Last day of August 2020

TERRY

We are in the last day of August and looking forward to a new month tomorrow.  I would say Terry has made some, but not much progress this month.  We are hopeing for much more starting tomorrow.  I have hope that we can not only continue OT and PT but get it more often.  IF I can make that happen then we will double down and work harder at home to make Terry better as well.  I would say that we do not need more nights like last night.  We were up 4 times to take care of Terry's needs BUT that is unusual as it is only twice most nights.  As the sun comes up and the day heats to the 90s we have hope that things will get better!

I had a difficult weekend.  No, it was not Terry but family.  I do not know why but I think of siblings a lot on weekends.  I thought about Dave and what a great man and brother he WAS.  I miss him a lot.  There was actually good news as sister Helen is now kind of settled into her new home.  It looks nice and I am guessing she will like the size of it better than the house she and Mike had built.  She has not commented much on leaving their home but I am guessing it was kind of bitter sweet.  Something she wanted yet leaving was hard I think.  Here I am putting thoughts and words down that I think Helen may have felt and I have really no idea!!!  I thought about sister Joan and her busy life in Utah with those great grand kids.  As is often the case my mind goes the way of Janet and Ronald and what would they be today if they had lived a long life?  My mind also wandered to my kids and the life they have.  I am thinking I need, in the future, to keep busy on the weekends so I DO more and THINK less!

As I welcome the new week we have no appointments scheduled and no place that we have to go so maybe we will have some surprises for the beginning of September.

It is August 30th, 1999

As I get into the car and head east towards Cleveland Ave I have many thoughts going through my mind.  Here I am starting my 23rd year in the St. Paul Schools.  I have taught 21 years at Highland Park Junior and it looks like I will stay put until the end of my teaching days.  I received a letter in the past week that said I should expect only 4 students this year.  I am concerned that 4 students is NOT enough to keep me busy so I suspect they may have me do some other teaching as well.  For that I am not excited and my feeling proved correct! 

I walk into the office at about 7:45 and am greeted by several teachers that I know and a new principal who I know has a reputation for not being all that kind to special education!  The secretary informs me that my room will be 108.  I kind of frown and stop to think.  108 is NOT a classroom as I am know the school and that is what used to be the print shop but printing was eliminated last spring.  I look in my mailbox and find a schedule of the week and hurry out to see my new room!  When I enter 108 I am floored.  The space is large as it had been a print shop that would accommodate up to 25 students.  NOW there were boxes piled high in the middle of the room and it almost made for two rooms.  There were NO student desks, only long tables.  It was very clear what this room was.  It had been dismantled as a printing classroom and over the summer was used to store everything that they did not know what to done with!  This was going to be a classroom for the deaf/hard of hearing and it was clearly only a junk room!  The boxes piled high were either empty or had junk in them from the summer work that was done.  The tables were old and ink covered.  There was no teacher desk and no chairs, only stools!  

This was the start of my school year.  As always I made do with what they gave me and in the end three students showed up for the year.  I later found out that one of the teachers at the elementary school encouraged parents to send their kids to other places.  

For the year I ended up teaching a senior high class of sign language in the junior high building and one can imagine how the senior students loved to walk to the junior high.  I often spent the first several minutes of class filling out forms for the students who did not show up!  I think they headed to the junior high and then ended up outside talking and smoking!  I also was assigned a second hour class in the senior high which consisted of special need kids working in a certain program where all one had to do was walk around and monitor IF they were working!  

It was a year to forget!  Over the next several years we did get students to come back to the junior high but the classrooms were not much better.  The last 2 years I had a room with another teacher and we were expected to have 2 classes going in the room at the same time!  The year after I retired they moved the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Junior High Program to another school several miles away. It certainly was time for me to move on!

As I finish up writing I hear Terry has the TV on so it is time to get her on her walk.

I can't believe it

TERRY

I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID NOT BLOG YESTERDAY.  Terry had a VERY busy day yesterday.  She had not had OT or PT all week so what did they do?  They both came yesterday!  So there was OT at about 11:00 and then at noon PT came.  The doctor had detected something in her right lung and he referred her to the primary doctor so she had that appointment at 2:20.  She actually saw the PA and she highly recommend we go to the hospital and get a chest X ray.  She said they were not open on the weekend so she printed out the order for that and for blood work and off we went.  So Terry had two procedures at the hospital and it took all of 30 minutes!  A couple days ago she had ONE procedure and she was there for 3 hours!  After leaving our home at about 1:40 we finally arrived home again at about 5:00.  The PA (physicians assistant) thought she would be able to call with the results of the X ray but that did not happen.  I am guessing that "no news" is good news.  So Terry continues to take one day at a time and hope that she gets better to the point she can walk.

