So I was glad they did this for me.
Back row: Martha, Miriam, Maria, Michael, Jonnext row: Mishael, Joyce, Moriah, and Mark
Monica, Rick, Gina
James
Monday, December 31, 2007
Family Picture 2007
Just the 11 children and Rick and I.
Back row: Martha, Miriam, Maria, Michael, Jon
Back row: Martha, Miriam, Maria, Michael, Jon
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Christmas 2007
Paul happy with his present!
As you can see we had a white Christmas.
As you can see we had a white Christmas.
It has snowed a lot this year. It's so beautiful. 
Maria and Mike
Miriam and Michael
Miriam and Eric got me for their "secret Santa" They spoiled me! I got a very nice soft throw, an ice cream Sunday kit, a beautiful biscotti cookie jar and an old fashioned frame! It was very nice and I'm enjoying my presents already.
James and his Christmas cookie.
Maria and Mike
Miriam and Michael
Miriam and Eric got me for their "secret Santa" They spoiled me! I got a very nice soft throw, an ice cream Sunday kit, a beautiful biscotti cookie jar and an old fashioned frame! It was very nice and I'm enjoying my presents already.
James and his Christmas cookie.
I had planned on making cookie plates to give out to the mail lady, neighbors etc. But like most years I have a good plans that don't really come to pass. Well I made 2 batches of cookie dough and one batch of punkin bars, but by the time the bars were made the cookies would have been stale. So the children still had fun making cookies and it's too bad I'm not organized enough to get my plans in action. :(
Our traditional antipasta platter. It's always a beautiful creation!
Cody, Jon, Gareth (on the table) and Eric
Playing games together
Making ravioli dinner.
Martha cooking like always. The girls got together a couple of weeks before to make the raviolis. They were all cheese this year. VERY GOOD!
Our traditional antipasta platter. It's always a beautiful creation!
Cody, Jon, Gareth (on the table) and Eric
Playing games together
Making ravioli dinner.
Martha cooking like always. The girls got together a couple of weeks before to make the raviolis. They were all cheese this year. VERY GOOD!
Mom's memorial service
Martha, Moriah and Jon
Moriah made a beautiful slide show of my mom's life. We showed this at the service. 
Cody and Mishael
Our memory table
This one I used my Italian table cloth from Italy. Joe and Moriah bought it for me in Italy.
June
April and Oscar. We had Sub sandwiches, salads the church lady's provided.
We made memory tables. Mom's braid, photo album, her bibles.
We brought a couple of her painting to show off.
Miriam and Gareth
Rick and Joe
My dear friend Sherry made a beautiful cake.
The Children were going to sing a couple of songs. My Mom loved to hear them sing. They harmonize so well and sing in parts. It's actually amazing how well they all sing. It seems out of so many one would have a hard time.
Practice time:
Rick was needed to do the sound for the service. He hadn't done that sort of work for many years. When he was done, he said "I forgot how much I enjoy that work"
I suppose at least half of the service was family. there were probably a good 50 people there. The Church people were so sweet. took care of serving the food, clean up etc. It's so good to have a real church in the time need.
Cody and Mishael
Our memory table
This one I used my Italian table cloth from Italy. Joe and Moriah bought it for me in Italy.
June
April and Oscar. We had Sub sandwiches, salads the church lady's provided.
We made memory tables. Mom's braid, photo album, her bibles.
We brought a couple of her painting to show off.
Miriam and Gareth
Rick and Joe
My dear friend Sherry made a beautiful cake.
The Children were going to sing a couple of songs. My Mom loved to hear them sing. They harmonize so well and sing in parts. It's actually amazing how well they all sing. It seems out of so many one would have a hard time.
Practice time:
Rick was needed to do the sound for the service. He hadn't done that sort of work for many years. When he was done, he said "I forgot how much I enjoy that work"
I suppose at least half of the service was family. there were probably a good 50 people there. The Church people were so sweet. took care of serving the food, clean up etc. It's so good to have a real church in the time need.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Some last pictures of my dear mom
These last hugs good bye were the hardest. The strange thing was that she became very alert and clear when we came to say goodbye.
