I was looking through some things in my old document file today and found this. It has no theme nor merit. I don't even remember writing it, although I remember the things I wrote about. It was written as a bulk mailing to my church family.
After re-reading it, it appears I was still on some strong pain medicine at the time.
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For several weeks I have wanted to thank you all for your kindnesses to Milan and me during the past month. We received so many lovely cards and notes, and appreciated them so much. I so hope none of you were offended when I asked you not to come to the hospital. In years past I have done so many hospital visitations and I know what a hassle it is. The parking lots are miles away, the hallways are miles long once you even get into the hospital, and it's so easy to get lost.
I never minded doing it for my church family and hope some day I will be able to resume it to the extent I did when I was younger and well, but I just didn't want to impose upon you all and have you think you needed to come see me when I wouldn't even have known if you were there, and Mila Jo and Milan appreciate their privacy too and really were more comfortable just being there together. So please don't think I didn't WANT you there, I just didn't want to put you out to go through all that hassle.
But we have had so many sweet gestures shown to us. I guess I could start with 2 weeks ago on Sunday. I had just returned home from the nursing home and we had talked about re-arranging the furniture in the office so I could get better use out of my electric lift chair and some other items. Milan had said he would try to get it done on Monday (the 3rd) but we knew it would be a hard job to move all the stuff.
On that Sunday, the 2nd, I had been asleep most of the day and woke up about 4 p.m. so frustrated because my meds were making me sleep all the time and I didn't feel like doing anything and I just started crying in a big pity party.
The phone rang and it was Myra, and she told me she and Kelly had talked that day about wanting to help us and she said all she could think of was offering Cole and Blake because they were big and strong and could help Milan outside or me in the house on Monday. Now was that a "God thing" or not? They came over and spent most of the day Monday helping Milan move the furniture and even getting some stuff down from upstairs which we needed to have brought down.
I could not believe that God knew exactly what we needed when we needed it and laid it upon Myra and Kelly's hearts to offer the help, and the boys were so gentlemanly and hardworking and all it cost us was a couple of big pizzas for lunch!
Later on that week, Daddy and Dorothy came over and helped me with some things. Darla was away preparing for the wedding. Jewel came by one morning and visited, and Judy came over and also helped me. Sara came that week because I was having dizzy spells and she stayed with me one day to make sure I was OK.
She really saved me that day. Someone had given us fresh corn on the cob and Milan had cleaned them over the garbage can the night before and all of a sudden while Sara was here, I saw this huge corn worm crawling across the little dining room floor, I guess after escaping from the garbage can. There was no way I could bend over and pick him up even if I had been able to do it with 10,000 paper napkins. I'm not allowed to bend yet, and most of you know that I am obsessively terrified/horrified of any worms and this one was a huge monster. I yelled for Sara to come and take care of him. I would have preferred immediate execution, but she picked him up and threw him out on the deck. I'm sitting here with goosebumps just remembering it now. If I had been alone, I would have had to use my panic button on my security alarm and called for the EMS, the firetrucks, the ambulance and the PD because I could never have spent one minute alone in my house with a worm,and I wasn't able to drive yet. And I could never step on one, they are too squishy. I was really in a predicament.
Lydia came and helped me with dishes and vacuuming a couple of days.
Luke and Pauline came by one evening to visit and brought fresh cucumbers.
Byna Jean came and brought me fresh tomatoes from her and Ken's garden and we had a really good visit. It was the first time Byna had been allowed to see the whole house. Darla was there helping me at the time and I told Byna I couldn't escort her upstairs but she was welcome to go on her own if she wasn't scared. So she went upstairs and Darla and I kept hearing her say, "Oh my", "oh, no", and "I can't believe this". I thought Darla was going to die laughing because she KNOWS what is upstairs. She has carried most of it up there and tried to find room for it.
I've often thought when reading police reports in the LDR about the police going into certain houses and doing a search and finding meth and pot residue and cooking equipment. Can you imagine how long it would take the entire LPD to do a thorough search of this house, 2 full stories, 13 rooms, plus basement and attic. We would never find THEM for ages!
Last Saturday I woke up and couldn't find my glasses anywhere - wore myself out looking for them, and of course sick to my stomach without them. Don was going to come over and get something anyway so I told him to bring Judy and see if she could find my glasses. Also Jewel was planning to bring Lydia over to work so she came too and we had a glass hunting party and with all 5 of us looking we still couldn't find them and we knew they had to be in the bedroom somewhere.
Then I remembered I had prescription sun glasses in the car, thought that would at least help, but had no more got them on than our power went off so sunglasses were pretty useless in a dark house with no lights.
I was really glad I wasn't in my electric lift chair when the power went off as it was locked into the "up" position. Had I been sitting in it in the back down position I could never have climbed my way out of there without hurting my back. The only thing I can think of that would have been worse was if the worm had found itself down in the chair with me.
Anyway after Judy and Don left, Lydia found my glasses in the bedroom almost in plain sight, just behind my alarm clock but so close behind it you couldn't see unless you were looking down on them.
I now have no secrets at all. For years our bedroom has been a closely kept secret, never letting anyone in there because Milan kept all his old Frisco paraphernalia in there, including rusty pick axes, and RR tongs like his dad used to carry RR ties, and the big sledge hammers they used to drive the nails into the ties. I've often said if someone wanted to come in and murder us at night, they wouldn't even have to bring their own weapon. Everything they would need was there within just inches of (Milan's side) of the bed. He had better hope I never get to hallucinating so badly I try to use them myself on an imagined burglar.
I told Lydia to be careful when she looked under the bed for my glasses because there are always people under there. The Bible says we are made from dust and when we die we return to dust and there's so much dust under the bed that there is always somebody coming or going.
In fact, I wasn't too worried when the power went off. Everything in our house is programmed to run on dust, so if we swipe across the top of something the static electricity kicks in and powers that appliance up.
Anyway, it's been an interesting month. Some of the ladies already know how I happened to become the shocking scandalous talk of the nursing home. It's a story I could never use in a sermon, but I might tell it at a ladies' meeting some time. My life is never boring, that's for sure, even when I'm living in a nursing home.
I truly hope I haven't forgotten anyone who helped us out the past few weeks. Ed and family came to nursing home and also to the house, of course, and it was such a joy to see all them, even Ed. LOL
© Joan Rowden Hart 2009
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