A Change in the Weather

I have been away for a bit. I had originally planned on taking some time off to meet someone - to explore a new relationship. Those plans had to be changed at the last minute and I found myself with arrangements already made for childcare (a word that is not really appropriate for chaperoning two teenagers), so I decided to take advantage of that and go back to my hometown for a few days and visit my aging parents.

It was a good thing to do. My father is getting quite frail, spending more and more time in a place that he finds it hard to communicate from. My mother was the one we all worried about a year ago, thinking that she was showing signs of Alzheimer's and losing her memory. But now, with my father sliding quickly down into darkness, my mother has raised herself up and assumed the role of caretaker. It has been an amazing process to witness. She is now the physically active one, the organizer, the family memory. All of these things happen on a plane a level or two below optimal, but that they happen at all is what is important.

My mother and father still live at home and steadfastly refuse to leave. My brothers and sisters have tried to get them to consider a different arrangement - going so far as to secure an apartment for them in an assisted living facility. They seemed like they were going to go for a little while, but then, they said no. We all have mixed feelings about this. We want them to be happy and together for as long as possible. We also want them to live as "healthily" as they can, which means proper nutrition, good hygiene, prompt and regular attention to medications, etc. These things do not always happen when it is just the two of them.

Anyway, it was good to see them, spend time with them, hang out at their house and do a few small projects for them. I also had a chance to visit with old friends and some of my siblings. All in all a nice visit.

All of this is taking place in a larger setting that involves the changing of seasons. I caught the last few days of warm, colorful fall days and had the chance to spend one of them out in the northern woods with one of my brothers. Now, we have cold Canadian air moving south and snow is in the forecast for the first time this year.

Things are turning cold on other fronts as well, but to read more on that, you will have to go here.

I apologize for the long gaps between posts, but that is the way of things right now. There will be more later.

P.