I thought this was so cute. There were quite a few little boys around the whole time so there were lots of little fights. Here on our last couple of days Race and Eric became Buddy's. Eric pulled up a chair for himself and Race, Race turned on "Baby Eisenstein" on the TV, and they are getting along like best friends.
Moriah, Mom and David
Mark has a very tender heart. He really cares about people. He says he would like to be a doctor when he grows up. I can see he has the ability to do so. He is tender and caring and also smart enough to get through the extra schooling.
I thought this was so cute. There were quite a few little boys around the whole time so there were lots of little fights. Here on our last couple of days Race and Eric became Buddy's. Eric pulled up a chair for himself and Race, Race turned on "Baby Eisenstein" on the TV, and they are getting along like best friends.
Moriah, Mom and David
Monday, December 17, 2007
Memorial service
On Sat. we had a beautiful service for my mom. She actually ended up with 3 memorial services! It shows how much she was loved. We had ours here in Kalispell. It was family and church people about 50 people.
At the same time they had one in Grand Junction where more of her children and grandchildren met together.
Tue they will have one in California. she had so many wonderful friends there that they also wanted to get together and share memories.
Moriah had made a wonderful slide show of mom's childhood, raising children and grandchildren. Just a bit of her life. It was so nice.
My children sang a couple of songs. They did such a great job. I just love to hear them sing. Grandma loved to hear them sing too.
At the same time they had one in Grand Junction where more of her children and grandchildren met together.
Tue they will have one in California. she had so many wonderful friends there that they also wanted to get together and share memories.
Moriah had made a wonderful slide show of mom's childhood, raising children and grandchildren. Just a bit of her life. It was so nice.
My children sang a couple of songs. They did such a great job. I just love to hear them sing. Grandma loved to hear them sing too.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
My mom
My mom passed into eternity Monday, December 10th at about 3:30 in the afternoon.
She fell asleep on Sunday morning and they couldn't wake her. She was still breathing until 3 something.
She was in my sister Jeannie's home and she died in a peaceful way.
I'm going to put in a few of the last letters Jeannie wrote as updates:
Mom hasn’t awakened, even when we try, since 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. She is gurgling when she breathes, which is very difficult to hear. The CNA tried to turn her a little; she didn’t think it would help. She also didn’t think mom would ever come out of this, but she said the nurse might shed some light on it. She said it looks as if mom could go at any time, but then again, it could take a week. She didn’t know. The nurse isn’t coming until this afternoon. I will send another update.
Mom has had no medication or drugs of any type since 9:50 PM when I administered it to her drop by drop. At this point, I am too concerned that she would inhale it. The reason for the drugs was to help calm her to keep her in bed…which will not be a concern any more. She is also most likely too weak to try to get out of bed if she does awaken.
Jeannie
"Mom stopped breathing about 30 minutes ago. She is still warm, but when I described her symptoms to the Hospice people, the LVN thinks she has passed. They are sending an RN out with the Chaplain. Jim is here; David is here. I can’t find a pulse, but I’m not sure. I can’t hear any heart beating. I don’t feel breath. She was breathing very loudly for the last 20 hrs. or so and then it stopped."
That was a very hard letter to read. I suppose I was expecting it all day as I had talked to Jeannie that morning. Mishael was here when I read it and I was so thankful. Jeannie and I then talked on the phone after she was sure.
Here's another letter from Jeannie she wrote after:
**I would like to share a few strange things that happened in mom’s passing that we find interesting.
When Mom stopped breathing, I tried to reach Jim and couldn’t. I really wanted him here. Jennifer was doing her day care, so couldn’t get here and wasn’t really thinking there was a necessity at that time.
Mary Sasser (Jeannie's mother in law) later that evening told me that she was taking an afternoon nap and wanted to know approx. what time all of this was taking place. She said she had a dream where she was calling out to Jim and Jennifer to get to Jeannie. I ended up finally reaching Jim; he came right over. Jennifer called the mom of the children and made arrangements to come saying that she had a strange feeling that she really needed to come.
