Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. Mattie was in the hospital and received many gifts from friends. Christmas stockings, a magnetic Santa for his wheelchair, a Christmas blanket, and of course a Christmas decorated Dunkin Donut! Despite all Mattie was dealing with, he was still able to smile, and we worked hard to keep him comfortable and as happy as possible. What we quickly learned from Mattie's diagnosis and treatment was that we had to live for the present. Forget the long term plans and looking toward the future.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 19,722,442
- Number of people who died from the virus: 341,964
Given that yesterday wasn't a good day, it was hard to be in a positive mood today. In addition to all the other things to manage here, I had to add garbage removal to my list. Typically the gardener takes all three trash bins out to the street curb for trash pick up. This is crucial because it is a 500 foot walk from their front door to the street curb. It would impossible for them to roll these heavy garbage bins on their own.
Any case, yesterday I noticed all their neighbors' trash cans were outside at the curb, yet my parents trash cans were not taken out. So I mentioned this to my mom and my dad's caregiver. As I thought their trash pick up day was Wednesday. However, my dad's caregiver (the same one who yesterday insisted I needed to clean inside the kitchen and bathroom trash cans) assured me I was wrong and said trash pick up is Thursday. In any case, this morning, while walking my dad up the street for his 20 minute exercise routine, I noticed all our neighbors' trash cans were emptied, because guess why??? The garbage trucks came by TODAY! ON WEDNESDAY!!! This may sound like NO BIG DEAL, but remember I wasn't in a stable place as of yesterday. The fact that we missed trash pick, sent me on a tirade! As our trash bins were overflowing already and there is NO WAY we'd make it until next Wednesday.
So I ran back to my parent's house and quickly called LA sanitation. Fortunately I was connected to a lovely man, who literally sent the trucks back to my parent's house. But I had to take all the bins out myself! Therefore my question is what's up with the gardener? If he planned on taking this week off, which is fine, telling us would have been helpful, so that I would have known to put out the cans on Tuesday!
Holidays are always problematic with caregivers. For the most part, I try to be flexible, because I know people have lives and families of their own. I asked my dad's caregiver about New Year's day, as I assumed she was working on Friday with us. But I learned today, that she has other plans. What would have happened if I did not ask her? When was she going to tell us? Meanwhile, both of my dad's caregivers are talking about switching days they will be working. Not what I wanted to hear! I would love for life to go back to the way it was.... living life without caregivers. However, I know that is not possible and though my dad has physical limitations, it is the great cognitive decline that makes independent living a thing of the past.
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