Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year at Western Sizzlin' in Nags Head. My in-laws, Joan & Gene, have a condo at SeaScape and we drove down on Thursday afternoon. Sara drove my parents' car and I rode with them, while John & Daniel came separately (they stayed an extra day).

Sara did a great job of driving up & back and we all enjoyed being together. My mom was tired after the drive and almost winning SORRY!, so she took a long nap before dinner. It was nice to catch up with my dad during that time frame. After dinner, we took them to their hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn (very nice), and went back to SeaScape. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch while the rest of them played Dominoes Train. There was so much laughing that they woke me up (and I went to bed!).

The next morning, Sara and I drove my parents back home, after Dunkin' Donuts coffee and breakfast (yuuummm). It was uneventful and enjoyable.

I am thankful for the gift of having my parents with me this Thanksgiving. And thankful for the many people who pray for them and their health (and for my family as well).

May God bless you this holiday season.

Love,
Anita

Living Day by Day

Here is a picture of my mom in her 20s. She is so beautiful and still is today.

Her memory is progressively getting worse. She believes she is getting better because her head wound (from her surgery in July) is finally healing (but still has a way to go). She doesn't think she needs the hospice nurses and aides anymore, so I reminded her that she still has melanoma, something she is in denial about. Her legs are swelling and not going down. She is maintaining her weight and her appetite has remained the same. But she has more episodes of lower blood pressure (causing dizzy spells) and quick declines in blood sugar (causing hypoglycemia-hot flashes, nausea, etc.).

My dad is concerned we are going to put her and/or him in a nursing home and that is the LAST thing I would ever do. We are bringing in a hospital bed to put in the extra room when she needs it. At this point, they want to stay together in their bed, but should her health decline rapidly, the hospital bed will be there. I think that was a hard decision for my parents to make because it means that they have to see she is not going to get better.

My dad's health concerns me because he is skin and bones. He shuffles at times and is weaker. He is taking such good care of my mom, but she argues with him and gets frustrated that he can't hear. I finally flat out told them that he is getting new hearing aids. They are upset about the cost, but he can't hear me on the phone and that is an absolute necessity.

I am drained, but keep on going. My husband and kids also bear the burden of my parents' health issues. I am so grateful to my father-in-law, Gene, who has been a rock and has understood what we're going through.

Please pray for us, and also for my friends who are battling cancer, Dan and Matt. Remember that all we can do is live day by day for Jesus and bring honor and glory to Him.

Love,
Anita

Our Right & Responsibility

I had a great blog posted about voting but my computer ate it. Suffice it to say, VOTE TODAY!

I took my parents to the polls, in what may have been their last Presidential election. You never know when YOUR time is up, so VOTE! In Virginia, you have until 7:00 p.m., so just do it!