Not much else at 6:45 AM!  Kim is coming over this morning while I get in a 30 minutes tennis lesson and then put in maybe an hour of tennis from 9-10.  Kim sent us a note saying that she has something she needs to be back for on the 9th so she will be here until the 8th.  Terry and I are assured of eating well for the next several days!!!

I think I am out of words at this time.  I still am shaking my head as to how I missed blogging yesterday.  I must have woken up in the morning and was unable to get the image out of my head of the in home care person the day before sitting on the couch on our dime and playing a game on her phone!  Well I do admit I actually am kind of busy in the mornings.  Usually it is first turn off Terry's feeding tube machine and then take care of that.  After that it is crushing meds and putting them in the device that connects to her feeding tube.  Then there is usually taking care of some of Terry's needs as well.  I am making it sound like it is a full time job and of course it is not but I have to come up with some excuse as to why I did not update Terry on the blog yesterday.  It just can not be that I am getting old and I forgot!!!

Enough for now.  Oh I did want to say that a good friend's mother died yesterday.  His father had died  a few years ago.  It brought me back to the time that Dad died.  It was not unexpected BUT it was a whole new feeling to not have any living parent which of course means one is in the old generation then!  Wow, that was in 1997 which is a long time ago.  I will add that it is now over two months since brother Dave passed away and I still often get misty eyed during the day.

I have a feeling that I will have a good lesson as I am now almost finished with my FP and that will give me the get up and go that I need to hit the ball!

Why am I paying big money for this?

Just a note as to the journey towards good health for Terry!  I am more than a bit upset so this may not be such a nice posting.
We had a new gal come in today for in-home-care.  We had not had any Mon-Wed but thought we would try it again today.  The gal came in and I would say IF I were grading her as a teacher I would stamp a BIG F-!!!  The first sign that not all was great was about 8:15, fifteen minutes after she arrived.  I had shown her around the house and then told her that Terry would be ready to get up in about 10 minutes.  As I sat down to the computer I heard Terry ask me if I had the living room TV on?  No I did not but our in home care did have something on her phone that was loud!  She did make the beds, kind of.  She did not know how to do the wheelchair or the strap that Terry uses when she gets in and out of the chair.  About 10:00 I had finished some work and I walked into the living room to talk to Terry.  The gal was sitting on the couch playing a game on her phone!😡  I am guessing we paid about $10 for her work as she played the game!!!  Then I walked into the kitchen after I had talked to Terry and there staring me in the face were dirty dishes on the counter.  Dishes that should have been taken care of without me saying anything.
End of the story is we said good-bye at noon and I put in a call to the agency at 12:10.  NO MORE!  Terry's daughter Kim is here and is a big help.  We will NOT have in home care for some time and see how it works.  At this time we will go it alone and see how things work out.  It will take me some time to start to think in a decent way after this morning!  I guess I have said enough.

Thursday, August 27th

TERRY

Terry had another busy day yesterday.  She arrived at the hospital for a procedure at 8:30.  She checked in and then of course it was "wait".  Actually after a short time a nurse came and said she would take Terry in.  I said I would get a cup of coffee.  The nurse said the hospital allowed NO visitors so that was a NO.  It was then that I realized that this was going to be a long wait for me so I kissed Terry and left for home.  They had said the day before that it would take 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  So it was "home" for me and then on the way back towards noon I stopped at Costco.  Finally Terry called me and said she was ready to go in for the procedure--this was about 3 hours after they took her back into the office!  FINALLY at 12:35 I received a call saying she was in recovery and would be out front in about 20 minutes.  I set my watch for 17 minutes and then drove to the front.  At about 1:00 they wheeled her out to the car.  We arrived home by 1:25!  A long day for Terry to be mostly sitting up in the wheel chair.  She said they did a covid test and had to wait for the results and then it was wait some more.  They went down into her stomach with a scope to see if there was anything and the test came out negative so that was good but not sure it was worth ALL the time!  

