Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. I remember snapping this photo right outside our hotel. The hotel had this fountain and pond, which apparently attracted flamingos. Given these lovely pink birds were in the background, I asked Mattie to give us his flamingo impression. Which is what you see him doing in this photo.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 2,507,874
- number of people who died from the virus: 125,504
It was a challenging evening last night. The caregiving company we are working with contacted me at around 9pm to let me know that the first caregiver assigned to us would be coming this morning at 8am. I had no time to prepare my dad for this because he was sleeping when I received the text message. Naturally my mom, me, and Peter were somewhat concerned about this transition. It is very difficult opening up one's home to strangers. My mom lived through life with caregivers years ago when her mom suffered a stroke. Caregivers turned our home upside down. Everything from stole from us, stored iguanas in our freezer, to making thousands of dollars worth of international phone calls. All of these horrible experiences remain with you! It is hard not to take them into a new caregiving situation.
Being here in California is not only physically taxing, but emotionally very draining. As Peter and I see my dad transformed physically and cognitively and at the same time we have to help my mom come to terms with these drastic changes. This is not how either of them thought life would go, and therefore such changes are a loss. I am trying to do my best to support both of them, but I am very aware of the fact that I do not live around the corner. I am not even a state away, I am across the country. Which is very frustrating and stressful for me, as I can clearly see that without on the ground support, they will not be able to live in this rental house long term.
The caregiver that arrived today was the A team. Her name is Zhane and she is half Chinese and half Puerto Rican (unfortunately she can only work with us 2 out of 7 days). Very smart, very sensitive, and has a wonderful way of communicating and bonding to all of four of us today. I walked Zhane through the showering process, how to dress my dad, get my parents breakfast, start the laundry, and how to motivate my dad to walk and do his exercises. My dad's occupational therapist came over today and they did a therapy session outside on the patio. It was the highlight of the day. What I am clearly seeing is that my dad is more compliant to do walking and exercising with the therapists and with Zhane. Today could have been an anomaly, time will tell. All I can say is we are exhausted! I can't stand the early morning wake ups, followed by intense days! Involving both caregiving and moving my parent's into a new home. Everyone who comes to the house comments that they can't believe they haven't lived in this new house for years. Why? Because there are NO boxes and everything is unpacked and organized.
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