Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2009. Mattie was in the child life playroom and in front of him was a volcano kit he put together. Mattie was anxiously awaiting the explosion of fake lava to erupt. You will notice a cup with a straw next to Mattie. I know exactly what was in that cup! It was Mattie's vanilla shake faze. With chemo came different food or drink cravings. Given that Mattie had no appetite, whatever he wanted to eat or drink, we gave it to him. Of course none of that would have been possible without an amazing support network who visited daily and brought all sorts of treats for Mattie and us.
Quote of the day: There is only one timeline. There is only one you. ~ Dave Crenshaw
This morning, after getting my dad ready and out the door, I then got my mom into the car and took her to her physical therapy session. On the way to the hospital for her appointment, my mom made a phone call. She was calling the bank to cancel a joint account we set up. I was very perplexed by this decision given that we worked hard to create this account.
Literally while she was talking to this person, I was telling her the nature of the account and why it was created in the background. My mom told the person she would call her back, because my mom realized she had to hear what I was saying. Once off the phone call, I explained to my mom why we created this account in 2021. To make a long story short, my mom had no memory of this account, why it was set up, and the great lengths we went to in order to set it up almost two years ago. It is incidents like these that I try to use as teachable moments for my mom. My mom is adamant that she doesn't have a memory problem. I don't wish to be mean or confrontational, but I feel it is important that she have some insight. Without such insight, it is easy to walk into all sorts of financial schemes and problems.
I am practically with my parents 24/7, but I can't always listen to every conversation they have. I try, and I am mostly successful. But to me it is important that my mom learns to work with me and to understand that I am on her side. Since my parents moved in, we have had our share of arguments about my mom's paranoia. Slowly I am adjusting my style and ways of interacting with my mom, and for the most part when I remain calm and supportive, things go better. But again, I am human and it is very hard to always be so patient, especially when I am so tired.
Tomorrow morning, Sunny goes in to see the oncologist. I wanted to be a part of this check up, but instead Peter and I are dividing and conquering. As I have a conference call with a potential Foundation sponsor at the same time, and there is no way I am rescheduling this important video call. All I know is multi-tasking is very overrated and as tonight's quote points out.... there is only one of me!
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