We told Kim she need not come over as Terry rested most of the afternoon.  She was supposed to have PT and we cancelled that.  The OT and PT are an issue as there has been nothing this week and the last session for PT was over a week ago.  At time this recovery is very frustrating.  

Some friends brought over dinner last night so that was good.  Not sure what is going to happen today as this week has been full of changes and disruptive kinds of things.  

Our world today is certainly a different one than only a few years ago.  An example is my work of 38 years and what some work is today.  I was in education for that time and it was pretty much get up and go into the office or classroom each day.  The work often started at 6:30 AM and sometimes ended as late as 6:00 PM if my team had a game or match.  Now I know that during that time there was a wide variety of work for people but here is an example of one kind of work today that I am sure did not exist back then.  Terry's grandson Zach works for a company and he trouble shots when things go wrong.  He is currently working a full schedule while he lives in Atlanta GA.  Well he worked last Monday but he was also visiting friends in Pensacola FL which is in the panhandle.  Then on Tuesday he was working but he drove to Naples to visit Terry.  I am guessing he still is busy with his work but from Naples he said he would be driving to Orlando FL to visit friends and from there drive home.  All in a weeks time and all the time working too!  For sure, a different world today than in the past.

Not much more to day this morning.  What will the day bring?  Well not really sure BUT I do know that I am starting it out with FP with some heavy cream to make the day at least start in a good way.  As I sign off I see where we got almost an inch of rain last night and we must have had some bad weather as well as the computer had been shut down and the clock on the stove was wrong.  

Remembering family

June 11, Thursday 2020

It is a Thursday.  Family members John, Judi, Joan, Marlys, self and Helen are taking some last minutes to remember brother Dave.  We so wish Glorine could be here but that is not possible.  We had gotten through the visitation yesterday and now we are at the church for his funeral.  It is a day of emotions and memories.  Dave is the 3rd of us 6 kids to pass into heaven.  Ronald was first in 1964 and then Janet in 1965.  We now have, in the order of siblings #3 Joan, #5 self and #6 Helen.  It is a day to remember and to look back at family and what life is all about.  Many family and friends gather in Jamestown for the funeral but then there will be the trip to Bergen cemetery which is 150 miles away.  As we gather we cry, we mourn, we laugh and then we get ready for the trek to Bergen which is where Mom, Dad and Ronald are buried.  It will be Dave's resting place for now.  It is a place where memories are many and there is a certain peace about the place.  As the service closes we walk out of the church, we greet friends and family and then get into the cars to drive the 2+ hours to the place where Dave's body will be lowered into the earth and remain there until Jesus comes to bring everyone home who loves our God.  As the hearse heads south of Jamestown we fall in line and the memories flood my mind.  Fifty-six years ago we did this same thing.  Ronald was taken from Kulm to the same resting place with the same kind of caravan being lead by the hearst.  As we travel the North Dakota country roads my mind wanders back to that day in October and with wet eyes I remember that day as if it were yesterday.  The miles seems so long and the faces in the car seem to be just shadows of what life is about.  Life is so full of good times but then life is also full of times that we are sad.  We arrive at Bergen cemetery and there are about 30 people there.  There is a short service and then Dave's body is lowered into the ground.  So ends another sibling who has gone onto eternal life but then also they have left Helen, Joan and I here on earth to love each other but also to remember back on the good times of the Lee family on the farm in North Dakota!  Perhaps in the coming days I may write about the "good old days" and yes there were many.  Enough for this afternoon.

Another day at the hospital

TERRY

We are off to the hospital again this morning.  We got a call yesterday and they said for now they are testing every patient for Covid so we need to come in an hour earlier!  So it will be arrive at 8:30 and by the time Terry is finished with the procedure it will be close to noon.  It will not be an easy morning for Terry as sitting so long etc is not easy.  We continue to have issues with her OT and PT.  PT is coming this afternoon BUT this is the first time this week for PT and we have not seen OT.  I continue to make calls and hear promises BUT still we have seen little change.  Terry really needs the therapy so I will continue to call so we will see what comes of it.  

Terry's grandson Zach stopped for a quick visit yesterday.  Terry was so pleased to see him.  Kim did a lot of work in the house yesterday.  I think Terry feels good about having some cleaning done.  Not that it was awful but to have things dusted and cleaned made her feel better.  

As of this morning I have not been out much or on the tennis courts so I will try to get something in tomorrow or Friday.  I actually thought about a second book as I was sitting down at the computer yesterday.  I do have a lot of time on my hands as I try my best to care for Terry.  Maybe!

No it is early, 5:50 AM and I just poured my first cup of FP so will sign off for now.  I may come back this afternoon  and write some.

Tuesday here we come!

TERRY

Terry's day was a bit strange yesterday.  She had an 11:00 check in for her procedure and we arrived just in time.  She got checked in about 11:15 and then went across the hall to sit again!  After about 15 minutes a nurse came out with two containers of white liquid!  She said Terry should drink the first one (about 16 oz) and then at 12:45 drink the second one and then she would be called in at 1:30!  What is a person to do sitting in the hospital for two hours with a mask on!  So Terry said let's go for a walk and finally we decided to drive home which was about a 20 minute drive.  We drove home, Terry started on the second container as she was on the couch and then after a few minutes we were in the car again driving back to the hospital.  Finally she was called back into the office at about 1:40 and presto, the procedure took all of 7 minutes!  She needs to have a blood draw and on the way home I asked if she wanted to stop and have that done and anyone could guess the answer!!!

I need to get on the phone today as over the last three weeks Terry had OT and PT each Monday.  Neither happened yesterday😬 and I am not a happy camper so to speak.  Terry really should be getting 2 OTs and 3 PTs a week and has been only getting 1 and 2.  BUT to not have anyone show up yesterday makes for an upset person in me.  I had called OT and she said there was a hitch in the order but I did not even hear from the PT.  Here it is 8:40 and I will wait until 9:00 to call.

We did not see Kim yesterday but she will be here today around 9:00 and I am guess stay until noon or so.  

I have not set up any tennis for the week but should do that today.  

Again not a whole lot to say this morning.  I will try to make some calls and also I think I need to reorder the liquid that Terry gets at night.  I think she has about 3 or 4 nights left so another order needs to be put in.  So much to do and so little time--well that is not really true I just liked the way it sounded when I read it!

Midway through my FP Terry needed meds and and her legs rubbed so now I am enjoying the second half of my FP after it was heated up.  Tuesday, here I come!

Monday, August 24th

TERRY

Terry has a doctor appt today so I called the OT person to see when she could come as it is usually Monday AM.  She said there was some kind of mix up and they said Terry would get no more OT!!!  She would be on the phone this morning she said to try and get things ironed out.  So here we are expecting to get MORE and someone said NO more at all.  I am hoping it gets ironed out today.  Terry does have a couple of appt this week.  One today, one on Wednesday and then we need to stop and get some blood work as well.  

It looks like Travis is taking good care of the garden in St. Paul as he sent this picture yesterday.  I have never had broccoli before.  I hope Travis uses it well as that is kind of special.

Kim is still in town this week and we will see her again on Tuesday.  I think she has some training to do with her people today.  I will miss her meals!

I have nothing on the schedule for the week other than what we need to do for Terry.  I may take one more tennis lesson but not sure.  

My but the time flies.  Here we are starting our 5th Monday since we came down to Naples.  It seems like it was just a short time ago but we will be looking at the last day of August a week from today.  

This is short today.  I will sing off by saying I am just a bit jealous of Travis and his fresh garden produce as it looks delicious.  I do have my FP this morning and that will start the day on a good note!

Sunday, August 23 as we march towards September

TERRY

Terry is now starting week 4 of being out of rehab.  I think she is better than 4 weeks ago but can not say for sure.  Philip is coming this week I think to evaluate her as he is the one who did that when we first got here.  It seems to me that we are doing a decent job of caring for her needs.  We have the meds down that are crushed and put into the feeding tube.  We do the Milk of Magnesia every other day and I promise that is enough!!!  Terry does not have any sores or rashes from being in bed so I think we are OK there.  NOW we just have to work harder at standing, moving and eventually walking, it will come.

For the first time we got into the car and went for a drive.  Nowhere, just drive, look and talk a bit.  I think we were gone about a half hour.  That is kind of a big thing as there is some work in getting into and out of the car but Terry did it just fine.  My ramp that I built is kind of upset as it just stands against the garage wall but that is good.  It would be good if we can inch towards a more normal life and I think a car ride was one way to start.

