We’ve had a pretty good week with Bruce’s aunt here.  We’ve all adjusted to having an additional person around, even Katie.  I was concerned that Katie would have issues with the noisy walker as it (and Aunt V) rolled over the tile floor, that she’d bark at the wheelchair, be distressed by the oxygen machine humming in the corner.  But no, as soon as Aunt Vi arrived Katie sniffed her and settled in to watching her.

This morning, after I left for work Aunt V got up and began to do her normal walking exercises.  But she didn’t feel so good and sat down early to watch the birds at the feeder.  She says Katie settled into a chair across the room and watched her quietly

Turns out Aunt V really didn’t feel well, and ended up going to the hospital with shortness of breath, dizziness and blurred vision.  They’re doing tests now and hopefully it was just dehydration and nothing more serious.

We were making progress getting her stronger, but Katie knew something was wrong.  Now we’re all hoping that she’ll be back home tomorrow, ready to do her walking laps, drink her water, take her vitamins and work steadily to get back to her own place again.

Katie says she’ll keep an eye on Aunt V.  It what she does best.  Right now she’s waiting by the front door for her Dad and his Aunt to come home.

A dog’s job is never done.

Bruce’s Aunt has been staying with us for the past week as she gets back on her feet after a recent stay in the hospital.  She had an outpatient procedure that complicated itself into a 5 day stay.

The first night here was quite hectic.  The hospital didn’t discharge her till early evening and we had to get oxygen delivered that night, get her set up here at the house, and get ourselves oriented to her needs.  She was exhausted and very weak, not able to stand on her own, as we struggled with tubes for oxygen and the foley she’s still wearing.  Eventually we got her settled into bed, but neither of us slept that night, listening to every sound she made.  At one point during the evening I thought to myself…’this is what 95 looks like…and it’s not pretty.’

She’s gotten a lot stronger during the past five days, thanks mostly to the diligence of my husband who makes her sit up in different chairs, stand up repeatedly and walk back and forth down the hall and out to the kitchen several times a day.   She’s doing her own breathing treatments, working on getting her lungs stronger.  I think she wants to go home and get away from us! 🙂

I wonder what she thinks about all day as she watches TV, takes her pills, does her exercises.  I wonder what she sees in her future.  Then again maybe at this stage of life the future is no further out then supper plans for the evening.  I guess there’s no better way of living in the moment than being 95 and hanging out with family.  We’re lucky to have her with us.

Regardless of the circumstances.

Tonight Katie went ballistic while watching out the front door for her Dad and her Aunt Vi to arrive home from the hospital.

Guess what was in the driveway?  This one hissed at me too, but she was so small it didn’t matter.  I carried her over to the pond (the direction she was headed anyway) and let her go.

Another turtle with a scary life experience who survived to tell the story.

Katie’s mad again.

Back in February I decided I’d accept PJ’s challenge to write a letter a week until Memorial Day.  I am a letter writer at heart, having come from a long line of letter writers.   I concede that written letters sent with a stamp may have moved into the realms of dinosaurs but it was a challenge that touched my being.

I’m happy to say I made it, though it wasn’t always easy and the last couple of weeks I was scouring the address book looking for someone that I thought would appreciate a letter, someone that hadn’t already received a note from me.  And I’m less happy to report that after all those weeks and all those letters I got a total of two letters back.  Previously I had believed that letters begot letters…that surely people receiving a surprise letter would respond in kind.  Not necessarily so.  Both people that wrote back said they were happily surprised to get a letter these days, and both their letters were newsy and fun to read, and something I wouldn’t have received without my initial effort.  But still.  I calculate that I mailed at least 12 letters.  My response rate wasn’t much better than the expected response to a direct mail marketing campaign.  And I wasn’t even advertising anything nor asking for money!

Still I have to say it was an interesting experience; one that made me reach out to people I normally would only write to at Christmas.  And while some of the letters were fun to write, some felt more like a chore.  So going into the future I think I’ll still be writing letters, but not so much on a schedule.

Still I’m glad I did it, and I’ll imagine that everyone that got a letter smiled a bit even if they couldn’t find the time to let me know.  And if you didn’t get a letter – don’t feel slighted – it’s just that I know you read my blog and you already have the latest news!