I had a lovely weekend with my family. The best thing is now they are much closer. A four hour drive compared with the expense of a flight.


Aila is a delightful munchkin.Thanks for letting me use your bed Aila.




Teamwork in the kitchen.

Thanks for a fun weekend guys. Yvonne you are a genius on the computer ! Thank you !

The lesson I learned ? Grandma should not have taken the 'Tigger' bounce on the trampoline the evening before I left. Ohhhhh my aching back.

Bounce.. bounce.. bounce.. Where did I put the heating pad ?

Oh Yeah !

This is the reason I am here. To see these smiles. Here is the reason we are laughing.


I had the camera on the wrong setting, so I will try again tomorrow.These are blurry but they are evidence of the fun.


This is the most fun I have had since I went skydiving. An exhillarating sense of freedom in this jumping , laughing , feeling welcomed and loved.



This Grandma is no wimp.....


No injuries just a lot of laughing.



The only question remaining is 'will Grandma be able to move in the morning ?' What a fun time!

Ottawa

I am heading east to visit the family for a few days. My first time driving to Ottawa. If I can conquer the 401, then I should be able to do this with ease I am told. We will see.

I am looking forward to seeing the family in their new home.
I might even take a turn on the trampoline.(It's o.k I have hospital coverage !)


Jason and Yvonne

Grandma and her lovely ladies

The last week or so I have noticed subtle changes happening with my clients at work. I know the Lord has me there for a reason, though exactly what that reason is eludes me, except to enable Him to work His character into me.

Naturally I pray a lot while there, for my couple, and for the Presence of Lord to rest upon us . I do not know the spiritual situation of my people there, though they have always attended a church.

At this stage of their life, both with dementia and profound dementia, much of the time they are like children in really old bodies.....and I mean that in a kind way. Actually they are in amazing physical condition for their ages...92 and 90.

When I first started there, at meal time M. would say the blessing and then the two of them would sing a little 'grace'.It goes like this.

"For health and strength and daily food we praise Thy Name O Lord."

As time has passed I have noticed some meal times pass with the traditional blessing being forgotten.....with the exception of supper when I join them for the meal.
Anyway, it seems that they just forget to say it....and I am the only one who has noticed.

Last night I put a tape in the video player of a special 'Precious Memories' with the folks from the old Lawrence Welk show. Mostly hymns....and from time to time the Presence of the Lord was tangible to me.

B. sang along to a few of the songs, it was so cute. A good night and a nice note to tuck them into their beds on.

At about 6:15 this morning I was called to help my lady to the commode, and later we all went back to bed for another hour or so. I have a monitor in my room so that I can quickly get to them if I am needed, and I sometimes hear little things ,intimate things that are spoken between them.

B. said " I feel so discouraged, I am so helpless and can do so little for myself". M. surprised me with his gentle response.
'Just be thankful that we get such good care and don't think about those things.'
B. did not want to let it go, and this is so unusual for her. She is normally the one who is so 'up'. I have never heard her complain or voice any discouragement.

Then M. began to sing this little song.

"For health and strength and daily food we praise Thy Name O Lord."

Several times he repeated this until B. began to sing with him. In a few minutes all was quiet and rest came to both of these children of the Lord. I smiled to Jesus and said thank you for the glimpse , I guess you really are taking care of everything.

In that immense love
proceeding from the two
the Father spoke words
of great affection to the Son

Words of such profound delight
that no one understood them;
they were meant for the Son,
and he alone rejoiced in them.

What he heard was this:

"My Son, only your
company contents me,
and when something pleases me
I love that thing in you;

Whoever resembles you most
satisfies me most,
and whoever is like you in nothing
will find nothing in me.
I am pleased with you alone

O life of my life!
You are the light of my light,
you are my wisdom,
the image of my substance
in whom I am well pleased.

My Son, I will give myself
to him who loves you
and I will love him
with the same love I have for you,
because he has loved
you whom I love so."

