Lost in the shuffle

With the holidays, a daughter in college and making myself sick with worry it has been a busy few months.

The holidays were lovely, Dad especially enjoyed Thanksgiving. He could smell the turkey cooking and see pies and knew something reallllly good was in the works. I remember the rules at thanksgiving when I was growing up. The table was set with the "good china and silverware". Celery stuffed with cream cheese, pickles and olives came on the table first. With dire threats to our health if we should eat ANYTHING. Dad and I would circle the table filching something with every pass. I am sure my mom knew what we were doing, just choose to ignore it. lol

This thanksgiving was a little different. We ate earlier, the rules were disbanded and we ate well and often. Dad enjoyed every moment.

Christmas was wonderful. My collegiate daughter came home and the family was whole. My Dad was so glad to see her. He kept looking at her and asking who she was. not the normal welcome home for the prodigal daughter! My daughter, a savvy caregiver in her own right recognized that he was glad to see her and was trying to place her in the family dynamic. She would explain and tell him about college. They agreed that both of them being home for the holidays was terrific.

Then we had dad's birthday. We had a lovely party at a restaurant that makes a fuss over the birthday boy. An icecream sundae and a song were his. He stood and waved to his adoring fans and laughed. Could not have been a better response. We called his sister and she and dad had a lovely chat. Stella (his sister) filled him in on who had died, how old everyone was and did an amazing thing for me....told him he was to stay with me and that I was taking good care of him. Boy, did I need that stroke.

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I had lost sight and my conviction. This created stress in our home, which increased Dad's agitation and sundowning reared its ugly head. So a little self talk, a trip to the doctor (for me) and a little time off for good behavior has helped.

I am using my time off wisely. I am in Juneau, to talk to our legislature and request additional funding for grants that support in home care for our seniors. The idea is, caregiving is tough and requires sacrifices (duh) and the caregiver needs help, be it chore, respite, pca.......... If the caregiver has this support they can care for their loved one at home for a longer period of time. And that is my goal. So here I am in Juneau, Alaska waiting for my appointments to start in 2 days. In the meantime I will eat, sleep, write my testimony, sleep some more, read a book, watch a movie and go for a walk. And to be honest, the weather has turned bad, cold and strong winds. muahahahah. So walking may be out. I may just have to sleep, eat, read, write and watch movies............Oh my goodness I am a decadent girl!