During the time before mom passed, she told Lucia that 2 police officers came, but don’t worry no one was arrested; everything was OK. We passed this off as perhaps hallucinations caused from pain meds or something. Yesterday afternoon while we were in the living room with Mom waiting for the funeral home to pick up her body, 2 police officers walked up the courtyard looking for an older lady that had moved the day before. Her family was worried about her. They came into my home asking if I had her phone number or any information. This is very interesting to me because of the ‘veil’ between worlds and understanding that there is no time away from our universe. She was seeing things that hadn’t happened yet. Very weird and interesting.
Another time she had cried out "help me, please" and was reaching for the ceiling. I assumed she was calling me to help her. I wonder now if she may have been asking someone on the other side of the veil to help her. During this time, she looked at me and said “oh, you can’t see what I see.”
My very precious and dear mom, will now get to be with Jesus for eternity. she has run a good race and finished the course. I'm so thankful for her, but right now it's hard to be happy. Everything seems to hurt so much. I've done a lot of crying these last couple weeks.
It's strange as a midwife, mother and daughter how we see the whole spectrum of life (on this earth that is) Birth into this world, the process of growing up and then being born again, and now death. Just Sunday I was part of bringing a life into the world, and then Monday I was part of seeing my mom go into another world.
We were with her just a couple of weeks ago talking about how she learned to skate, how she learned to drive, about her bedroom growing up, her wedding, her births. It wasn't that long ago that she was having babies, teen agers, grandchildren. Life seems long at times, but it's really a short time. How many years do we have left on this earth. 20, 30, maybe 40 or 50? It's not long. Just look how fast the last couple of years zipped by. It just seems like yesterday I was having babies. Now my babies are in their 20's!
Another thing I noticed is how much similarity there is in birth, being born again, and death.
During birth you go through labor. It starts out pretty easy, you can handle it, then it gets harder and at times you want to panic or run. You say "I can't do this" Then you again surrender to another contraction and relax and you do it, you get through, God helps you. Then there is the final pushing stages, some of the hardest work you'll ever do. But this is the final part, and then you hear your baby cry.......and it's all worth it.
Then you have teen agers. When children are little they listen to what you say, they believe what you say, they forgive your mistakes. Then they become teen agers, and they question what you say, they don't understand how you can make mistakes, and they don't know what they believe anymore! Again we have to go through "labor" while they are born again. During this process, that can last years instead of hours, we sometimes can't handle it, sometimes we feel out of control, sometimes we panic and want to run from the pain (pain caused from them not caring or just watching them make foolish mistakes) Or we want to kick the "pain" out of the house, lol. But then there is the "birth" and they grow up and become our best and closest friends. After a few years I don't even remember the hard times.
Now I have watched someone die. This part I hadn't seen before. I was young when my Dad died and I wasn't affected deeply in the same way.
But death also has a labor, panic and birth to it. First Mom was just peaceful and slow. beginning to not care about life on earth. Then there was the agitation, "I have to get out of here" times. Trying to get out of bed and run. Then there was the birth, into eternal life.
Sitting with her those days, was so much like sitting with a laboring women. It was very natural to be the care giver. In fact Martha is so much the Doula and I the midwife in personality. Martha can sit with someone and do nothing but comfort. I so often have to be doing something. Helping, writing, sorting, asking her history, even dumping commodes.
So the Lord has brought us through another big part of life: death. I wonder what he will teach us next.
She fell asleep on Sunday morning and they couldn't wake her. She was still breathing until 3 something.
She was in my sister Jeannie's home and she died in a peaceful way.
I'm going to put in a few of the last letters Jeannie wrote as updates:
Mom hasn’t awakened, even when we try, since 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. She is gurgling when she breathes, which is very difficult to hear. The CNA tried to turn her a little; she didn’t think it would help. She also didn’t think mom would ever come out of this, but she said the nurse might shed some light on it. She said it looks as if mom could go at any time, but then again, it could take a week. She didn’t know. The nurse isn’t coming until this afternoon. I will send another update.
Mom has had no medication or drugs of any type since 9:50 PM when I administered it to her drop by drop. At this point, I am too concerned that she would inhale it. The reason for the drugs was to help calm her to keep her in bed…which will not be a concern any more. She is also most likely too weak to try to get out of bed if she does awaken.
