Monday, June 12, 2023

Monday, June 12, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2003. That weekend we took Mattie to Great Falls Park. While there, we spotted a Canadian Goose. Mattie was intrigued and wanted to get close. In this particular case, I am not sure who was more interested in the other. As the goose practically came right up to Mattie and Peter. Mattie's little hands and fingers were like radar scopes, which honed onto a target to learn more. He had a natural affinity for being outdoors and exploring nature and through parenting Mattie, I too developed an appreciation for the great outdoors. 

Quote of the day: Be faithful to that which exists within yourself. ~ André Gide

This bunch of lilies, we call our "Father's Day Lilies." We got them years ago in Washington, DC and each June they pop open to remind Peter that Mattie is celebrating him. These lilies are thriving at the house and it is hard to believe we still have the plant but not our boy. 

Peter is safely in Philadelphia and has two full days of meetings coming up. For me, it was a typically crazy day..... as I juggled both of my parent's schedules. Trying to get my dad to his memory care center on time and then take my mom to physical therapy seemed like mission impossible. 

Though my mom gets up VERY early in the morning, it takes her a LONG LONG time to get herself ready and downstairs for breakfast. Literally I can give Sunny chemo, feed Indie, take a shower and get dressed, make breakfast, clean out the cat litter box, vacuum the first floor, clean off the kitchen counters, and get my dad up, washed dressed and downstairs for breakfast, before my mom shows up. I find it very stressful herding her in the morning and by the time I got in the car this morning, I felt like I put in a full day. 

In the past, if Peter were traveling, I would take my parents out to eat each day. But going to restaurants now is super stressful. So instead, I am cooking at home half of the week, and going out the other half. My dad isn't happy about this, because he LOVES going out. But if I thought he was eating well and getting enjoyment out of going out, I would do it. Unfortunately that isn't the case anymore and with his need for the bathroom, I typically can't sit down long enough to eat without jumping up and down. 

For the past several days, while eating out, my dad has ordered sauteed mushrooms with his meals. However, when the mushrooms arrive, he doesn't eat them and instead I take them home. I had a whole Tupperware filled with sauteed mushrooms. So instead of them going to waste, I made chicken cacciatore tonight.