From Caregiver to Daughter 11/11/22

 Back on July 30th all the family attended the Pratt Christmas at Greg's and had a splendid day with the extended Pratt family. Phil's car needed to be fixed unfortunately so he drove Stephanie back to Ohio with the Equinox and had his car fixed at Feldman's. He drove back and and Tuesday we went to a Lugnuts game before he headed back home Wednesday. Gramma got her 2 wheeled walker from Sparrow and had her last PT. On Friday August 5th Gramma went to Addie's Acres for a week as we were leaving Saturday for a week of vacation in Grand Haven. We stayed at the Blue Yonder just down the hill from Penny's behind the State Park. On August 23rd we had a zoom meeting with Michelle over and Eaton Co. to renew her guardianship. On the 26th we placed Gramma in the Sparrow transition Palliative Care program. Starting in September Gramma had nurse Bill come twice a month and Mary the social worker once a month. Gramma stayed at Addie's the weekend of the 3rd as we went to Jake's wedding at Cherry Barc Farm in Vermontville and got a hairline fracture of her wrist. Vanessa was coming twice a week for Gramma's showers as we asked Michelle if that could be done as it was too much for Jane. This also made it so Jane would have to take Gramma to the bathroom when ever she got up at night to make sure she didn't fall. Mark started taking Gramma to Seniors on Wednesdays in September and she stayed at Addie's again the weekend of the 23rd as we went to Valpo to visit the boys.Chip redone the hallway bathroom with a new vanity, mirror, grab bar and cabinet. On October 7th Luke took me to the Wharton Center for a LSO concert that he got tickets to free from work. Jane and I went to Addie's for a tour on Sunday the 9th and Theresa said Gramma could come stay there starting the 12th. We called Michelle to get her approval and switched Gramma to Sparrow Hospice Care the 10th and she is living there now where she can get the care she needs. We visit her on Mondays and Fridays and she is adjusting to being there. On the 22nd Jane and I went to Lori's 60th birthday at Sanctuary Spirits in Grand Ledge. On the 26th I attended Nancy Fineis' funeral at St Gerard's and talked to Mary. Sue Hauser came over on the 26th for her 75th birthday and Jane made her scrimp tostadas and a coconut cake. Simon has been spending the last 4 weekends at April's as Holt's football team finished their season and Adrianna is in the band. The election turned out great for Michigan as the Democrats won against the Trump backed election deniers and gained control of the State House and Senate. Jane and I are able to go to the Y and though we love her mother it is freeing to not have her 24 hours a day.

Dragging on still Moving on

 Gramma has been our focus and we keep trying our best. Senior's ended in May so no more breaks on Wednesdays. Gramma had her second booster shot and we had Nora Hallenbeck over for a lunch visit. In June Gramma fell and hit her head so we took her in for a cat-scan which showed no bleeding so she was able to go to Addie's Acre for the weekend as Jon and Sharon were coming up for a weekend visit with the grandchildren. In late June Gramma fell in the bathroom and was a little sore so we waited over the weekend to see how she was doing and she was still in pain so we took her in for X-rays and found she had fractured her right pelvis. The orthopedic doctor said she would have nerve pain but there was no danger in letting her walk. They gave her ultram for pain but after a week we put her back on tylenol because of her behavior. She had Sparrow come out to evaluate her and she is having OT and PT again along with some help with her showers. She went for her physical this week and her weight is down to 113 pounds and is not eating like she should and her doctor noticed how much she has declined. She was able to go to the Alvarado Reunion for 3 hours and Petra enjoyed staying in her face while there. I had the mole removed from my head and it has healed. I have been to 2 concerts at Sharp Park this summer and Jane and I are still taking our days at the YMCA. Phil and Stef were here for Mother's Day weekend and Lukas and I went to Debbie's 60th birthday at ConfluxCity Brewing in Portland in June. I went to a small gathering at Green Dot Stables for a 53 class reunion for 3 hours and had a good time talking with Steve Schultz there. On the June 24 Jane and I went to Mike Medrano's funeral at Cristo-Rey and St Joseph Cemetery while Mark sat with Gramma. Phil and Stef were finally able to move in their new house last week and are busy getting everything settled.  Jane is with her cousins at Flap Jack for a well earned brunch break today. The world is a mess with war, inflation, excessive heat, fires and unstableness  but we don't have time to worry about all that is falling apart as we try to hold what we can together.