Jeannie
"Mom stopped breathing about 30 minutes ago. She is still warm, but when I described her symptoms to the Hospice people, the LVN thinks she has passed. They are sending an RN out with the Chaplain. Jim is here; David is here. I can’t find a pulse, but I’m not sure. I can’t hear any heart beating. I don’t feel breath. She was breathing very loudly for the last 20 hrs. or so and then it stopped."
That was a very hard letter to read. I suppose I was expecting it all day as I had talked to Jeannie that morning. Mishael was here when I read it and I was so thankful. Jeannie and I then talked on the phone after she was sure.
Here's another letter from Jeannie she wrote after:
**I would like to share a few strange things that happened in mom’s passing that we find interesting.
When Mom stopped breathing, I tried to reach Jim and couldn’t. I really wanted him here. Jennifer was doing her day care, so couldn’t get here and wasn’t really thinking there was a necessity at that time.
Mary Sasser (Jeannie's mother in law) later that evening told me that she was taking an afternoon nap and wanted to know approx. what time all of this was taking place. She said she had a dream where she was calling out to Jim and Jennifer to get to Jeannie. I ended up finally reaching Jim; he came right over. Jennifer called the mom of the children and made arrangements to come saying that she had a strange feeling that she really needed to come.
During the time before mom passed, she told Lucia that 2 police officers came, but don’t worry no one was arrested; everything was OK. We passed this off as perhaps hallucinations caused from pain meds or something. Yesterday afternoon while we were in the living room with Mom waiting for the funeral home to pick up her body, 2 police officers walked up the courtyard looking for an older lady that had moved the day before. Her family was worried about her. They came into my home asking if I had her phone number or any information. This is very interesting to me because of the ‘veil’ between worlds and understanding that there is no time away from our universe. She was seeing things that hadn’t happened yet. Very weird and interesting.
Another time she had cried out "help me, please" and was reaching for the ceiling. I assumed she was calling me to help her. I wonder now if she may have been asking someone on the other side of the veil to help her. During this time, she looked at me and said “oh, you can’t see what I see.”
My very precious and dear mom, will now get to be with Jesus for eternity. she has run a good race and finished the course. I'm so thankful for her, but right now it's hard to be happy. Everything seems to hurt so much. I've done a lot of crying these last couple weeks.
It's strange as a midwife, mother and daughter how we see the whole spectrum of life (on this earth that is) Birth into this world, the process of growing up and then being born again, and now death. Just Sunday I was part of bringing a life into the world, and then Monday I was part of seeing my mom go into another world.
We were with her just a couple of weeks ago talking about how she learned to skate, how she learned to drive, about her bedroom growing up, her wedding, her births. It wasn't that long ago that she was having babies, teen agers, grandchildren. Life seems long at times, but it's really a short time. How many years do we have left on this earth. 20, 30, maybe 40 or 50? It's not long. Just look how fast the last couple of years zipped by. It just seems like yesterday I was having babies. Now my babies are in their 20's!
Another thing I noticed is how much similarity there is in birth, being born again, and death.
During birth you go through labor. It starts out pretty easy, you can handle it, then it gets harder and at times you want to panic or run. You say "I can't do this" Then you again surrender to another contraction and relax and you do it, you get through, God helps you. Then there is the final pushing stages, some of the hardest work you'll ever do. But this is the final part, and then you hear your baby cry.......and it's all worth it.
Then you have teen agers. When children are little they listen to what you say, they believe what you say, they forgive your mistakes. Then they become teen agers, and they question what you say, they don't understand how you can make mistakes, and they don't know what they believe anymore! Again we have to go through "labor" while they are born again. During this process, that can last years instead of hours, we sometimes can't handle it, sometimes we feel out of control, sometimes we panic and want to run from the pain (pain caused from them not caring or just watching them make foolish mistakes) Or we want to kick the "pain" out of the house, lol. But then there is the "birth" and they grow up and become our best and closest friends. After a few years I don't even remember the hard times.
Now I have watched someone die. This part I hadn't seen before. I was young when my Dad died and I wasn't affected deeply in the same way.
But death also has a labor, panic and birth to it. First Mom was just peaceful and slow. beginning to not care about life on earth. Then there was the agitation, "I have to get out of here" times. Trying to get out of bed and run. Then there was the birth, into eternal life.
Sitting with her those days, was so much like sitting with a laboring women. It was very natural to be the care giver. In fact Martha is so much the Doula and I the midwife in personality. Martha can sit with someone and do nothing but comfort. I so often have to be doing something. Helping, writing, sorting, asking her history, even dumping commodes.
So the Lord has brought us through another big part of life: death. I wonder what he will teach us next.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Sunday Birth
I got a call from Sherry this morning that she needed me to supervise a birth today. It was a home birth in Sandpoint area.
Sherry did a great job. This is my first time really being an official supervisor. Especially the first time I wasn't involved in the prenatal part of the care. I ended up just being there for the birth it self. In fact I got there only minutes before she gave birth. Not exactly how we planned, but the Lord blessed, and it was another beautiful birth. 10 lb baby boy!
Sherry did a great job. This is my first time really being an official supervisor. Especially the first time I wasn't involved in the prenatal part of the care. I ended up just being there for the birth it self. In fact I got there only minutes before she gave birth. Not exactly how we planned, but the Lord blessed, and it was another beautiful birth. 10 lb baby boy!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Update on mom from Jeannie
MOM’s Status today so far: Sat. morning
Mom is sleeping a lot more. When she stirs, she gets (or should I say….tries to get) out of bed. I put the ottoman next to the bed so she wouldn’t fall on her face. (If I have the side bars completely up, she tries to climb out the end, which is worse). This a.m. I had just gotten her back in bed; when I turned around, her face was planted in the ottoman. I don’t even know how I managed to get her back in bed. I almost called the fire dept who has a service that will help pick people up for us; or I thought of calling Jim. Her legs don’t work at all anymore; so it is all her weight.
Last night we thought she was going to pass. Her skin was grey and she would stop breathing for what I think was approx. 30 seconds at a time and then gasp for air. She had a pulse and checked her fingernails and saw that she still had circulation. She hadn’t had any more drugs than the night and day before. She isn’t even on as much as they have said is OK. They said every 4 hrs. but she is getting the dose only 3 X’s a day.
She was in the chair and we couldn’t wake her at all. We made her comfortable and left her there for the night. I checked her through the night. Both Bill and I are very surprised that she is still with us.
Now she is in bed and resting.
She is awake very little any more. And when she is, she is having a hard time saying even a word. Yesterday, though, we had a musical show on. They played Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain. I asked if she remembered that; she said “oh yes”
The next song they did was from the Graduate: “Mrs. Robinson.” I remember how she hated that movie and song. She didn’t stir, so I guess it didn’t bother her last night. Jeannie
Mom is sleeping a lot more. When she stirs, she gets (or should I say….tries to get) out of bed. I put the ottoman next to the bed so she wouldn’t fall on her face. (If I have the side bars completely up, she tries to climb out the end, which is worse). This a.m. I had just gotten her back in bed; when I turned around, her face was planted in the ottoman. I don’t even know how I managed to get her back in bed. I almost called the fire dept who has a service that will help pick people up for us; or I thought of calling Jim. Her legs don’t work at all anymore; so it is all her weight.
Last night we thought she was going to pass. Her skin was grey and she would stop breathing for what I think was approx. 30 seconds at a time and then gasp for air. She had a pulse and checked her fingernails and saw that she still had circulation. She hadn’t had any more drugs than the night and day before. She isn’t even on as much as they have said is OK. They said every 4 hrs. but she is getting the dose only 3 X’s a day.
She was in the chair and we couldn’t wake her at all. We made her comfortable and left her there for the night. I checked her through the night. Both Bill and I are very surprised that she is still with us.
Now she is in bed and resting.
She is awake very little any more. And when she is, she is having a hard time saying even a word. Yesterday, though, we had a musical show on. They played Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain. I asked if she remembered that; she said “oh yes”
The next song they did was from the Graduate: “Mrs. Robinson.” I remember how she hated that movie and song. She didn’t stir, so I guess it didn’t bother her last night. Jeannie
Thursday, December 6, 2007
we are home
Wednesday morning we got up at 6 am to get ready to leave. I sorted a few pictures, and made notes all over mom's house, " this pile needs sorting" "this pile is give away," "this pile garbage", "Save these for next visit".
We ate breakfast at Jim's and said I goodbyes. Every visit we have, we all get closer and closer. I really enjoyed visiting with Him and Lucia. they kindly made us at least a couple of meals a day while there. The last day we were there Jim took Moriah and I out to lunch at a real Italian sandwich shop. they made fantastic sandwiches with meat and cheese imported from Italy.
The time came Wednesday morning to say good bye then to my mom. Oh how I dreaded this moment. I prayed and prayed for the Lord to give me grace. Earlier in the week I shed so many tears wondering how I would possibly be able to say good bye, knowing I wouldn't see her again on this earth. I'm not sure how God gave me grace, but I knew it was time to go even though it was so, so hard.
The Amazing thing is the Lord gave us a special gift while saying good bye. She was very alert and clear. She still had a hard time completing a sentence, but she told us don't worry, I love you, be careful as you drive. When I told her I love you, she answered with "I love you too" She was speaking so clear that we even got some on video. It was such a precious time. Such a gift from God.
Well the drive home was very long and hard. Monica got the flu, we hit a snow storm in Butte, lots of icy roads and even a flat tire. It ended up taking us 18 hours! Besides it's so hard to drive and cry at the same time. We just couldn't let our thoughts go in a sad direction.
Moriah and Mark ended up changing the tire. Moriah had no trouble at all. Since we had 6 girls and only 1 boy before there was another boy in the house, Moriah was one to take on the boy jobs with Michael, like putting the snow tires on the car. Well sometimes those experiences pay off at times like these.
We ate breakfast at Jim's and said I goodbyes. Every visit we have, we all get closer and closer. I really enjoyed visiting with Him and Lucia. they kindly made us at least a couple of meals a day while there. The last day we were there Jim took Moriah and I out to lunch at a real Italian sandwich shop. they made fantastic sandwiches with meat and cheese imported from Italy.
The time came Wednesday morning to say good bye then to my mom. Oh how I dreaded this moment. I prayed and prayed for the Lord to give me grace. Earlier in the week I shed so many tears wondering how I would possibly be able to say good bye, knowing I wouldn't see her again on this earth. I'm not sure how God gave me grace, but I knew it was time to go even though it was so, so hard.
The Amazing thing is the Lord gave us a special gift while saying good bye. She was very alert and clear. She still had a hard time completing a sentence, but she told us don't worry, I love you, be careful as you drive. When I told her I love you, she answered with "I love you too" She was speaking so clear that we even got some on video. It was such a precious time. Such a gift from God.
Well the drive home was very long and hard. Monica got the flu, we hit a snow storm in Butte, lots of icy roads and even a flat tire. It ended up taking us 18 hours! Besides it's so hard to drive and cry at the same time. We just couldn't let our thoughts go in a sad direction.
Moriah and Mark ended up changing the tire. Moriah had no trouble at all. Since we had 6 girls and only 1 boy before there was another boy in the house, Moriah was one to take on the boy jobs with Michael, like putting the snow tires on the car. Well sometimes those experiences pay off at times like these.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
update on mom
When we arrived this morning mom was surprisingly alert and clear. She asked me first thing "Where is June?"
She was doing really well compared to yesterday.
But soon after we left she began to get very agitated
She said, "I have things to do"; she said had to get out of here, She kept trying to get out of bed.
Her legs flew out and she'd stand! Of course she couldn't stand so she would sit back down. We couldn't leave the side of the bed or she would have fallen. Hospice brought full side bed rails, so she can't do that now. She is talking in her sleep. One time she said she can't get to the lights. ....but then she looked and said "turn off the lights; oh I gave you the hardest one." The lights were bothering her.
So it was a very hard day for Jeannie.
Moriah and I were trying to finish sorting all day and packing up the car. We have sorted everything except all the lose pictures.
I was almost thinking of trying to stay to help, but Jeannie and I were thinking of other solutions. I think if she could hire someone to help her 3-4 hours a day it might just be enough to help her get through.
She was doing really well compared to yesterday.
But soon after we left she began to get very agitated
She said, "I have things to do"; she said had to get out of here, She kept trying to get out of bed.
Her legs flew out and she'd stand! Of course she couldn't stand so she would sit back down. We couldn't leave the side of the bed or she would have fallen. Hospice brought full side bed rails, so she can't do that now. She is talking in her sleep. One time she said she can't get to the lights. ....but then she looked and said "turn off the lights; oh I gave you the hardest one." The lights were bothering her.
So it was a very hard day for Jeannie.
Moriah and I were trying to finish sorting all day and packing up the car. We have sorted everything except all the lose pictures.
I was almost thinking of trying to stay to help, but Jeannie and I were thinking of other solutions. I think if she could hire someone to help her 3-4 hours a day it might just be enough to help her get through.
Monday, December 3, 2007
monday in Grand Junction
Martha and April left this morning at 6 am. They made real good time and they were home by 8:30 pm. They left with a van full of paintings and misc. things from my mom's house.
It was very sad when they left last night, saying goodbye. Martha said it was like Grandma wasn't really here anymore, as even last night she was getting very disorientated. Today though she was very confused. She can't finish any thought or sentence. she says many things that don't make sense. Her eyes are glazed over part of the time.
Eric and Grandma
Moriah and Jenny with Mom
Moriah and Grandma with her Pearl necklace that I gave her. I bought it for her in the Philippines. On my birthday in Sept she came up to Libby and I gave it to her. It's hard to imagine how good she was doing just a few months ago.
We actually got her sitting up for a little bit while we changed her sheets. this is Jeannie and Race, Eric and part of Moriah.
June , Jean and Mom.
June left this morning too. She flew out. It was heartbreaking to watch her say goodbye. She told her "you are the best mom we could ever have" I have to agree.
Moriah and I stayed with her for hours today holding her hand, rubbing her hair, listening to her comments that didn't make sense. She hardly ate or drank all day. A bite of toast, and a few tablespoons of yogurt. She was so "gone" that it really surprised us when she sat up tonight and said a few things that made sense. We thought we would sing her a song. So we sang her favorite song, "beautiful" and she began to sing with us. It took her a whole bunch of effort, and it was very quiet, and soon all of us were crying and couldn't sing. As we were crying Grandma said, "we'll all be together, We'll all be in heaven". It was so special that she was suddenly so clear when she hadn't been making any sense.
It was very sad when they left last night, saying goodbye. Martha said it was like Grandma wasn't really here anymore, as even last night she was getting very disorientated. Today though she was very confused. She can't finish any thought or sentence. she says many things that don't make sense. Her eyes are glazed over part of the time.
Eric and Grandma
Moriah and Jenny with Mom
Moriah and Grandma with her Pearl necklace that I gave her. I bought it for her in the Philippines. On my birthday in Sept she came up to Libby and I gave it to her. It's hard to imagine how good she was doing just a few months ago.
We actually got her sitting up for a little bit while we changed her sheets. this is Jeannie and Race, Eric and part of Moriah.
June , Jean and Mom.
June left this morning too. She flew out. It was heartbreaking to watch her say goodbye. She told her "you are the best mom we could ever have" I have to agree.
Moriah and I stayed with her for hours today holding her hand, rubbing her hair, listening to her comments that didn't make sense. She hardly ate or drank all day. A bite of toast, and a few tablespoons of yogurt. She was so "gone" that it really surprised us when she sat up tonight and said a few things that made sense. We thought we would sing her a song. So we sang her favorite song, "beautiful" and she began to sing with us. It took her a whole bunch of effort, and it was very quiet, and soon all of us were crying and couldn't sing. As we were crying Grandma said, "we'll all be together, We'll all be in heaven". It was so special that she was suddenly so clear when she hadn't been making any sense.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday night still in Grand Junction
We actually got Mom over to Jim's tonight for a "birthday" party. Since we are not sure if she will make it till her birthday, and we are all together now we thought we might as well have a party. She did pretty good.
This is a bunch of us around the table
Mom and me. she is very tired, so she likes to lean her head against me.
3 sisters together. All with red shirts was an accident!
