Expectations from Memory.

 Expectations from Memory.

 

Remember when posters were the big thing for kids and teens? Well, posters are still around, but apparently not as many people find posters all that necessary. Today a trip to Hobby Lobby and Mardel’s revealed a few posters with cartoon heroes or something cutesy like that. Mardel’s had some Christian posters and inspirational posters, but very few had lots of flowers or outstanding color combinations. The room where Anne is staying at Grace Care Center is plain, dull green. Bleah. Her grands made some pretty colorful pictures for her and one of them is stuck under the clock on the bathroom door for her so she can see it. The four posters that were sent back to Henrietta today have lots of color, so maybe they will be a little less depressing than those walls. The tape to put them on the wall should also be helpful since it has flowers all over it. Why any room should be so dull is beyond me, but when my parents were over there, we put some new pictures on the wall to make it more like home. A marker board also kept their room colorful with designs and pictures on it. Daddy could have done a much better job of decorating than the old woman did, but he was not really in the mood for drawing anything. Oh well.

 

Erin came today and picked up some eggs and the posters to put up in his mom’s room. He said she has it in her head that it is up to him whether or not she gets to go home. Her thinking is not just exactly clear at this point. She IS better physically, but between the UTI and her fuzzy thoughts, she has trouble thinking about the simplest things. She could not remember the name of her cats. It did not surprise me that she has trouble remembering which day of the week it is. Sitting here with a calendar on the wall, the same forgetfulness happens to me. Today is Monday—the trash goes out today to be picked up tomorrow. That is the way my week is divided, however. Two trash days a week works to divide things very well.

 

Erin got to admire the hens out in the back yard. He thought the hens were mighty pretty. Mine do not have to lay each day to make me happy, but his hens lay eggs that are sold to nearby restaurants, so their work is never done. Currently he has 150 hens, but he is going to get that many more and possibly start raising his own chicks. Certainly hope it works out well for him. We have so many dadgummed snakes and various critters that baby chicks are a constant worry unless they have very good contained areas to keep them safe. He is also propagating fig trees on the farm where he works. That just makes me happy to think about. Glad someone in the family likes to grow things like that.

 

Talked to Sharon Dickerson today. She has more stuff happening in a day than happens around here in a week or more. But then she has a bigger family and tries to help Jim out as needed. Today he had to replace a sprinkler head. So glad that other people know how to do stuff like that. Using a water hose is about my limit!

 

The grass is so crunchy and dead that it makes me sad to walk outside the area next to the deck. We need rain desperately, and you can bet that any areas in the path of that hurricane are going to be flooded! From one extreme to another! Jennifer is going to have to take a rain jacket to W. VA. Imagine that!

 

My book from Dutch Henry came today with a little card and a personal inscription. Saturday Encounters the Ark is the name of the book. Sterling and his wife went to see it and were pretty much blown away by the size and all the information they came across while there. It seems to me that it would take more than one day to actually see it all from the description. Can you imagine the food stuff needed for all those animals. And cleaning up after them would be another tricky situation, it would seem. Just thinking about all the insects and creepy crawlies that would have to have a place to inhabit would boggle my mind. How do you think Noah would have managed to get those two fleas in a container and keep them there? Guess the bats had to have several mosquitoes to keep them fed, too! Well, someday maybe it will be possible to visit there myself. Not likely, but not impossible.

 

Have a feeling the temperature is about to drop. When the weather changes, the flies gather in the fall. And boy are they ever gathering! The spiders should be having a feast!

 

Want to take a minute to talk about end-of-life things that either are called for or are ignored. Anne did not talk to her children before she set up a DNR (do not resuscitate) and all that kind of stuff. As it was, when Erin took her to the hospital in Henrietta, Dr. Greer saved her life with some drugs. Not sure whether or not he even knew she had a DNR. Now, my daddy had a DNR, and the old woman was not ready to let him go, so she asked the nurses to give him Lasix or whatever to remove the fluids from his heart and lungs. He lived another year. But it was HIS decision to stop taking any medication after he was in the nursing home. A person’s wishes in his situation have to be respected. Right now, if Anne’s bilirubin begins to climb, she will not live much longer. And currently, she is not taking any medications for pain, for fluids, or for anything except nausea and dizziness. That in and of itself is pretty amazing. Whatever happens from this point forward is up to her body and however God chooses to let things go. It would be wonderful if she could just be happy and be able to rest and enjoy whatever life she has left. But going home is not one of the prospects in line with her abilities to navigate. Each of us has to accept our limitations eventually no matter how strong or stubborn we are. Yes, preaching to the choir here—and well aware of it. Anyway, just be aware that not everyone is going to understand when and how you want that DNR to be interpreted.

 

Read in the news that one-way tickets out of Russia are sold out, and that a major traffic jam exists in all exits from that country. Putin is determined to kill every semi-able-bodied male to make his war effective. How very sad. Now if North Korea would just stop trying to launch another war on that side of the ocean! God protect us!

 

Let us pray for peace and for protection for all those threatened by wars, storms, famines, fires, and other forms of disaster. God has a plan, but we can ask Him to help us to be safe from the problems in this world.

 

Rest well, my friends, and know—you are loved.