Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2006. Mattie was at Legoland in San Diego. I would have to say that it was one of his favorite theme parks. As Mattie was the "king of the Legos." He loved them before and during cancer and Legos became a therapeutic tool for our entire family. As we would focus on building the Lego structure together, which enabled us to take a break from focusing on cancer. In this photo, Mattie posed right near Diego, the character from Dora the Explorer. A favorite TV show of Mattie's.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people who were diagnosed with the virus: 2,048,986
- number of people who died from the virus: 114,669
Today is day four of our time in Los Angeles. I just can't get over what we have accomplished in such a short period of time. My dad was visited by an occupational therapist for an evaluation this morning. One would think that when a professional comes over that this would free us up to do other things. But in all actuality, this is far from the reality. Each visitor needs to interact with us, to get accurate information and then also to teach us strategies to work with my dad. So though the therapy is meant for my dad, it can't be effective unless we participate. Something I learned from Mattie first hand.
But literally my day starts at 6:30am, so that I can get up, showered, and dressed before waking my dad up. We then get him up, help him to the bathroom and get him dressed and downstairs for breakfast. When that is done, sure enough a therapist of nurse arrives. In between, I am on the phone and trying to get information about products my dad needs and I am getting an education on long term care insurance and how it works and what services it will cover.
Seeing a loved one change and be transformed before your eyes is hard, but keep in mind on top of this my parents are moving out of their house next Thursday. I am on overload and there would be no way I could manage this without Peter's assistance. Peter and I have been packing up their house for several days now, and after we pack things up, we take them to the new house and begin unpacking and setting up the space. My most productive hours to manage their move starts at 3pm, when my dad settles down in his easy chair to rest for a few hours until we get back and then we all sit and chat and watch TV together.
By the time I sit down to write these blogs at night, I am absolutely spent and I am not sure I have the energy to string two words together. But the blog is my commitment to Mattie and very little would prevent me honoring our connection.
No comments:
Post a Comment