Grand children with Grandma
Granddaughters
She is very confused the last couple days and says the funniest things. It just doesn't make sense. Some of her responses to my questions are that we “could do it at the table” “There is water running down into a cup” “I’m really confused” What time is it? “Do they want me to make a decision” She smiles. “No I will spill it” “Maybe I’d ruin the bed” “I heard rumors that I have beds” Tonight she said "it's so hard to make boys"
Other times she is very clear still. She is just very frail and weak.
She is also jerking a lot. This really bothers her. Sometimes the jerking is so bad it's like a reflex and she actually kicks us or something.
The pictures below show her house right now. It's a a huge mess. She was always so clean so I'm glad she can't see it now. (she is staying at Jeannie's house) We have been going through all her things. She was an incredible organizer and book keeper. She had papers filed from many years ago. Letter and cards from way back.
Letters from her cousin John to her aunt rose. They tell story's of our past.
Then yesterday when Jean, Jim, June and I were in the garage together going through things, pulling out a Christmas stocking, or bells that hung on our door every Christmas, we ran across a file with my grandparents birth certificate from Italy, their immigration papers, and marriage certificate. My grandfathers Social Security card made out of metal! I suppose they used to make them sturdier then now. we found a book of instructions from when she was an operator. She had her picture in the newspaper because the phone company burned down. The newspaper article said 12,000 phone lines down.
We have found many precious memory's tucked away the normal stuff that needed to be sorted through.
We have been splitting up the painting. I ended up with a beautiful horse picture she painted and another big one. They are really good paintings.
There are so many pictures too. We still haven't begun to separate them. There are 23 photo albums, plus lots of loose pictures we are going to be dividing up. then their are the ones we will all want copies of.
We packed the van with all the nice things I'm getting to bring home. It's all the special stuff.
I got to call Salvation army yesterday. I'm hoping they will do a pick up for us because we lots of stuff to give them too.
I've been hearing lots of story's from our past.
Tonight I learned that pretty much everyone in our family on both sides died of stroke. My dad, and both Grandfathers died in their 40's.
This is a bunch of us around the table
Mom and me. she is very tired, so she likes to lean her head against me.
3 sisters together. All with red shirts was an accident!
Grand children with Grandma
Granddaughters
She is very confused the last couple days and says the funniest things. It just doesn't make sense. Some of her responses to my questions are that we “could do it at the table” “There is water running down into a cup” “I’m really confused” What time is it? “Do they want me to make a decision” She smiles. “No I will spill it” “Maybe I’d ruin the bed” “I heard rumors that I have beds” Tonight she said "it's so hard to make boys"
Other times she is very clear still. She is just very frail and weak.
She is also jerking a lot. This really bothers her. Sometimes the jerking is so bad it's like a reflex and she actually kicks us or something.
The pictures below show her house right now. It's a a huge mess. She was always so clean so I'm glad she can't see it now. (she is staying at Jeannie's house) We have been going through all her things. She was an incredible organizer and book keeper. She had papers filed from many years ago. Letter and cards from way back.
Letters from her cousin John to her aunt rose. They tell story's of our past.
Then yesterday when Jean, Jim, June and I were in the garage together going through things, pulling out a Christmas stocking, or bells that hung on our door every Christmas, we ran across a file with my grandparents birth certificate from Italy, their immigration papers, and marriage certificate. My grandfathers Social Security card made out of metal! I suppose they used to make them sturdier then now. we found a book of instructions from when she was an operator. She had her picture in the newspaper because the phone company burned down. The newspaper article said 12,000 phone lines down.
We have found many precious memory's tucked away the normal stuff that needed to be sorted through.
We have been splitting up the painting. I ended up with a beautiful horse picture she painted and another big one. They are really good paintings.There are so many pictures too. We still haven't begun to separate them. There are 23 photo albums, plus lots of loose pictures we are going to be dividing up. then their are the ones we will all want copies of.
We packed the van with all the nice things I'm getting to bring home. It's all the special stuff.
I got to call Salvation army yesterday. I'm hoping they will do a pick up for us because we lots of stuff to give them too.
I've been hearing lots of story's from our past.
Tonight I learned that pretty much everyone in our family on both sides died of stroke. My dad, and both Grandfathers died in their 40's.
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