Wednesday, November 23, 2011

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE TURKEY

It is Thanksgiving Eve, and we are looking forward to the coming of family. They are on the way, and we, like kids tracking the progress of Santa on Christmas eve, are keeping keeping up with where everyone is and when they hope to arrive.

First an update on the past several days. After a rocky start, we finally settled into a milder mode. Betty had several days of moderate and steady “urpsies” requiring the hugging of pink buckets and the use of warm washrags, but Cathey, our Hospice nurse rode again to the rescue with a slight tweaking to the anti-nausea meds and a couple of additional daily doses, and the result has been a couple of pre-holiday days without “losing it”. So mostly yesterday and today we have been resting.

Betty’s energy levels seem to be have slipped a bit this last week too, and she has compensated with longer or more frequent naps. Trying to keep her on schedule for her daily regimen of thirty-five pills for pain, anti-nausea, and PD is a challenge; she does the PDs and I push the rest. That means nine separate pill times with only slight overlap. Naturally she gets weary of pills and half-glasses of water or juice. Meals are a combination of fortified cereals, smoothies, occasional fruit, half-sandwiches, and whatever other mini-meals I can coax her into trying. She also samples a variety of fluids with water and mild fruit juices being preferred and sodas. etc, becoming less appealing. She doesn’t drink coffee and only rarely tries tea, so managing a variety of fluids becomes a challenge too. The other adaptation has been to sleep in more frequently, so the habit of being up-for-the-day at 6:00 AM (or earlier) is pretty well broken at this point.

What is going to boost her spirits and activity level is en route as I write this blog. The elder son and family (four in all including the two granddaughters) are on I-84 westbound and will arrive here late this evening. They will be staying in a friend’s home about a mile and a half west of us. After a long snowstorm delay, the younger son and family (four more including two grandsons) are en route now via Alaska Airlines and will arrive in Seattle hoping to make their connection to Portland tonight. The local daughter and her bunch (five including three granddaughters) will practically live here while all the rest are with us, filling the house with much joy and love and games and puzzles and entertainment and food for four days or more. We will therefore tomorrow at table be a brood of fifteen plus whoever else comes to the door to visit and add to the festivities.

No blessing could be greater than to have all of ours and all of theirs together “in the nest” in this special Thanksgiving season. Truly we have a great deal to be thankful for with all of us able to gather around Betty and shower her with love and appreciation for all she has been and done for us. She, of course, being the matriarch has been praying for and ministering to each of the others longer than any of them have been alive (and that includes the kids our kids married). We all owe her a time of special attention and a chance to express our love and thanks for all she means to each of us. This will not be a time of good-bye, as we all hope to gather again over the December holidays and continue this process of gentle closure. We all hope we will have an opportunity next month be together again.

Meanwhile, it’s turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce and all the extras and trimmings tomorrow. Hallelujah! Please be sure to express your own thanksgivings to a gracious God for all his blessings to you and to yours. When you do, remember to add prayers in behalf of our precious nation (especially for our service personnel) and a small prayer for Betty’s well-being in the coming days. Thanks, my friends, and may your blessing be enjoyed as much as are ours.

2 Comments:

At 10:45 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with all the family around. I pray for you & Betty daily and I'm so thankfull for all you both have done for me in so many ways.

God bless you all.

Love,
Carolyn

 
At 6:47 PM, Blogger Papa John said...

Everyone finally made it and the house has been a-rockin' ever since. The main meal was a grand spread indeed, thanks to the cooks and helpers. Betty said she thought it was the finest family meal we have ever shared. I couldn't disagree. This was the first time that every kid and their spouse and every grandchild has gathered to do Thanksgiving together. Now that IS special. Our personal lists of thanksgiving favorites was wide and varied and the most prominent word mentioned was "Family" and Friends" was a close second. Thanks for adding your blessing too.

 

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