A Very Sad Day

This morning my beautiful Mom (94yrs young) passed away.  She was at home with my sister and my niece Amy and granddaughter, Driana at her side.  She was doing really well at home and yesterday Driana called and told me they were having a great time making some Greek food.  She even sent me a photo of her and my Mom and sister making Dolmadas.  (stuffed grape leaves) I talked to Mom and she asked how I was doing.  So typical of a loving mother!  I said I was fine and I asked how she was and she said she was doing fine too and was happy we were all well.  I told her I loved her and after hanging up I was filled with a peace that I can't explain. I was really happy hearing her voice and seeing how she was enjoying herself.  But God has his plan and today he took her home.  She was a strong lady and the smartest women I ever knew.  She loved our Dad and they had a wonderful relationship.  Dad died when Mom was only 50.  She never remarried but went on to live a full and adventurous life.  She traveled the world, worked for 32 years at Memorial Hospital and then after retirement she worked at various other jobs as well as catering many events at her church.  She was a fabulous cook! I learned so much from her over the years.  She and Dad raised 6 kids, and she lived to see 15 Grandkids and 33 Great-Grandkids.  I hope I have all those numbers correct! I might have missed a few!  I have many wonderful memories of my childhood and her lessons on life to keep in my heart.  One of my fondest memories was the year she met Jack and I in New York city.  Jack had a conference for work so Mom and I headed downtown and took a tour of the city. We took the ferry to Ellis Island and she was able to see where her parents came to America from Greece.  I had my Grandparents name put on the wall at Ellis and she was able to see that and it brought tears to her eyes as she sat on a bench and wondered if her own Mother could have sat there waiting for family to come and get her.  It was a touching moment for me to be a part of.  These last years have been a bit more difficult as she navigated the gates of aging.  She never thought she'd live past 80 since none of her family had.  She had always been so active and lead a healthy life style that brought her well over that age.  But our bodies give out and falls and hospitalizations took a toll this year.  When my sister fell ill and then Covid came and Mom found herself in the hospital with a fractured leg the whole picture changed.  Without family in the rehab center she was having cognitive issues. She lost a lot of weight and her strength lessened. We were all happy when she could come home. We had high hopes of getting together this summer as she was eating better, gaining some weight back, and seeming to have better memory issues. But it wasn't to be.  So today I'm sure there's a happy reunion with Dad, her parents, her siblings, and her Grandson Jono, and many other family and friends who went before her.  RIP Mommo..you will be so missed.

The three witches of Chicago!

Me, Midge, and Mom..the 3 musketeers!

One of many selfies!

I will miss sitting at your kitchen table Mom.  Love you  

The Usual

Usually I post a Memorial Day blog but never got to it this year. I don't know about you but I'm feeling a bit off kilter.  With all that's happened in the last few months and Covid thrown in I feel like the days are flying by with not much happening!  Ashland usually has a parade with a lovely memorial service for our fallen heroes to follow.  The parade never happened but there was a small service in the cemetery.  Such a small remembering for such big sacrifices from our military to keep our freedoms.  Thank you all who are serving or who have served. My Dad and brothers served and I'm very proud of them.  Jack and I usually put in our garden on Memorial Day weekend and that did happen.  We worked hard on Saturday to get it done.  Jack had added 2 more raised beds and we filled them with veggies that hopefully will be enjoyed by harvest time.  Our blueberry bushes look promising but the raspberries don't.  Oh well, we'll probably look for some new bushes to add and then next year could be better.  Our weather has turned from this snowy pic a few weeks ago:

To this:

Unusually warm yesterday: almost 90de and today in the 80's.  Much cooler by the weekend but thankfully no snow!  I have more outdoor work ahead with painting our porches and getting the yard spruced up for our Grandson's, Anthony, graduation party.

He graduated with "social distancing" and only parents allowed.

Here  he is with his Dad,our oldest son, Jack...Congrats Anthony! He'll be off to Bowling Green University in the Fall.   He's a great kid!  We also had another graduation.  Anthony's sister, Driana, finished her nursing school for her RN!  She worked 2 jobs (at a nursing home and hospice) while going to school full-time.

She'll be a fabulous nurse with her sweet, caring attitude and tons of spunk too! Love you girl!  She actually flew into to Chicago to  help with my Mom (Her Great-Grandma) who made it  home from the rehab center last Thursday.  We really appreciate her willingness to do this after having to cancel a vacation due to Covid.  She's a gem!  One other graduate in our family is our sweet Granddaughter, Katie!

She's out in Portland, Oregon . I haven't gotten any pics of her in her graduation garb yet and not sure how it's all going down out there.  We were suppose to fly out next week for her graduation but it was cancelled. If it's moved to later in the summer we may be able to fly out then.  But who knows what will happen...not the usual I'm sure! We love you Katie and are so proud of you!  We have much to be thankful for even if it isn't business as usual right now.  Finally, the usual flowering is happening here....

The azaleas look beautiful

The rhododendron is loaded with blooms.

Snowball bush is a blizzard of white.

Miss Kim lilac is blooming with fragrance!  I wish I had smell-a-blog! So I may have said not much is happening but after writing this I realize that life is happening...fast paced and filled with the usual growing season with family members and plants!  I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day filled with remembering and honoring fallen heroes or anything else that you usually do on this first weekend of the start of the Summer season.  Let's all hope for good things ahead.