I did bike over to the courts yesterday as a group of guys play every Saturday at 9:00.  There were 6 guys so two always sat out.  I stayed for an hour and then came home.  If I were to judge my game on where it is at now comparied to last winter I would say it is at maybe 65% so Carmen you need to up the effort and do better!

August 17th, 1964

It is a Monday and I have a thousand thoughts going through my mind.  I had received a letter from our new football coach, Mr. Murray, that we would start fall football practice this day at 9:00.  I am nervous, apprehensive and proud all at the same time.  After the season last year I was voted the captain for this year.  That was a big deal for me.  However our coach, who was my favorite in high school, is not coming back for the year.  I thought he retired but I found out 2 years ago that he left for a position in a different school.  I am expecting a good year.  We graduated many good players last year but yet we have many coming back as well.  There is Todd, Larry, Danny and several others that should give us a good team.  I also know there is a freshman George who will weigh in at maybe 400+ pounds and should be a BIG help!

I also have many other thoughts going through my mind.  I had started dating Gail back in January but she was a grade ahead of me and now she is off to college in Minnesota.  I know, here I am only 17, a senior in high school and I should NOT be so serious about girls but yet that was me.  We had decided that as she left for college and I headed back to high school the relationship was off.  As time went on that proved to be very not true!  

So I was thinking about my social life as I headed back to school for my senior year.  No girl friend and really being 25 miles from school I was pretty much OUT of the social loop.  Little did I know that much of that was due to my shyness and my immaturity.  

So I drive up to the school at 8:45 on Monday to see the guys whom I had not seen all summer and to meet our new coach.  I walk into the school and one of the first people I meet is Mr. Murray.  We shake hands and I think to myself he seems to be pretty nice.  Really as the season went on he was about as bad as a coach could be!  We gather as a team and the first thing is getting our equipment which is a nice thing as the seniors have first pick.  AND there is George and I think to myself "we could have a good line with a 400+ person as an anchor.  The first day as we ran around the field it may have taken most of us 2 minutes and then I looked back and saw George maybe 1/4 of the way around the track.  I thought to myself maybe my hopes were only that, hopes!  

I have talked about this football season in the past and if anyone reads and remembers it was more than a disaster.  So on to other things.

In the fall Gail and I exchanged letters once in a while but as the fall wore on that stopped and I figured that was the end of that.  So my social life was nothing and with the disaster of the football season and then brother Ronald died suddenly in October and it seemed like my world was dark and upside down.  

Football ended and basketball started and that did not start so great either.  Todd was supposed to be our starting guard but he broke his arm in football and at the start of basketball it was not healed yet.  Danny had his ups and downs with injuries but a bright spot was Larry.  At the start of our high school days he was several inches shorter than I and now he was a few inches taller.  He had grown into his body and his skills this year certainly were a highlight for our season.

AND socially I connected with my old freshman flame JoEllen and that was my social life for the last half of my senior year.  I am not sure that was a good thing and that says nothing about JoEllen but more about me!

Band was a big deal in our school and I really enjoyed all our band trips.  We did not take many our senior year but after our junior year we marched in the Indy 500 parade.

So went my senior year.  I laugh about it now but our senior athlete banquet kind of said the year for me.  Here I was the captain of the football team, the co-captain of the basketball team and the leading scorer for basketball.  AND what did the speaker talk about at the banquet?  He mentioned Larry and Todd and how they were examples of good sports and athletics and said not one word about me.  I guess that kind of tells the story of my senior year but it also tells a lot about who I was at that point and it really is not very flattering.

I am now on my second cup of FP and Terry has been taken care of and is still resting in bed.  I guess it is time to clean up some things, get Terry's morning meds ready and start the day.  Kim has been coming every noon and evening but today she will just be here for the evening meal.  

Kind of on our own today

TERRY

There is not much new to write about today.  Terry continues with her daily routine which is a walk in the morning but today I will be the one walking her as Vida is not here on Saturday.  Then it is time spent in bed or on the couch.  She is getting good food with Kim here.  Kim will be here for dinner but not for lunch today.  The menu will be liver and onions!  Terry continues to have legs that need attention as they often ache or spasm so several times a day she likes them rubbed.  She has had a lot of itchiness and I do not know if that means muscles are healing or is it something else?  

