Two White Heads

That's all I saw of Mom and Dad last week at church. I was helping to lead worship, so I saw their two white heads come in shortly before the sermon. Then during the closing song I saw their two white heads scooting for the door. I'm home with two sickies today (secrets for staying healthy are welcome), so I won't even see the tops of the folks' heads this week.

I spoke briefly with Mom on Monday when I called. (Are you familiar with the drill? After a few minutes of conversation, she says: "Okay, thanks for calling.") She said Dad is getting used to his new teeth.

I was happy to hear that she is attending the Ladies' Bible Study at church on Thursday mornings. I think it is great for her to get out and spend time with other ladies. And great for the other ladies to get to spend time with her!

Tape Recorder

A co-worker of mine has a super duper new recorder. It records digitally for 27 hours at a pop. It even has a built-in usb so you can plug it into your computer. Dave and I were looking at it and I wondered aloud if Mom would use something like that for doctor visits. Rich has long recommended that Mom record so she can listen again later when she has questions or can't remember exactly what was said.

Dave's reply: "I don't think she wants to remember."

Hmmm.

Thyroid News

Last week Mom told me that Ves is having her double Dad's thyroid meds. Evidently Dad gets tested regularly for thyroid levels now. Mom was very kind and thanked me for pressing the issue of thyroid back in the fall. She feels like it is making a positive difference for Dad.

Birthday Happy for SuperWoman

Meg and I were finally able to get by Grandma and Grandpa's today to deliver a little happy to the birthday girl. She seemed happy to see us and we visited for a few minutes before Mom let us know it was time to go. Dad seemed good. As Mom asked questions about the church youth service from the day before, Dad couldn't remember a family we were talking about. He did remember the family's (super weird) grandfather who had worked as a security guard out at the plant back in the day. Interesting, isn't it?

Dad has purple bruises down either side of his chin from his oral surgery. He's now thinking of growing his facial hair out into a goatee like the bruises. Very funny! I told him I thought that would look great on him. :)

I asked Mom if Ruth had refilled the pill boxes for her and Mom said that she had taken over that job herself. I asked if the Heckmanns had raked the yard because it looked so nice and Mom said that she had done it herself. I think she really might be SuperWoman!

Two Less Teeth

Mom called this afternoon to say the oral surgery went well. Dad has two less teeth and some stitches. Mom let me know she had picked up Dad's prescriptions (when? and where was Dad? I wish she would let me help.). Mom was going on about how well things were going, said Dad was really quiet, and then said proudly, "And I haven't given him a single pain pill."

What??? I told Mom that normally it is recommended to give pain medicine on schedule after a surgery in order to stay ahead of the pain. This was a foreign concept to her. She countered that Dad had not asked for anything. I reminded her that he is one tough cookie and might not label it pain until it is excrutiating. Mom remained unconvinced, so I suggested she call the doctor's office and ask for their recommendation. I hope she called. I really hope she gives Dad some pain medicine.

And happy birthday to Mom! 89 years old and still doing things her way. Here's to you, Mom. We are not worthy.

Cold, Cold Sunday

On our way to church this morning at 8:00 a.m., the thermometer read 17 degrees! This is just unheard of in our part of the country. As the service started up, Mom and Dad were not in church and I assumed they had decided to stay home and stay warm.

Wrong!

After church, there they were in the back of the sanctuary. Turns out they had a low tire, so they stopped to get air at HEB on the way. We have got some tough folks. Mom did say Dad wants to get new tires this week.

Wondering

As I thought about my extended phone conversation with Mom, I started wondering about her memory/cognition. Some of her glitches are easily dismissed, like forgetting what she wanted to say next. We all do that, don't we? And then in the course of the conversation, it would come back to her and she would say what she wanted to say. Not a concern.

But then when I asked her what they did to celebrate New Year's/Anniversary, she couldn't remember what she did that day. Which seemed odd to me, because those are memorable days, not like forgetting what you did last Tuesday. I realize Mom and Dad are low key and didn't paint the town red or anything, but it seems like a significant day one would remember.

And in talking about her stocking gifts, Mom was mystified as to when we had stuffed their stockings. Of course, I reminded her that Santa fills stockings. (Mom has a long-standing aversion to Santa Claus. I don't know why.) Then I admitted that we filled them when we popped by Christmas Eve. She didn't remember us being at her house Christmas Eve. I sat in the kitchen and visited with her that night, Dave was watching something on t.v. with the crew, and the children were playing with cousins. We gave Dad his birthday gift, some sweats which he wore the next day. Really, we are pretty hard to miss.

It just makes me wonder. And watch.

Nice Phone Visit

I called today and had a really nice visit with Mom. She sounds great.

*They really enjoyed their visit from Ruth, Rich and family in December.

*Mom is dealing with the cold weather by making soup. :)

*Dad is riding the bike, taking the timer in with him, and is up to 20 minutes. He's also walking outside on the driveway.

*Mom and Dad spent their anniversary quietly at home.

*They will be celebrating Mom's 89th birthday by getting a couple of Dad's teeth pulled. :P

*And they thought the coal in their stockings was very funny!