We had dinner every Monday night for years. She liked to have two drinks before dinner. So that meant there was a lot of chatter and conversation between us as we sipped. As we got to know each other well. A mutual feeling of friendship grew between us. I LIKED her. It was fun to see each other every week. I looked forward to Mondays. I had come to Washington DC to live with my aging mother. I needed an…
My memoir about living with and caring for my mother is still not ready for publication. Unfortunately, this last year was not conducive to deadlines or serious revisions. It is hard to do that when you are living in the thick of what you are writing. I could see that it was coming to a close. There was no way to know when, though. The year remains blurry, cloudy, thick. It is hard to remember individual days because they are…
I had no inkling that the year would end as it has. January was a bit slow with some little show of snow and my birthday spent with my class from the Capital Speakers Club at the Rodarte exhibit. I spend hours looking out of the picture window in the Garden Room, watching the antics of the squirrels and the birds and occasionally other wildlife. One day as I was sitting at my computer looking halfway to the outdoors over…
They say today is the best day for manifesting what you want. It has to do with the full moon in Mercury Retrograde. I don’t understand it. But I believe it is powerful. What I wish I could manifest is a new life for my mother who is 101 and appears to be heading out. There is nothing to do about this. I am helpless and so is everyone else. She is beautiful and comfortable and well-loved. She still kisses…
difficult to discuss demented parents if siblings are in denial.
When you have reached the age of 101, many things change. Once important things are discarded. People begin to fade away. They dress in beige, grey or black. Perhaps a navy blue jacket is worn to liven things up. These ladies have “let the old woman in,” as my sister famously quoted. Not every woman allows this. My Mother loves bright color. She dresses every day, in a way that suggests she is about to go to an elegant luncheon….
An homage to my 101 year old mother who loves a party.
Before today I had never heard of it. But apparently it is a real thing. Daughters Day. It will one day be as important as Mothers Day which is a totally “made up” Holiday that has never been very important to me. Every day Mothers give whole heartedly to their children. Every day they love them more than they love themselves. Every second they worry about them when they are small, and as they get bigger the worries grow with…
So this will be short. A picture is worth one thousand words, isn’t it? And I have a couple that show the way I feel when the sun is just up and my time is my own before others awaken. Our mornings have been spectacular the last few days. Awe-inspiring and just lovely. For me, they produce a rush of gratitude for being alive. Not everyone I love is able to experience this natural beauty. Both my mother and my…
Be careful what you wish for because you may get your wish. And I used to long to be living here in Washington DC . Because I moved in to take cre of my 101 year old mother, now I do.
There are more lilies than have ever been blooming here. White ones, yellow ones, several different types of pink ones fill their containers. And all of them are exuding a fragrance
4th of July great holiday. Important to be grateful. We have freedom of choice here.
As sisters we are very different, but our phones look exactly the same except in our special colors.
The trials and tribulations of family as they navigate the world of caregiving for a parent.
Inspirational piece about re-inventing your life in the 4th quarter.
