Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. This was Mattie's first and last trip to the circus. Mattie received special tickets from the outpatient clinic to see the show in a private booth. Mattie loved the adventure and as you can see he got a clown's nose and several light up toys during intermission. It was an experience none of us will ever forget.
Quote of the day: We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Since 2008, I have been using the same person to help clean our home. I was introduced to her by my neighbor, JP. Those of you reading the blog long-term, know that JP was the owner of JJ (our resident Jack Russell Terrier at our townhouse in Washington, DC). When Mattie was undergoing treatment for cancer, JP understood that I was rarely home and had no time to clean our home. So one day he sent over Blanca to clean for us and even paid for it. I couldn't deny that I needed the help back then as things were piling up all around me. Now 14 years later, Blanca is still in my life and helping me at the house. I know about her role as a mom and the ups and downs of raising her sons. Today I had the chance to catch up with her and it reminded me once again that being a parent may be one of the hardest jobs around.
Because Blanca was coming at 9am, I had to wake up extra early, so I could shower and dress, make breakfast, and get my dad up and into the shower. I managed this juggling act but what is abundantly clear to me is my dad is declining rapidly. I mean not only physically, but most definitely cognitively. He can't remember what happened just a minute ago. Despite my best efforts to use prompts like calendars and a white board, he still is lost and confused at most points during the day.
I dropped her off at 1:30pm, and I asked the salon when she would be finished. They told me... 4:30pm. So at 3:45pm, I stopped what little work I could do at home, to go pick her up. I got to the salon at 4:30pm and I called my mom on her cell phone. She picked up her phone and she said her hair was getting blow dried. I told her I would park on a side street and she should call me when she was done. SHE NEVER DID. I called her at 5pm and at 5:15pm. No answer. By 5:20pm, I called the salon and they told me she had been waiting for me. Needless to say I was livid. As I waited an hour, parked in the car, and this kind of miscommunication sent me over the deep end. Especially when I have so much to catch up on. Needless to say I was screaming for 45 minutes all the way home. Not my finest hour.
Though I thought I could get some sort of work done today, it did not happen. My dad started a diuretic and he had to go to the bathroom on the half hour. Since he can't do anything without supervision and support, that meant I was jumping around all afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment