Colorado and Mother

I am back in Colorado, sending Maryanne home for a needed rest. So I am alone in mom's house. It seems strange to be here without her. I spend the evenings alone here. I am something of a scaredy cat so it took awhile for me to fall asleep my first night. But I'm pretty comfortable now. I use the early mornings for chores and errands, visit mom in Montrose from about 11 AM until 6 PM or so, then head back home.

Colorado is a beautiful place. I always feel inspired here. Nature provides such summer weather variety. So far it has rained and shined every day. You never know what you are going to get here, weather-wise. I suppose that is why I like it so much. Yesterday, as I was working at mom's desk, I looked outside at partly cloudy skies and a beautiful double rainbow. It went on to pour rain, but, by afternoon, there was not a cloud in the sky.

My commute to Montrose takes about 50 minutes. That's a gasoline cost of about $17 a day! I just brought gas yesterday for $4.01 a gallon. That's cheaper than home, but still a sizable expense. Still, we are lucky with expenses. So far, they can easily be covered. I'm grateful for that.

Mom is tiring of hospital life. Even her good parts grow weak with bed life. She gets an hour of physical therapy a day but it is not enough. So I asked the nurse to give me exercises that I could put her through in addition. She gave me four. My goal is to have mom go through those twice a day. As I watch her therapy I realize how far she has to go. Her right arm and hand are still completely useless. It worries me a little. If she doesn't get some movement there she will be handicapped in a major way. She has great trouble standing because of the weakness on the right. My mind still has not accepted her as physically handicapped but I must face that fact. It will take some time for her recovery and, most likely, it will only be partial. Yet I feel positive about her future. There is a purpose in this and potential benefit. Mom was miraculously preserved in this experience. Her mind is clear. Our goal is to help her find a new direction. I take great joy in her service and in her presence. She is a blessing.

Rayne

Audrey and Cliff left on Thursday to drive to Idaho to pick Rayne up from BYUI. They returned with her early Saturday morning. Rayne looks great and had a wonderful experience at school. She is more confirmed than ever in her choice to study English. She'll be home until January, when she'll begin her sophomore year. Wow, how can a grandchild of mine be 18 already?

Farewells

The Taiwanese people seem like such a gracious bunch. We had a harder time getting acquainted with these students than the younger ones of last year, but, in the end, they turned out to be mostly friendly.

The girls did a sketch of the house, which they gave to me as a thank you. They also presented me with cookies and a wall hanging. They are well-behaved and generally very pleasant people. Gerald says that their time in Taiwan is pretty well taken up with school and various lessons and classes and they are not used to "spare" time. It is fun to watch them adjust to western culture and ideas. I admire many of their traditions; others seem to me to be a disservice to them.

Gerald and his gang left on Friday for the airport and a flight to Salt Lake City. It took 3 cars to get them and their stuff properly delivered to SFO. One was a rental; the other two were ours. Since every driver in the local family was gone except Chase and me, we drove the two cars home. Chase was very nervous to drive home from the airport as he wasn't acquainted with the route. But he agreed to follow me with faith that we'd both make it home! It took us about an hour to get everyone to the airport but almost TWO HOURS to get home! The traffic was terrible. I'm grateful not to have to make my way in it very often. Chase and I made it home without incident and felt greatly relieved to be out of the masses of humanity that must make their way home under these difficult circumstances every day.

There were blessings in it however. I used the crawling traffic time to make some family calls and had some great visits. It is now illegal in California to use a cell phone with hands, so I used my handless ear plugs. They worked very well. Which goes to show that there can be blessings in all circumstances. Well, almost all.




Seth is in the left picture, laughing with Chase; Angelica is on the right, posing just for me.

People Everywhere

Gerald, Frances, their babes, Seth and Angelica, and 10 Chinese students spent 4 days with us. Reed came on Thursday evening with all 5 of his kiddos, making the evening a crush of life of all sorts and dispositions. We had a great time! Carmen is looking much rosier. She involved herself with the kid play and ate an almost full dinner. She is definitely on the mend.

