coming this way?"

     As far as his "condition" is...it's getting much better. The home-healthcare nurse said it would still take some time but it was improving. Currently, we are without scheduled appointments until the 17th of September for a follow-up.