My Sister's Surgery

My sister, Maryanne, has Parkinson's Disease, brought on, according to her doctor, by a surgery.  So we all worried a little when she informed us that she was going to have shoulder surgery, to replace her shoulder joint.  More anesthesia, the apparent Parkinson's culprit.  Her husband, Bob, gave her a blessing and we all prayed that this surgery would do no harm.  She had the surgery on Monday.  I arrived at her home on Tuesday, shortly after her return home.  She looks great!  And it looks like the surgery will have a good outcome with no downside.  She is recovering quickly and has better movement than expected.  She has been blessed!

Maryanne in her study.  You can see the brace that she has to keep on for a month, making the use of her right hand out of the question.  Hence, for her need for me!  She looks pretty good, don't you think?

I've been planning on spending two weeks with Maryanne and Bob to help Maryanne, so here I am in Draper, Utah, staying on the top of the mountains in their new home.  It is lovely here, with a view of the mountains in three directions (covered with snow) and a great view of the valley from the remaining one.  There is little here to dislike.  Maryanne and I have spent our open time doing family history.  To be clear, I am copying her family history.  She is a bit of a mystery solver, you see.  She can put family clues together in amazing ways.  I can see that much education is gained in trying to figure family historical things out.  She's a master at it.  So I'm copying what she has done.  But let me say also that I plan to make some contribution to her efforts by writing up family stories as she discovers them.  But first I have to catch up with what she has already done.  That may take a bit longer than my remaining week here.

I am enjoying my time with Maryanne and Bob.  I enjoy care taking, especially with family.  I try and position myself to be of most use and to understand some of the feelings that Maryanne is dealing with as she tries to get her body to work properly.  It is a struggle for her and I feel badly about that.  I'd like to fix it.  I don't like to see her sad or discouraged as she sometimes is.  She has a very strong character and is absolutely uncompromising in her application of what she feels is right.  She does a good job of working around the physical issues she deals with daily.  But it is sometimes hard to keep up the effort.  I can see that.  Altogether she and Bob are good people to have in my life.  I'm hoping that this coming week I can be a blessing to them.

                          Ben, suited up for his Church presentation last Thursday.

These are the ultra-fancy chocolates Ben gave me for my birthday.  They are pretty delicious.

This past week, son Ben was in Salt Lake, giving a technology presentation to Elders Bednar and Holland, and other Church leaders.  There were a group of techie guys there to talk about the use of mobile technology by the Church.  He spent two nights with us, much to my delight.  He is a great person to have around and I'm reminded of that whenever he is with me.  He gave me some post-birthday chocolates and another gift as well.  His birthday is tomorrow, so I made him one of his favorite things, peach pie.  His time with us was short but oh, so pleasant.

In the meantime, Layne is home and, I think, is enjoying his solitude.  He is the kind of man who enjoys a crowd or being absolutely alone.  He's flexible that way.  But I hope he misses me...just a little.