Sunday, July 17, 2011Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2007. We took Mattie to a wonderful train museum in Lancaster County, PA called the Strasburg Railroad Museum. Mattie was always fascinated by trains and all things MOVING and this seemed like the perfect day trip for him. Outside the museum were many train like structures for kids to play on. The irony is I was NEVER interested in trains, cars, planes, or boats until Mattie. Mattie opened up the whole world of transportation for me, and when we went to see trains, I too was enamored by them most likely for different reasons. Mattie loved the sheer engineering and technology associated with movement, where as I was good at imagining how these forms of transportation connected people and changed their lives in the process. Peter and I miss these adventures and new experiences with Mattie, but most of all we miss seeing the world through a child's eyes.
Quote of the day: Beauty is ever to the lonely mind a shadow fleeting; she is never plain. She is a visitor who leaves behind the gift of grief, the souvenir of pain. ~ Christopher Morley
I am so happy Peter was only gone for a week and was able to come home prior to his next trip. Besides spending time with him, I needed him as a buffer between myself and our cat. For over a week I haven't been able to get a decent night of sleep because of Patches anxiousness. Even with Peter back last night, she was up at 2am and 5am. However, Peter has a way of calming her down and putting an end to this bad behavior quickly. A night of sleep was more than overdue for me!
Peter and I spent the day catching up, repacking, and also went out to lunch together to just reconnect. It is hard to believe he will be on a plane again on Monday at 8am! He is on a completely different time zone, and now that he is going to Seattle this will only compound the problem. For Peter, it will feel like he is NINE hours behind what he has been used to in Nigeria.
This afternoon, I went to visit Mary, Ann's mom. To help orient Mary to Ann's absence, I have made a LARGE countdown chart for her so she can see for herself when her daughter is returning. I want Mary to feel empowered to answer this important question (when will Ann be back?) for herself. Though it is nice to see print in color, I have determined that Mary can only see black and brown print well. So for now the chart is working beautifully! With a font size of 100 is it too large to MISS it. In addition, each day, Ann emails me pictures of her family on vacation. I then print out these pictures, share them with Mary, and then post them on her wall by her bed. She is loving this visual connection to her family. I call her wall "The Hawaii Wall of Fame." Pictures are valuable therapeutic tools. They help orient one to the present and they also HELP caregivers relate to Mary. It would be pretty hard to enter Mary's room now and NOT notice these pictures. The pictures give people a natural segway into conversation with Mary. Conversing and connecting are vital to a person who lives in an institutionalized setting, because in all reality each hour and minute looks exactly the same, and therefore we rely on our visitors and caregivers to help ground us. Though I haven't lived in an assisted living facility, I have lived in a hospital, and know quite well for which I speak. Mattie is NO longer physically with me, but the lessons I learned from caring for him will last a lifetime!
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