Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That week, we took Mattie to Boston to visit my in-laws. My mother-in-law raised two boys, so she knew exactly what to do to engage Mattie. Mattie loved travel and adventure and no matter where he went, he had the ability to loop all of us in his play schemes and plans! The beauty of Mattie.
Quote of the day: Betrayal is like death: you never think it will happen to you. ~ Marty Rubin
For the last several weeks, I have been dealing with intense neck pain. Most people wouldn't think twice about a pain or two! As I am sure the average person would think that this is a muscle issue or perhaps not think about it at all. For me, especially now that I am alone, I worry that I will have a grave medical issue. So much of my daily existence falls on my plate. If I can't function, my parents won't be able to manage. It is a lot of pressure on my mind and body. I believe my issue is muscular as I have spent a lot of time at the computer generating the Foundation video over this last month and then my sleeping habits at night are not the best and I land up twisting my head around and can't seem to get comfortable on a pillow. Any case, this pain is in the back of my mind and I pop Advil in order to function.
This afternoon, I took my parents out to lunch. While out, our regular server at the diner, Jason, commented that he admired a particular woman who was at the restaurant. He want on to tell me that what amazes him is she is a caregiver. She cares for many people within the community. I literally just looked at him! I was perplexed, because I am not sure he has put two and two together, but indeed, I am just like this woman. Except I don't tell the majority of people I meet... HEY I AM A CAREGIVER! Or do most people know I do this 24/7! I am quite certain that the average people who meet us think that my parents function at a higher level than they do. That is fine with me, it preserves their dignity, because at one time, my parents were extremely sharp, together, and able to manage so much.
I spent a good portion of the day, when not doing tasks or overseeing my dad's physical therapy session, working on the Foundation's June newsletter. I have really been making a push on our 16 years of service video, so that I could include it in our newsletter. I am thankful that the newsletter and social media postings will be going out next week. It feels like a huge accomplishment! It is my father's day gift to Mattie!
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