Hard to believe that the month of August is fast coming to an end.  As we come to the weekend we have now been here 4 weeks.  

I decided to call the company that we go through for the in home care people.  I thought we need to either go down to 2 hours a day or just not have it.  When I called the gal said she was about to call me.  Vida had a family emergency and would be out of state next week.  Well I said needed to talk about hours.  We ended up with no home care Mon, Tu and Wednesday.  Rose will come in Thursday for 4 hours and we will take it from there.  I am not sure how we will end up but next week will give us a chance to see how things go without help for the early part of the week and then we can go from there.  So I think Kim will be here for part of the days and aside from that it will be Terry and I going it alone.  

No visits from medical people and no plans for any trips today.  I would like to get Terry on a walk early today but we will see how she feels.  There is a group of guys who play tennis at 9:00 on Saturday and I am hoping to get over there for some of that.  

I have yet to hear if Terry has been OKed for more OT and PT.  When I talk to someone it sounds like it will happen but then nothing comes about.  I may have to talk to some other people.

I am kind of out of words this morning.  I guess my FP just did not provide the "get up and go" that I need so will sign off for now.  

Happy 17th Henry

I think that face shows the determination that Henry has in all that he does!  Happy #17 Henry and may the Lord bless you greatly in the coming year.  Love, Grandpa and Terry

August 21st, 2020

TERRY

Terry had yet another visit from a medical person.  He had been here about 3 weeks ago and I remembered him saying he would come back on the 20th BUT I had not written it down so we were surprised when he knocked on the door.  It seems as if he is the one who should be able to order more OT and PT but as of yet that has not happened.  I would say that Terry is slowly getting a tiny bit better BUT it would be nice if it happened at a more rapid pace!  As much as I remember we will have nobody coming today!

We have nothing planned for the day.  I am sure Terry will get out for a walk with Vida and I may need to get something at the store but that is about it.  I think Kim will be here today and maybe well into next week.

We have pretty much decided to stop in home care at least for now.  It just does not make sense to have someone here @ $28 an hour and really only have maybe 2 hours or less of work.  IF we decide for sure we will make a call this afternoon.  Terry is comfortable with me being away for short periods of time and I do think she is getting better by the day (in very small steps) so I think we will give it a try.  It is just very difficult to have someone come into your home and do things.  I know it sounds like tiny things but it is annoying when you reach for something and it is in a different place or you open the cupboard and the dishes are in the wrong place.  We will see how things work out.

I just do not feel like writing a lot today.  Vida will be here in a short time.  My FP is still by my side so life is good!!!

AND that is a good thing

TERRY

I do not want to make it sound as if Terry is close to walking BUT she did very well yesterday.  Phillip was here for PT around 11.  He had Terry standing with the walker in front of her.  I came behind with the wheel chair just in case!  With Phillip holding on to the belt around her waist and me having the wheelchair right behind her she moved the walker and her feet about 6-8 feet all on her own.  

WAY TO GO TERRY

Now that does NOT translate to walking next week BUT it was a very successful session and for sure a step in the right direction.  Phillip said that more sessions like that and then Terry could do it without him holding her or me behind.  Then when Terry gets to that point she may be ready to do out patient therapy.  An encouraging step in the right direction.  Mei will be back next week for PT and I am hoping she will continue with the same exercises.

It was a busy day for Terry yesterday with PT at 11:00, a doctor appt at 1:00 and another doctor appt at 2:30.  After her visit with Dr. Cohen at 2:30 she came away with a couple more doctor visits that are on the schedule over the next couple of weeks.

I got in my third 30 minute tennis lesson yesterday.  As always the pros were encouraging but in my mind I am not sure I did all that well.  I am thinking I want to schedule one more session and then get onto the court for some matches.  AM I ready?  Well first of all one has to be acclimated to 90+ temps and humidity and I am not there yet!  Anyway one day at a time for tennis too.

After I went to the expense and trouble to make a ramp for the wheelchair so Terry could get into the car with ease we tried getting her into the front seat yesterday without the ramp and it worked very well SO there is NO use for the ramp and that is a good thing.  I will probably take it apart today.

Here it is Thursday and we have nothing planned for the day.  Terry's therapy is done for the week.  Oh we do have Hector coming to check on her.  I still do not know the purpose in his visits but he comes once a week and his visits are short.  I think his job is just to check on Terry and make sure she is getting everything she needs.

