Sunday, April 23, 2023

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. Mattie was home between hospital stays and that day we took him for walk around our neighborhood and the National Mall. Outside of our complex, was a bank of azaleas. So we stopped to take a spring photo and I am so glad that Peter captured this special moment of us together. 

Quote of the day: Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change. ~ Bob Kerrey

I got up early this morning because at 10:30am, our friend Heidi, came over to visit for a few hours. Heidi moved from Virginia to Massachusetts in 2017. It is hard to believe I haven't seen her since she moved. In the past, Heidi and I were in the same Zumba class and we would see each other weekly. In fact, I met her daughter, Isabel, when she was in middle school. Isabel got involved in many volunteer projects for Mattie Miracle. Now believe it or not, Isabel is in medical school! Just to put some perspective on timing!

I was excited to reconnect with Heidi and because she was coming to see me, I baked a lemon and blueberry loaf, served a platter of fresh fruit and got out my tea pots for morning tea! I wanted it to feel special. I asked Heidi to come at 10:30, because by that time, I would have completed my dad's morning routine. 

Heidi surprised me with a few gifts. One being these two tea towels. Since I consider myself a person who LOVES famous quotes, it is special to have these two towels. I love butterflies and we have frequent visits from deer, so the theme is quite appropriate! 

The quotes on the towels:

• It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Dwell in possibilities. ~ Emily Dickenson

The blueberry lemon loaf. It may not photograph well, but I would give this recipe an A+! It was moist, tasty, and not sickly sweet. In case you want the recipe, here it is:

https://www.glorioustreats.com/lemon-blueberry-bread/

Overall, I find it very difficult to be able to talk freely with my parents around. As I am typically juggling their needs and issues. My dad was lying in his recliner while we were chatting at the breakfast table, but of course he never stays seated for very long. So of course, I was up taking him to the bathroom. Then I have noticed that my mom gets distracted easily now, and literally she turned to her cell phone while sitting at the breakfast table and was listening to something in the background. While we were trying to talk, mind you. I managed through all of it, but honestly I can't handle visits that are more than two hours long, because trying to look and appear normal for this period of time takes energy. Energy I do not have! Heidi understood this, so it was a perfectly timed visit, and it gave us some sort of opportunity to reconnect and catch up. Which to me is important, as I feel like I am living on my own private dysfunctional island most days.