Dirt...
I think Dad is finally committing to staying North. The Florida house is cleaned up, and cleaned out. He rented a storage unit and brought his "stuff" North. Things like white leather chairs, photo albums, clothing all made the trip. Lots of bins, too, I'm sure. I didn't see any of the "stuff" - he went directly to the storage place from the road...my instructions, of course. He now has a place to go and do some work too, as he goes through his storage unit, and starts to clean up his previous unit (our basement!).
The "List" has increased importance in his life. The "List" is the senior housing list in Stratford. He talks about it every day. He's already looking for more furniture at tag sales, for the kitchen and living room of whatever unit they get! I'm glad to see him excited about it all, but remain very concerned about Mom, with all of this.
Mom has another pesky UTI, and there are medication issues now. I don't think she ever got over the one in March, personally. Dad sort of takes his time with the doctor, and I found out yesterday he only just got meds for her yesterday! I gotta stay on the ball with this. I reminded him he didn't want to be up in the middle of the night helping her kill all the bugs on the walls (lovely hallucinations!). Fortunately, there is an easy "tell" for me when Mom has one of these. She has what she calls "an accident", and back pain.
Dad got "lost" last weekend - we have no idea where he was. So, I brought Mom outside with me while I was cleaning out the flower beds. She likes to pull weeds, and whatever other plants she thinks might be weeds. So we're outside, Mom is pulling weeds from under the rhododendron. Then she starts pulling leaves off the rhododendron..."Ma, what are you doing? Don't pull those off..." "Oh, so what? There's plenty of other leaves!" she says...in my head I'm thinking, payback time!
Remember when you were a kid, and you pulled leaves, or petals off of flowers for the "love me, love me not" game? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I asked her, well, let's be honest...I told her to sit down and relax with the dog. That turned out to be not a good thing - she tried to let the dog loose, and the pole sort of broke that was holding Santana's leash. The neighbor came over to see what was going on...she's the same age as my parents, and very thankful for what she has when she compares herself to them.
"Good Luck! See you later", she says as she walks back to her own yard, while I'm untangling the leash, trying to fix the pole, and wondering where in the world is Kenny Palazzo! When I was all set with the leash, the pole, Santana, and Mom, I decided I had enough of trying to manage all of this, and get my hands in the dirt.
You know, dirt actually has qualities that promote well-being, and deter depression. So, on that day, I was feeling the need to get down and dirty...I did get down and dirty, just not in the dirt!
After all was said and done, and we were all on our way back in the house, the Italian Leprechaun appeared on the back porch..."I was in the basement, cleaning some of my stuff up"....can't argue with that now, can I?
The "List" has increased importance in his life. The "List" is the senior housing list in Stratford. He talks about it every day. He's already looking for more furniture at tag sales, for the kitchen and living room of whatever unit they get! I'm glad to see him excited about it all, but remain very concerned about Mom, with all of this.
Mom has another pesky UTI, and there are medication issues now. I don't think she ever got over the one in March, personally. Dad sort of takes his time with the doctor, and I found out yesterday he only just got meds for her yesterday! I gotta stay on the ball with this. I reminded him he didn't want to be up in the middle of the night helping her kill all the bugs on the walls (lovely hallucinations!). Fortunately, there is an easy "tell" for me when Mom has one of these. She has what she calls "an accident", and back pain.
Dad got "lost" last weekend - we have no idea where he was. So, I brought Mom outside with me while I was cleaning out the flower beds. She likes to pull weeds, and whatever other plants she thinks might be weeds. So we're outside, Mom is pulling weeds from under the rhododendron. Then she starts pulling leaves off the rhododendron..."Ma, what are you doing? Don't pull those off..." "Oh, so what? There's plenty of other leaves!" she says...in my head I'm thinking, payback time!
Remember when you were a kid, and you pulled leaves, or petals off of flowers for the "love me, love me not" game? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I asked her, well, let's be honest...I told her to sit down and relax with the dog. That turned out to be not a good thing - she tried to let the dog loose, and the pole sort of broke that was holding Santana's leash. The neighbor came over to see what was going on...she's the same age as my parents, and very thankful for what she has when she compares herself to them.
"Good Luck! See you later", she says as she walks back to her own yard, while I'm untangling the leash, trying to fix the pole, and wondering where in the world is Kenny Palazzo! When I was all set with the leash, the pole, Santana, and Mom, I decided I had enough of trying to manage all of this, and get my hands in the dirt.
You know, dirt actually has qualities that promote well-being, and deter depression. So, on that day, I was feeling the need to get down and dirty...I did get down and dirty, just not in the dirt!
After all was said and done, and we were all on our way back in the house, the Italian Leprechaun appeared on the back porch..."I was in the basement, cleaning some of my stuff up"....can't argue with that now, can I?
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