Layne loses a brother

We received word this morning that Layne's older brother, Joel, went into surgery for an aneurism. The surgery was successful but was followed by a massive stroke that left him brain dead. He is on a respirator but will soon be removed from it and allowed to die on his own. Layne is headed for Montana tomorrow, along with his twin brother, Lynn, to help handle everything. Plans are for a graveside service on Saturday morning.

This photo shows Joel standing behind his brothers Lynn (left) and Layne. He is a kind, gentle soul. We will miss him.

Guests from Taiwan

Gerald and Frances arrived yesterday, with 10 Taiwanese exchange students. They will be in the states for a month, showing the kids interesting spots in the West. They will stay with until Friday, when they will head for their Utah home in Draper, Utah. Seth and Angelica were so excited to be here. Seth was anxious to watch "Star Wars", thanks to an earlier visit with Ben and Jes, where they had a Darth Vader birthday party for William. It was after 10 PM when they arrived last night, but only noon Taiwanese time, so the kids were not ready for bed. So they watched parts of Strek and Star Wars and ate popcorn. Seth helped cook this morning and so did Angelica! We cooked around the ants, which insist on invading our kitchen on a regular basis in spite of all attempts to discourage them.

Chase is 17

We got home from Colorado just in time for Chase's 17th birthday. I took him birthday shopping today. He is crazy about guns and military stuff so we headed for a store that carries camouflage clothes. Our first stop was a winner. He picked out the perfect outfit. Chase is now as tall as his grandfather (very tall indeed). He plans to seek employment at the game store that represents another of his passions. Happy Birthday Chase, and may this coming year be amazingly fine.

Birthdays

Allegra turned 13 on June 25th. Since she is now a teenager, we took some photos of her. On her birthday shopping trip, she went for clothes. That's a first for this teenage girl.

Peyton turned 4 on July 3rd. Our Independence girl is growing up! We were supposed to be with her to celebrate but mother's stroke called us elsewhere. But we wish her a joyful time being 4!

Mom moves to Montrose

Mom is getting better by inches. Each day we rejoice over small victories, like moving her leg, holding her head up, talking more clearly. Being with her is joyful but tiring as we are spending so much time sitting. But as visitors come, it has been fun to talk and get to know them.

On Monday mom was tranferred to Montrose Hospital, to the physical therapy unit. It is a beautiful facility. There she receives 3 hours of therapy, physical, verbal and occupational. It looks like she will be there for two weeks. She is one of only three patients so gets plenty of attention. She has her own room, with a view. It is all quite lovely. Layne especially loves the cafeteria, where they serve an amazing amount of very good food. I think mom has a good chance of getting better there.

Layne and I flew home on Wednesday. I hated to leave mom. Maryanne will remain to be with her for the next two or so weeks, then we will change places. So far Maryanne reports that she is making progress in slow but pleasing steps.

Mother

It has been several days since writing. Mother is so much better. She is eating, talking and moving. She has a long way to go but is making such good progress. She has been inundated with company, which is more good than bad, I think. She definitely feels loved and needed. On Monday she will be transferred to an aggressive physical therapy facility. We'll see how she does with that.

Maryanne and I have divided up the summer to take turns being here with her. It has changed all of our lives and where it will take us is still a mystery. We will just go along for the ride. It will be fun to spend so much time with my mother. The rest of life will just have to wait. For now my mother is my mission.

Mother

It has been 4 days now since mother had her stroke. There has been little to be hopeful about. She is greatly diminished and the doctor has prepared us for the worst. She has not regained feeling on her right side and has not been able to swallow. Until today! She moved her right leg. She jerked her right arm away when the nurse pocked it with a needle. Best of all, she swallowed and ate some apple sauce! I was so overwhelmed I cried. The joy of it was overwhelming. Even the doctor was excited.

Dr. Rich explained that the probable cause of the stroke was arterial flutter, a type of irregular heart beat. He explained that the clot most likely came from the heart. He said the treatment is cumiden. It thins the blood and will prevent future clots. So perhaps we have a way of preventing her from having another stroke. He is going to get her going on physical therapy.

Now that there is hope I realize how much I was dreading losing mama. We still could, but things are looking so much better.