Friday, February 2, 2024

Friday, February 2, 2024

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. Mattie was zooming around our first floor in his "tot wheels." Mattie had no patience for crawling and wanted to move right to walking and running. This walker gave him the freedom and independence he craved. What I will always remember was regardless of where I was, Mattie was never far behind.  

Quote of the day: No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich. ~ Louis Sabin

After dropping my dad off at his memory care center, I went to our local Starbuck's and met my friend Ann. I typically do not leave my mom home by herself for long, but I had prepped her breakfast, had the TV on for her, and wrote a note reminding her that I would be back at 1pm, to take her out for tea. Despite talking her about my meeting today and even writing a note, it did not register for her and by the time I came home, I could tell that she thought I forgot about her. 

In any case, I met with my friend for two hours and we talked about all sort of things and caught up on each other's life. It was a very nice not to have anyone in tow with me and therefore the only one I was worried about in those two hours was myself. A rarity for me! 

Ann spent a lot of time with Sunny over the years. They got along very well together and I will never forget the day I moved from the city to Northern Virginia in 2021. Things were so chaotic with the movers, that I literally called Ann that morning and told her she had to come over to pick up Sunny and take him back to her house. Which she did! Sunny spent a lot of time at Ann's house over the years, so for him it was like a home away from home. If I visited Ann (before my parents moved in), I typically brought Sunny with me. When I tell you he was my constant companion, I AM NOT KIDDING! Ann gave me this beautiful memorial stone today! I was going to put it in my office, but right now it sits on my kitchen counter, in a corner where I used to store all of Sunny's medications. The ironic part is from that location on the counter, I can see Sunny's photo while I am sitting at our breakfast table. I feel as if we are still looking into each other's eyes now. This was a morning tradition we had with each other. I would be sitting at the breakfast table, eating quickly to keep up with my dad, and Sunny would be watching me closely from his favorite spot on our deck! I love being able to see Sunny's beautiful face from my seat at the table. 

I was scheduled to make a call today regarding my dad's health insurance, but one thing lead to another, and it did not happen. I got derailed with my mom's long term care insurance, scheduling her in-home PT sessions, reaching out to her rehab doctor and the list went on. Truly any one of these issues is like a rabbit hole, and it is never just a quick call or issue to resolve.