On the communication among the Three Persons.
St. John of the Cross

God wants you to move through this day with a quiet heart
An inward assurance that He is in control
A peaceful certainty that your life is in His hands
A deep trust in His plan and purposes
And a thankful disposition toward all that He allows.

He wants you to put your faith in Him not in a timetable.
He wants you to wait on Him and wait for Him.
In His perfect way He will put everything together
See to every detail
Arrange every circumstance
And order every step to bring to pass what He has for you.

Roy Lessin....co founder of Dayspring

I found this encouragement one day in my inbox. Now all I have to do is believe this and take it to heart, and rest in just Who is trying to get through to me.

Makes Me Wonder

One of the things I get to do when I work at my Care Giving job is to take my Lady for a walk in her wheelchair after supper. Her favorite place to go , though it is new for her everytime is to the Marina in Lakefield.



We sit on the wharf and watch the boats and the activity all around and B. likes to see how many people wave to her.

One of the things that I appreciate about her is her joy in the little things. She lives in the moment,not because she chooses to but because her brain does not allow much else.
The little blue flowers along the path, the same things she sees day after day, yet says to me, 'I've never been down here before', when she is there nearly every day.

Anyway, sometimes in the midst of this swirl of confusion and forgetfullness, I am reminded once again to take a deep breath and notice those little things with her. That's a good thing.

It all sounds so innocent..... well ... the other night B. surprised me .

First of all remember that my Lady has short term memory loss,and considerable dementia. She easily forgets what she ate for her meal by the time I serve dessert, and actually the conversation and questions repeat themselves continually over and over and over and over..at least for the last year I have been there.

The other night I got B.ready for bed so she could watch/listen to the news, a nightly routine.
Her husband went to bed early so when it was time for B. to retire, I said , 'would you like to go and join M. now ?'

'That's a good idea was her reply....but I kind of wanted to see a program that is coming on at 11pm.'
'What program is that B?' I inquired.
It's kind of risque she replies..... RISQUE !!!!!! says I with shock registering on my face ... only a little exagerated.

'What would your mother say if she knew I let her 90 year old daughter watch something like that? That gets a giggle from B. but she persists. I was just curious to see what it was about... something about some LADIES....

No way ! says I once again....

Then B. back peddles and says 'Well I don't even know what risque really means.

UH-HUH says I.

'Try and tell me what you think it means B.'

'Naked or nudity ???'says B.

There you go ! says I . You do not need to see anything like that, besides, I thought being a lady of your years you would already know everything you needed to know about that kind of stuff. Another hilarious giggle from B. as I lotion and powder her feet and help her into bed.

Sometimes her mind gets kind of stuck on things, and other times everything just gets forgotten in seconds. I am amazed at the funny and strange kinds of things that want to stick . Too funny, but I am glad we can laugh and she can giggle through this time of her life . Then she lays her little white head down on her pillow, and counts her blessings.

O.K. maybe not finished forever..... that is why I did not delete my blog, because I knew that I just might change my mind when the Light filled my eyes once again.

It has been six weeks today since Sam died, and looking back I wonder how I made it through those early days and weeks. Grace really is Amazing actually, and I am thankful for all the prayers and understanding I have received.

Lately I have been running around looking for new accomodations and finding out how it feels to be among the working poor. I have been approved for Assisted Housing and am on the waiting list....#336 . That is too funny since they placed 49 last year.

The affordable housing situation here is very bad, but I was also approved for a housing subsidy. That means that a portion of my rent will be paid and I pay the rest for up to 5 years. So the government has been doing a little bit. The challenge is to find a landlord who will be interested and qualify at the same time. I will be so glad to get out of this little room!

Anyway, all this has been a good diversion if not an exhausting and frustrating experience. This is a university town and some landlords are asking outrageous rents for terrible living conditions, knowing students will live in almost any place. Very sad.

On another topic I borrowed a book from my daughter in law Katherine recently.

Marley and Me, by John Grogan. It has had me in sqealing with hysterical laughter and tears. I highly recommend it for any dog lovers out there. I know I will come to the sad parts at the end but this journey with Marley and his family will be worth it.