Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2008. Mattie was six years old and it was literally a month before he was diagnosed with cancer. That day, we all went on a canoe together. Mattie and Peter did this often on the Potomac River, but that day Mattie wanted me to join them. Mattie loved his adventures on the water and he wanted to show me all that he learned on previous trips with Peter.
Quote of the day: There are moments when mental overload can render words impossible. ~ Nicholas Sparks
I happen to be a Nicholas Sparks fan. I have read every book he has ever written. Why am I so intrigued by his books? Ironically it has to do with his understanding of grief, which may not be what attracts other readers to his books. Some how he is able to put into words these complex thoughts and feelings through his fictional characters!
I will never forget how I started reading Sparks books. In the summer of 1997, I had my friend Leslie and several of our college friends come visit me in Los Angeles. We got together to celebrate Leslie's engagement. Our gathering was my maid of honor gift to Leslie. While we were all gathered together, our friend Audrey started talking to me about Sparks' book, The Notebook (to be specific). Unlike Audrey, I did not enjoy reading for pleasure. Mostly because in all of my graduate work, I had to read non-stop, and therefore, whenever I got a break, I took a NO READING policy! Yet that particular day Audrey was recounting the tale that Sparks spun about a husband caring for his wife with Alzheimer's disease and his love for her and his devotion of recording their lives together in a notebook. She intrigued me enough to want to buy the book and read it. The rest is history. Of course this is all an aside, just seeing the quote tonight sent me on a complete tangent in thinking.
Today was another winner. I have been working non-stop as a caregiver since November. That is close to 8 months now. Like every other morning, I got up at 6:30am, and hit the ground running. I got myself ready, got breakfast made, straightened up the first floor, then woke my dad up.... got him showered, dressed, and downstairs for breakfast. He went to his memory care center, and my goal was to go to the pharmacy and order Sunny's medications. However, my mom wanted to come with me, so I waited until she was ready. But she is dealing with intense neck pain, therefore instead I massaged her neck and she fell asleep for about two hours. By the time she was moving again, I had done some work and folded laundry. However, the pharmacy was on a lunch break, therefore, I knew I couldn't tackle that chore before I picked my dad up.
Instead of going to the pharmacy, my mom and I went to the dry cleaner and then to CVS. From there, I picked up my dad, brought him home, helped him to the bathroom and then got him to rest in his recliner, while I ran to Walmart (Sunny's health insurance is accepted there) to talk with the pharmacist and fill Sunny's scripts. On an aside, every person I interacted with at this pharmacy was super customer friendly. What a breath of fresh air.
From Walmart, I then ran home, and got my dad up and into the car, as I took my parents to an early dinner. Naturally while eating my dad had to go to the bathroom. I haven't eaten a meal in peace for months! When I got home, my thinking was I was going to change, write the blog and relax. HAH!!!! It is 10:45pm, and this is my first time sitting down.
Instead of being able to relax, I cooked Sunny's chicken and rice (the only food he seems to eat on chemo), and at the same time my mom asked Peter for a receipt of the desk chair we returned for her. This receipt fiasco turned out to be a nightmare. As Peter worked the whole day, he wanted a chance to relax tonight and catch up with me. But that wasn't in the cards. Instead, he went through his files looking for her receipt, and now I have the next task to do which is to file a dispute with my mom's credit card company regarding this desk chair. The merchandise was returned but the company refuses to reimburse us for the chair. Get the picture of my day?
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