Saturday, June 13, 2020

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2006. Every August, I took Mattie out to Los Angeles to visit my parents. Mattie was beginning to get comfortable in the water and was learning how to swim. Which we tried to encourage. Ironically though Mattie liked adventure, he approached new activities cautiously. Which actually made parenting him much easier, as he wasn't the kind of kid to jump in a pool, touch a stove, and get into trouble. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• number of people who were diagnosed with the virus: 2,074,526
• number of people who died from the virus: 115,436

My morning started at 6am. Not on purpose! My mom was knocking on my bedroom door to get up! Why? Because my dad was up and he wanted to take a shower. My dad came home from the hospital on June 3. For two weeks, he has been unable to take a shower. When I arrived in LA, we requested a shower nurse to come over to help my dad. Given that I was unsure how best to safely bathe him, it made sense to wait for the nurse. However, when I spoke to the nurse about a day ago, I am finding that we can't find a time and day that works for both of us. She is available after 3pm, and that won't work for my dad, as his level of exhaustion heightens by that time. 

So whether I was ready or not, at 6am, I had to figure out how to bathe my dad. Part of his cognitive decline is that when he wants something, he wants it done immediately. I literally jumped out of bed and was jolted awake to figure out a safe shower solution. But we got it done! The first time is always harder!

After we got him showered, he was exhausted. So he rested while we took a shower and got dressed. Then I made breakfast and began packing up part of the house. Peter has been going back and forth from one house to the other and thankfully he rented a minivan, as we fill it three or more times a day to transfer items. I could never manage all of this without Peter. We are both working very hard. 

This evening, I started cleaning bathrooms at the house my parents will be moving into next week. Needless to say we are on overload, with caregiving, cleaning, and moving. I wish I could be creative in my writing, and perhaps I will once I can get this move behind us. But for now we take it one day at a time.