Friday, February 12, 2010

Life update

It has been a strange week, memorable and difficult. I spent most of the week scouting nursing homes for my mom. This morning my dad and I toured what I thought were the best two, and he picked one. In the meantime, Mom fell again yesterday and had to go to the hospital. She'll presumably be going straight to the nursing home from there either today or tomorrow, since it seems nothing was too seriously injured. All of this is obviously stressful and sad for everybody involved. Mom will be able to be safer and have better care now, so it's unquestionably the right thing to do, but that fact doesn't make it any easier on anybody. No need to feel sorry for me, though; it's a hard thing to need to participate in, but I have the least of it, compared to my parents. Besides, it's nice to be able to give back a tiny fraction of the time and energy they expended on my behalf over the years.

Yesterday was also notable for being the one-year anniversary of when I first met the delightful Cardgrrl. If you want to look back and read my description of our first evening of playing poker together and getting to know each other, see here. I'm happy to report that my initial impression was spot-on. She continues to intrigue and delight me as much as she did that first day, and I am honored to have her in my life.

I expect to be driving back home either tomorrow or Sunday. I will need a couple of days after that to catch up on other life stuff neglected while I've been here before a normal agenda of poker and blogging resumes, so please continue being patient with me.

5 comments:

gadzooks64 said...

So glad to hear that things are working themselves out.

Congrats on your 'anniversary'!

Kunt said...

Take all the time you need, Grump, and do what you need to do. Your readers owe you their patience after years of entertaining blogs.

All the best.

qdpsteve said...

My empathies about your Mom. Hopefully she can still have a long, enjoyable and fulfilling time at the care center, even if she's less mobile.

Anonymous said...

My mom went into a nursing home after a severe stroke. She lost virtually all use of her right side and most of her speech, so a nursing home was the best choice. Toughest decision I've ever made, especially since I knew she did not like nursing homes.

But she adapted quickly, and enjoyed her life there. They had lots of activities, monthly outings, parties and so on that she participated in. Her care was excellent, and the food quite good. Oh, and 3x a week bingo (played for candy) that she never missed. I was somewhat grateful she had never discovered bingo earlier. ;-)

Hopefully, you mom will come to enjoy her new home as much as my mom did hers.
smudger

Cranky said...

Grump - as a full-time caregiver to my wife who has MS and hasn't walked in more than a decade, I can attest that caregiving is very demanding. And, I'm only 53. I can only imagine what it'll be like when I'm 73.

Putting someone in a nursing is a very hard decision, but may well be the safest option for everyone.