One Flew Over The Robin Nest

Good morning from Chicago.  I made a quick trip to help Midge get ready for my Mom coming home next week.  There are tons of phone calls from agencies that will help with home care and other preparations.  I was going to help take Mom to a doctor appointment but we felt that picking her up for the appointment and then dropping her back at the rehab facility would be very upsetting to her.  She wants to come home and can't understand why she's still there.  She pulled out the tube that was draining her infected gallbladder so they cancelled the appointment anyway. She has had more dementia issues since being there but we're hoping that being back in her own home will be more helpful. My sister has to stay away for a 2 week period to make sure Mom doesn't have Covid 19, She's one of the few in the facility that hasn't gotten it.  She tested negative (if you can even believe the tests) and will be tested again before coming home.  My brother will be here along with home care and then my Granddaughter, Driana, will come the next week.  I'll probably be back for the 3rd week if necessary. We just don't have a clue as to how this will go since we haven't seen Mom since early March. It's a bit of a stresser for sure.  But while I've been here we've gotten my sister's office taken apart and moved upstairs and the room prepared for a hospital bed.  Lots of things need to be in place and then we hope Mom stays healthy until then. On a lighter note,  my sister has a robin that built a nest on her lamppost on her deck.  It's been fun watching the parents take care of the newbies.

Not sure if this is Dad or Mom..

Getting the eagle...or I should say, Robin's eye!

A quick flip of position and the nesting continues.

Fuzzy wuzzy babies! Good luck kiddos.  It's a crazy world out here! Just ask Arnie

I took Arnie with me but he really needs a groomer bad! Thankfully the Barker Shop is open in Ohio and I will continue to call for an appointment.  He's so over it! Have a good weekend. I hope to catch up with my blog buddies today. I'll be heading back home tomorrow.  Jack has held the fort down.  Thanks Babe! See you soon!

 

Happy Mother's Day (and other stuff!)

Happy Mother's Day! I'm sure it's being celebrated very differently in many places than it has been in the past.  Yes, we are still in our....pardon the overused phrase..."New Normal".  I hope it's a beautiful day in your neighborhood on this Sunday.  First I will give a shout out to my Momma.  She is still in the rehab facility but doing good.  Her leg has healed and they are getting her up and walking.  However, it's been a touch and go situation because she is having bits of forgetfulness..aka dementia.  This whole situation has made it confusing and difficult for her. She was already having some forgetfulness issues and the stress of my Sister getting sick and then her accident really has done a number on her.  She has good and bad days and we've kept in touch with zoom and phone calls. We all send her letters, packages, photos and flowers to make sure she knows we haven't forgotten her and we are hopeful she will be able to come home with home care in a few weeks.  Our biggest concern is the amount of Covid 19 in the facility.  There are 65 residents and there are 60 cases of Covid there.  Part of those cases...1/3..are staff members.  Mom was tested yesterday because she's having a doctor visit next week and thankfully she tested negative.  We hope to get her out of there with that same diagnosis. 

Love you Mom! Hope to be with you soon!  Another thing that happens in our new normal is time marching on. May is a big month for birthdays in our family.  May 7th our Lexi.turned 14 on the 7th.

She's a sweetheart, a straight A student and a joy! Love you Lex! Yesterday was her Dad's birthday. Phil turned 40! How in the heck did that happen? He went from this cutie:

To the Dad to two of his own cuties:

Love you Phil! You're the best! We have other birthdays to celebrate this month and a holiday at the end so life is marching on and we'll just have to do the same. Happy Mother's Day! Take care and stay safe everyone!

Merry May!

April slipped out and May day arrived.  I know many were looking forward to this month in the hope that things would be getting back to normal, or I should say a "new normal".  Some states have moved forward quicker than others but it's slowly happening.  Ohio's stay at home order has been pushed to May 29th but some businesses are allowed to open and more will open next week.  Yesterday we were able to start doing elective surgeries that don't require an overnight stay.  We had a 6:30 am meeting that involved an in-service on chest tube care and then a short staff meeting. I wish I had taken a picture of all of us sitting around wearing masks.  I know that we all wear masks in the OR but for some reason this just made me laugh looking around at everyone.  It looked like a bank robber convention.  We were all glad to see our co-workers again on our home turf.  I had posted the Oscar the Grouch song about not letting the "Sunshine ruin your rain" on Facebook and promised I wouldn't complain about anything all day! And I kept that promise!  (Monday however is fair game... Ha!) Before patients can have surgery they have to test negative for Covid 19.  So they come to the hospital and drive up, roll down their window, and a nurse sticks a Q-tip up the patient's nose.  30 seconds  up each nostril.  Not fun!  Friday was a rainy, cold day and standing outside doing that chore for hours had nurses soaked and cold.  Some of the patients were not very nice about it but it's either that or no surgery. I'm sure everyone is having a change of life plans these days but it will get better.  One of my co-worker's family owns a donut/coffee shop.  It's called "Brewed" and it's the cutest place ever and they make the absolute best donuts.  Brewed has kept the hospital in donuts these past weeks and Friday we were treated again:

It didn't take long for those babies to disappear!

Thanks Brewed! (Libby's Mom!)
The only other news worthy item around here is we bit the money bullet and bought a new/used (I mean previously owned) car:

Jack's jeep was on it's last legs and it was just time to say bye-bye to it and hello to this. Oh, and I got a couple pairs of new shoes.   A pair for work and then these:

What's so special about these?  First they are new and not "previously owned" and they have some kind of technology that counts your steps.  I haven't plugged it into my phone yet and might not ever do that.  Why did I buy them then? Well, for the best reason ever.  They were on sale.  Probably because pink, flowered shoes aren't as popular as others I guess!  That's all there is folks...have a good weekend! I wish everyone a Merry May!