Saturday, April 15, 2023

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2007. Mattie was five years old and on that Easter day we visited the US Arboretum. It was a fun place to stroll and my joke with Mattie was that the azaleas always came out in celebration of his birthday month! He loved hearing that. We do not have many photos of just the three of us, so the ones that I do have, I cherish. 

Quote of the day: How beautiful a day can be, when kindness touches it! ~ George Elliston

My dad had physical therapy today at home. His regular therapist is on vacation, so the therapist who works at the hospital with my mom (and used to work with my dad at the hospital), came to our house today. She brought with her home made chocolate chip cookies to celebrate my dad's birthday! So I think he has had quite the birthday week!

We took my dad to Rockville today to dine with Dawn (one of our favorite servers). We met Dawn at the Reston Clyde's, and we took a fast liking to each other. Dawn is a very professional server and takes care of my whole family beautifully! When the restaurant in Reston closed its doors in May of 2022, we followed Dawn to her new location in Rockville, MD. It is a haul to get to Rockville, not because of geographic distance, but because of intense traffic. 

Dawn surprised my dad today with a huge balloon, a card, and a delicious cake with sparkler type candles. Ironically my parents dined out weekly in Los Angeles, but none of their servers ever went out of their way like the amazing individuals we work with in Virginia and Maryland. The servers we interact with weekly are vital to my existence. Some weeks they are the only live human beings I interact with outside of our home. So to me they are very special and what I am grateful for is that they all understand my caregiving role and appreciate what I am doing. 

The birthday boy! Wearing one of the shirts I got him for his birthday as well as his new blue fleece. Even in 90 degree weather, my dad is cold!

My dad and mom!