No, Vida will be here any minute and I need to get some things done so will sign off.  As usual the FP is doing it's job of getting me going for the day!

A busy day

TERRY

Terry has a busy busy day ahead of her.  Phillip is coming for PT at 11:00 and then she has a Dr. appt at 1:00 and another at 3:30.  I am sure she will be exhausted at the end of the day.  I am hoping she does well in PT as Phillip said he would have her stand with the walker and move forward.  He will have his hand on her and I will be right behind her with the wheelchair so there is no danger of her falling but I know Terry will be somewhat fearful of the exercise.  Phillip said he is sure she can do it so we will see.  I am also concerned about her Dr. appt as they are 2 1/2 hr apart.  Dr. Vickers is often late so I did not dare make them closer in time.  I guess we will just have to wait and see how things go.  I feel Terry is eating a little more but that may be because Kim is here and she makes great food!  She needs to eat more so we can get rid of that feeding tube but actually she is comfortable with that in.

I do have another 30 minute session on the tennis court today with Phil and Myke.  I think this may be the last of the sessions as they are not cheap.  After today I need to get onto the court in matches with other guys.  Well it would be good to just hit cross court with one of the guys.  In the heat and humidity a person has to be careful to ease into the game.  Oh, I could stand to lose a few pounds and that would help.

Our fridge is kind of full of good food as Kim has been making meals over the last several days and there is always food left.  I am not sure when she leaves but I am guessing we will be eating good food for some time.

We will try out the platform that I built to get Terry into the car.  She just needs to be higher than the street in order to get onto the seat.  I am thinking Terry will look at it and may not want to use it!  I promise I will be extra careful and it will be fine BUT we will see if Terry is comfortable with it.  I just did not want to make it any larger than I needed as it would get too heavy.

Vida just arrived 10 minutes early as she said she needs to leave 10 minutes early.  Just in time to change Terry, lucky me!!!

This was Mom and Dad's 50th which means it was taken in 1985.  I am guessing it was maybe the only time we had Helen/Mike, Glorine/Charlie, Judi/John, Marlys/Dave, Gail/Carmen and Joan/Ron all together.  Now, 35 years later things are very different but then what would one expect in the span of 35 years.  Helen and Joan--was this really their 50th?  Cynthia is in the picture so I know it was mid 80s or so but I thought we were at the lake for their 50th!

Vida now has Terry on a walk and Terry mentioned that the house is looking kind of messy which is true!  I will try to do some work while they are on their walk.

FP is gone and I need to do some clean up.

August 18th

TERRY

Here we are in day #2 of the week.  Terry has no appt or visits scheduled for today.  Vida will be here in about a half hour.  Phillip came for her PT yesterday and he said she had gotten much stronger since he saw her 3 weeks ago.  He had her stand with her hands on the walker and then move a bit.  He said on Wednesday when he comes he will have me behind her with the wheelchair and she will move the walker a bit forward and move her feet.  I think that sounds good but I know that is kind of scary for Terry as for sure she does not want to fall.  So we continue with one day at a time and in each day we look for tiny nuggets of success.

I do not remember what town this was in on the Alaskan highway but it was interesting and fun.  I think they said there were something like 75,000 signs that people have posted, kind of fun.  As one can see it was July 27, 2014.  Wow, 6 years ago.  I think that road trip, which lasted 3 months and covered 15,000 miles, was a trip of a lifetime.  Squeezed into it was a plane trip from Alaska back to MN as Terry's mother was in her last days.  

I have a big job today.  I have to go to the bank and deposit my latest royalty check from my book.  It came in the mail yesterday and it is a whooping $23.64.  It does inch me closer to the million dollar mark which I could reach when my bones have turned to dust!!!  I may just go out and spend this as I took most of my royalty money and invested it in PG in the market.  I have found that the market does better than book sales BUT neither is going to make me our my kids rich!  I should add that the book has been so much fun while writing it, talking to people who have read it and then making jokes about the income from it which by the way has not yet matched the money I put into publishing it!!!  If you want to make me happy go to Barnes & Nobles and order 10 of my books.  Then give them to families with little kids as they make great bed time stories!  Just in case you have forgotten the name is "The Innocent Days of a North Dakota Farm Boy"!