Still Getting Things Done

    February went by quickly with Mark taking Gramma to Senior's on Wednesdays and everyday life following normal patterns. Phillip came up the last weekend from Ohio and then again 3 weeks later in March and got the new vanity for the bathroom that Chip put in later that week. The 25th through the 27th we went to Valpo for our birthdays and Gramma to Addie's.I had a filling replaced at Rashid's and had a biopsy done at Dr. Messenger's. On the 30th we switched our home base service to Consumer's Cellular and it is much better and clearer. Gramma got a new wig at Elegante and that will help Jane with taking care of her hair and her OT ended but now she has PT twice a week. April made me 71 and I put all new tires on the Equinox. Jane had a tooth extracted by Dr. Hagen Friday and did well as Phil and Stef came up Saturday and Easter Sunday and dinner and the weekend all turned out successfully. Stef has just moved back to Ohio 2 weeks ago and started her new job last week as they keep looking for a new home near Columbus. Lukas started his full time job for Accident Fund Monday after being a temp to hire since last September. Simon put new shelving in the basement to try to organize our closets better and is still doing more. As far as the pandemic a new BA.2 variant has caused numbers to rise again with 6.197 million deaths and 504 million cases worldwide, 988,600 deaths and 80.625 million cases in the U.S., while Michigan has 35,900 deaths and 2.401 million cases. The Russian war against the Ukraine continues as Putin is raging his authoritarian hate in Europe to the point of a possible WW 3. When will they ever learn? God help us all please!

2/4/22 13.3 " Snow

   On 2/2/22 we had 13.3 " of snow the most ever for a day in February and 6th most for a winter day in Lansing. January was cold with only 3 days above 32 degrees and only 9 days of sunshine though we missed the major snowstorms that went way south of Michigan.  We also went over 2M Covid cases in Michigan today with 32,600 deaths, the U.S. is at 77M and 900,000 deaths and worldwide 391 M with 5.7M deaths. On 1/15/22 I went digital for the LSJ newspaper as they are trying to get out of the print version by making it very expensive to be delivered. Gramma is having OT again and had podiatry and dental appointments in January and she went to Cristo Rey Seniors with Mark one Wednesday to calm the storm of Petra. I had my dental cleaning at Rashid's with the warning of creeping gingivitis looming if I don't do better with brushing. Lisa and Simon' came over Saturday the 29th to visit Gramma and Elidia came on the 31st for much needed time with her. Bill Parker passed away suddenly on January 24 and we attended his visitation on Sunday the 30th. Jane made almost 50 bacon and black bean tortillas and we took them over to Karen and family that night. Today Chip put in a new vanity and mirrors in our bedroom bathroom and after we paint it a new light fixture. The new year is moving on quickly as we await stabilization in our lives and world.

2022 A New Start

 WOW, last year I was so caught up in busyness that only 4 quarterly posts were made. This new year I will work at timeliness by being a watchman who is not bitter, hesitant and/or suspicious of the past and living in the present with a heart of wisdom. In early November over 4 days we had new flooring put in the house transforming them to a constant look and feel of a new home. Gramma and Jane got their Covid booster shots the middle of November and I in December. Gramma had her doctors checkup before Christmas and is doing well and though her PT and OT ended in early November they are going to get her more in this new year. I had my follow up with Dr. Hansen and he said my heart looked good in the tests and upped my Carvedilol to 18Mg for my blood pressure. Jon and family were here for Thanksgiving and we went there for Christmas. Unfortunately Jon came down sick on Christmas and found out he had Covid which resulted in positive tests for Lukas and Simon with mild symptoms for both of them and quaranting upstairs for 5 days and us wearing masks in the house.Gramma had stayed at Addie's while we were in Valpo and we needed to protect her as Jane and I tested negative as we all went to MSU stadium for tests with no wait to get them but still needing to be cautious. Jane and I have been going to the Y but she has been wary about going with the Omicron variant spiking numbers of infections. Worldwide there are 288 M cases and 5.44 M deaths, the U.S. 54.7 M cases and 824,000 deaths, Michigan 1.71 M cases and 29,000 deaths as the Omicron variant spreads Covid more quickly but has been less severe but is dangerous to those unvaccinated free willers. Mark has been visiting Gramma at least biweekly since October and Petra has taken her to the Seniors on Wednesday at Cristo Rey twice. The end of November I bought our leased Equinox as there are no deals on new leases and we only had 32,300 miles on it and  it is still worth close to what I paid because of the chip shortage. DeLuca's closed the first weekend of November and Phil wanted us to freeze him some pizzas so we waited in line to order and then go back to get them but it was a sunny day and about a half hour wait. Phillip was here the weekend before Christmas driving up from Ohio. We had a good visit as we had not seen him since May's vacation and he stayed at Andy Wegener's. Jim and Betty did get to go to Florida and we had dinner with them and Linda before they left. MSU won the Peach Bowl 31-21 over Pitt ending their season 11-2 with loses to Purdue and Ohio State.  2022 a new year with new adventures awaiting us ready or not but God will see us through faithfully.