My Journal #2

Goals for 2014

Another year has passed and so much happened. What started out as a year of prospect and hope has turned into one of struggle, worry and disappointment. that sounds terrible if it weren't for the interspersed moments of happiness and success.
After having foot surgery 12/26/2012 I sat most of January 2013 with my foot elevated. During this time I wrote! I edited and watched the Jodi Arias trial every day.  By the time I went back to work I had the first draft completed and was thoroughly addicted to the JA trial. By June when the verdict of guilty was read I had a fist pump and almost yelled at work.

Our boss (whose house we were renting after he moved to Los Angeles) decided to sell his house. He put it on the market and we began to hunt for a new place. We finally found one and moved the first of May. What a job that was and all summer it was an adjustment as Paul was on the road working and it was just me trying to get through it. We made it.

Then came the summer months that included managing the Memorial Day picnic at our church for 300+ people and then cooking breakfast each morning for two weeks in July for our campmeeting. I love doing this. After the summer ended, the old building was torn down and a new restaurant construction began. 
In September the group met to plan for our annual Christmas on the Campgrounds and by the end of October we were stringing lights where we could. 
I flew to Minnesota to celebrate my daughter's 40th birthday and my son flew out to visit for Thanksgiving.  The lighting project continued until 12/8 when we flipped on the lights and it was beautiful.

My parents came home from visiting my sister in Aitken, MN for two months. Just before they left my dad went to his doctor for a checkup and they were gone. Letters were mailed from the doctor's office but their mail was collected and only bills were opened and dealt with.  When they returned we knew something was wrong. They drove the two hours to their home and mom began reading the mail. From the doctor's office they read dad was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure. Dad was weak and they made a doctor's appointment for him but couldn't get in until 12/26. 


December 22 my niece got married. My father was the officiant. They put a stool for him to sit on as he married them. By the time he was finished he was spent and just managed to keep it together for a bit of the reception and came back to my house. 
Here is the problem. For years they had a room at my sister's apartment. When they came into town for doctors appointments and things they stayed with her.  In the spring mom decided she wanted to move back to Portland and talked to a friend to agreed to turn a garage into another apartment. There is one over the garage already rented to a friend. The man said he'd have it ready by July, but he hadn't even got his tools and things out of it by then. He began to actually do the remodel in September and I saw it in probably October or November and it was progressing. Slowly. 
In the mean time my sister took possession of their room. Had all their stuff stored at my other sister's garage. Now they have returned in December and they have no place to stay for the wedding and until the doctor's appointment. The Saturday they traveled, Paul and I cleaned out the front "parlor." A room that served as a bar area for the previous owners now became a storage area for anything we didn't know what to do with. We rolled out the rug and brought their bed over from my sisters. I found the little round table and cloth to set in the corner with a lamp. The chair we had in the family room corner was moved to make room for the Christmas tree sat in a corner with some other chairs we use for guests at the Dining Room table.  They were so please to see the cute room. I don't have a divider to give them privacy but its ok for now.

Dad slipped down hill physically like he was on the fast track to heaven. When he got to my house Saturday he was unstable but able to walk with a cane. By Monday we had my sister bring her walker over. His legs wouldn't hold him just to wash and brush his teeth. He slipped to the floor and I had to pull him up and set him on one of my rolling kitchen chairs.  Thursday his legs gave out trying to get him out the door to the doctor's appointment. Of course they just did a lot of tests and sent him home.  We three girls decided it was time the parents moved into town and I made a call to see when the apartment would be done. I was told not for another two months.  I called the owner and told him we didn't have two months. They needed something now. I only have a powder room on the main floor and dad could never make it up or down the stairs to the bathroom.  After a couple of calls back and forth he asked there were any apartments available that our church owned. I called and there was one. I called the man back and he told me to get it and move them there he would pay for the apartment until his was ready for them. What a blessing! I can't tell you the relief that was. He loves my parents and is willing to pay the rent. I don't care how long it take now. I don't think my dad will be moving but mom wants that little place and she is picking all the stuff for it. It is also just below another friend who will watch over her during the day and probably get her out more than she is doing now.
Saturday, my sister came to stay with our dad while mom and my other sister, her husband and brother-in-law all drove to the coast. We packed what they would need for the present and we'll come back another weekend to move other things. Mom just can't let go of things. Now I know were I get that from.  We move them in on the first of Jan. In the last day or so dad has failed even more. Saturday he stood and walked around to keep his legs strong. Sunday he couldn't move. He slipped down that morning and I pulled him back up and on to the chair. My sister brought over her wheel chair and now that is how he gets to the couch, to the bathroom and bed. His legs are just too weak to hold his body. I think he's finally given up. He knows mom will be ok. We'll see she is taken care of and he knows the owner of the little apartment will make the rent within her budget.
Today 12/30 they go for MRI and x-rays. I don't know what they are going to tell us, but I just hope he slips quietly away in his sleep. Whether its at my house or the apartment it doesn't matter.  He sleeps most of the day sitting on the couch with the TV on.
Dad will be 86 Jan 8 if he lives that long. Mom will be 86 at the end of March.