April 11 2012

Update April 11: Before I could post the riveting news below, I was called back to my mother's side on March 28, when she fell and was taken to Highland Park Hospital. I stayed with her until April 3, when she was well enough so that I was able to fly back home (but of course not without concerns). By then, Mom had been moved to Whitehall, a rehabilitation center she's been at before with very good results. As of now, Mom's been taken off oxygen (finally!), is getting PT twice a day and OT once, and making good progress. My sister and brother-in-law got back from California the night before I left, and the grandchildren have been truly wonderful about visiting, calling, and giving Mom the love and support she needs. I'm still not sure when she will be able to go back home, but hope it will be soon. Thanks to everyone who has been saying prayers for her - keep it up! And now, the pre-emergency news as it was then:

March 27 2012: I'm just recently back from spending a week with my remarkable mother at her assisted living center, where I'm still the youngest, and the fastest walker. However, more folks every trip are asking me when I moved in, so if I needed any proof that my grey hairs are proliferating, I now have it. Mom's spirit remains the same, and her mind is just as sharp as always. But unfortunately her body is not keeping pace. Just today she began P.T., and for the first time in months was somewhat encouraged, as the therapist thinks he can really help her mobility, if not the pain. And something's better than nothing. I did get to see my niece Kim and her son Cameron, my nephew Kevin and his twins Julia and Phoebe, and my sister and brother-in-law, so had a good dose of family.

I took an afternoon to visit my father's grave. Standing there approaching in my sixty-sixth year on the planet, I could recall so clearly the salesperson who came to our house when I was just sixteen, and how my sister and I could barely suppress our giggles as he talked about the "view" from this grave site. But I have to admit, all these decades later, that on that particular afternoon, with the sun shinning, the temperature an unbelievable 85 degrees, and birds singing in the nearby tree, the view was a comfort to me. Less comforting is looking at the empty places next to Dad, waiting for Mom, Brian, and I. It's a bit strange looking at the place I know I'll be buried in. But this is better than the fallback plan Brian and I made years ago, involving a rental truck, drive to the ocean, and illegal dumping. You don't need to know more...


Here at home, while we weren't as hot as the Chicago suburbs, it was also unseasonably warm for most of March. We had our own little mini-summer, nice but confusing to me and the plants as well. Right now we have jonquils and daffodils blooming,(the only thing that's close to on time) irises a good twelve inches out of the ground, and day lilies also up WAY too early. In the back terraces, the allium are up, the crocuses already bloomed and dying back, the peonies just poking through, ecchinacea as well, and the bergamot well on their way to taking over every terrace they are planted in. I wonder, though, as I see less blooms on the bulb plantings, whether the other flowering plants will also have less blooms. I know peonies in particular need cold weather to flourish, and we didn't have that at all this winter (and this is NOT a complaint, just an observation). Several of our evergreen ground cover and shrubs also look pretty pathetic, and I'm not sure if it's caused by lack of cold, lack of moisture (no snowpack to melt) or just general malaise. Time will tell, and then I'll tell you.












As for the dog news, in March I was part of only one successful adoption, but one is enough to keep me going. Lucky Carlin found his forever home with a man who can't wait to finish his training and go out into the great outdoors with his new best friend.







And sweet Sadie, now approaching her eleventh birthday, gave me a very Brittany greeting when I returned, lots of doggie singing and generously brought over each of her three toys to me, just to show me how glad she was that I was back. What a great girl, we are so lucky to have her!


And speaking of "lucky to have", here's Grandpa Brian having a really good time with his adorable granddaughters Hyla and Ayro. A very photogenic family!

My calligraphy students have just completed their second year, and this week we'll have our traditional calligraphers' pizza party. They stoically pursued Italic, our sixth alphabet, in deference to Rose Ellen who's waited over a year and a half (Italic was the reason she enrolled in the first class) while I insisted they do other, easier alphabets.




We were delayed almost every other week either because of weather, car problems, work conflicts, road work or trips, but finally we've covered lower case, caps and numbers. I'm continually impressed by their persistence, hard work, and delightful dispositions. They are wonderful students and women well worth knowing. And I think most of us (including me!) will be glad to go on to the next alphabet, a version of Rotunda that I'm far more comfortable teaching.