DO YOU SEE IT

A friend ask me yesterday if my Mom was delusional.

Her Dad had dementia and he was.

Well, according to Mom we have cows in our back woods.

She can clearly see them.

Apparently our next door neighbor can't keep his

cows in his fence.

Everyday, sometimes multiple times, Mom comments

about the cow in our woods.

"You would think that man would miss her".

Can you see it????

cow pictures pulled off Pinterest

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MY MOM

Every morning I try to get get up about six or six thirty.

It gives me enough time to

piddle and straighten up a bit

before Mom gets up.

I need to be ready for action when I hear her

walker scraping and moving down the hall.

When she first gets up, she doesn't have her

hearing aid on yet so I just heard her

into the bathroom where we take care

of morning duties.

Then it into the dining room/den/ I don't know room

where she has coffee and starts to

watch the birds at our

bird feeder.

I get her breakfast, she takes her pills

and then after a while we get

her dressed.

She may watch a little TV or look at magazines

(I'm not sure how much she follows on either)

We chit chat and ease into the morning.

By about ten thirty she is ready for a nap, where she

stays until about twelve when I wake her

for a bathroom visit and lunch.

 Weather permitting we get outside for some sunshine.

  Lately though, it has been a little too windy.

Depending on my timing, and

if I don't get Mom to the bathroom on a regular schedule

she may need to change her clothes

during the course of the day.

She will look at her mail or the paper

(again I don't know what connects and what doesn't)

but she goes through the motions.

Then it's nap time again until dinner is ready.

In the evening we watch a little TV

(Grit TV is a favorite of my Dad's),

then off to bed at about eight.

MAKING A NEST

Easter marked my third week here at 

Mom and Dads.

I've been busy trying to make a nest for myself.

I started with my own bedroom.

Over the last few months on my visits here

I've been bringing things to create a space that I could

call my own.

A sanctuary of sorts.

Almost everything in this room had to relocate with the exception of the bed, a small table and a wardrobe.

I created a make shift entertainment center

to accommodate

my wonderful smart TV that I

received for my 25 years at Victoria's Secret.

In fact, it is almost entirely made of things that

I scavenged, at one time or other

from Victoria's Secret.

Cubes, shelves, and risers.

I had to bring my art.

I need a little whimsy in my life here.

At the end of the day

retiring to a room where I can look at this guy,

I know

I can absolutely  live

with a lot of things in and on

my head.

THE ARRIVAL

Well, I'm here.

Fayetteville Tennessee.

I thought I'd give you a little tour.
This is my parents little brick ranch.

I will be calling it my home for...

well, a while.

Why,"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly",

because that's  how I see this journey.

"The Good"

Spending quality time with my parents

and making a difference in their lives.

"The Bad"

The emotional rollercoaster

I just got on.

"The Ugly"

The little brick ranch.

Outside it's really quite pretty.

Especially now in Spring.

The house overlooks three fields.

One across the road, and one on each side of the house,

both of which they own.

Our neighbor raises cattle and the view is nice right now.

He has a little pond in the middle of his field

that we can see through the trees.

My mom and Dad inherited this home from my uncle

about 15 years ago. 

Uncle James was not much on curb appeal,

this is our only flowering tree on the whole place.

Mom and Dad aren't much on aesthetics either.

Little story:

When I arrived my Mom had two silk ferns in these urns,

they had been there forever, in fact once I took them out and they somehow found their way back.

Well, once again I plucked them out, thinking

I can't live with this,

I placed them on our garbage pile in my Dad's shed.

Later, taking a little walk this is what I found.

Dad had taken them out of the garbage and thrown them into the woods

GO FIGURE???

I've been here sixteen days and just got my internet connected today.

I hope to be posting on a regular basis,

join me.

AND SO IT BEGINS

I will be leaving my beloved sister

whom I've shared a wonderful home

with for the past twelve years.

I've quit my job, retired actually,

and will be starting a new journey

in a small rural Tennessee town,

Fayetteville.

Why, would I even think of leaving

this beautiful, charmed life?

Because it's the right thing to do.

My father turns 90 next month

and my Mom has dementia.

It's as simple as that.

What's a girl to do?

Meet the folks

Bill and Deloris.

Join me on my journey.