No it is time to get dressed and get some things done.  Vida is now only 15 minutes away and I need to figure out what she can do today to keep busy.  I still have some FP left so will finish that first.

It is hard to believe that Jude is getting so big.  He is double digit 1s today!  Jude you are getting to be such a wonderful young man who is talented, serious, funny, smart and much much more.  Have a super birthday and a great year!  Love, Grandpa Lee and Terry

Here we are starting week 4 of being in Naples--summer time!

TERRY

I would say there is nothing new to report about Terry.  Yesterday we took a morning walk, Kim came for lunch and for dinner and there was nothing exciting about the entire weekend.  This week we get a different PT for the two times and that will be interesting to see if he does anything different than Mei who usually comes.  I have not gotten a call but we usually get OT on Monday.  We will see as they always call ahead of coming and I WILL have my phone at my side.

Other than Terry's two Dr visits on Wednesday we have nothing planned for the week.  I think Kim will be here for lunch and dinner most of the week so I promise we will have good food.  I am hoping to get some kind of opinion or news when we see Dr. Vickers and Dr. Coehn but time will tell.  

I will try to get on the courts a couple of times this week but as of this morning I have nothing scheduled.  

Once again I may have to resort to an afternoon nap.  We were awake at 2 this morning and it often takes time to get back to sleep.  Then at 6:10 the feeding tube ran out of liquid and told Terry it needed to be shut off.  So here I am at the computer at 7:30 and Vida will be coming at 8:00.  She usually will have Terry sit at the table and wash up and then go for a walk before it gets so "FL" hot! If Terry gets out by 9:00 it will be 83 and humid.  

Not much else to say this morning.  I will sign off with my FP by my side and a look towards the future when Terry can walk!!!

Some help on the weekend

TERRY

I am guessing that IF you were to ask Terry is she better she may say she is the same BUT.  I can tell when we move from one place to the other using the wheelchair she is stronger.  How much?  Very little but every little bit helps and down the road a ways she will walk again and then maybe evern run!  As for NOW she is still spending her days mostly on the couch or the bed.  We do go for a walk every morning which is a nice outing.

Terry's daughter Kim is in town for a few days so she will be here some of the time in the afternoons. Yesterday we ate better then usual because Kim made the meals!  

I got onto the tennis court yesterday for a short time as there is a group of guys who play each Saturday at 9:00.  I played about 45 minutes which was all I needed to tell me I am so out of shape and so out of my tennis groove!  I do not know what is in store for this coming week.

Today will be pretty much like the past week with a walk about 8:30 or so and then home for the day. I am sure Kim will be here part of the afternoon and that will be a help.

August 16, 1957---63 years in the past!

It was a Friday and we were now finished with our harvest.  The last of the crops to be taken off the fields was the wheat that was across the creek to the west of the farm.  Mom had said that she was very thankful for the wheat as that was the best crop of the summer.  Dave and I were not sure but Dad had hinted that IF we finished the plowing in time we may be able to drive down to the Twin Cities and take in the Minnesota State Fair.  That was GOOD reason to get out in the field early in the morning and stay late into the evening.  Our rule of thumb was when the sun set so that we could not see any of it we were done for the day BUT over the next few days we often were plowing with our lights on!  We heard Mom and Dad talking and Mom said she was sure that if we went we could stay with Olaf and Mabel.  That would be double fun as it was always fun when Olaf was around.  

So by 7:30 AM Dave and I had milked the cows, eaten breakfast and were on the tractors headed south to Uncle Jim's land.  That was going to be the most fun land to plow.  For one reason we did not have to worry about the plows plugging up with straw because there never was rye on that land.  This year there had been oats and wheat.  Also there were few if any rocks.  Dave always drove the "M" with the three bottom plow and I would drive the Ford with the two bottom plow.  The plow behind the Ford was attached to the drawbar so If a person hit a rock which was under the soil the entire tractor would stop in it's tracks.  That would mean a bump on the head or a bloody nose as my face might hit the steering wheel!  The three bottom plow behind the "M" would just unhitch and there Dave would be driving without the plow!  Also Jim's land was flat and straight so it was always easy to start a new track and then see how low it took to plow the plot we were on.  The negative thing about working down there was there was, of course, no bathroom.  BUT there was a groove of trees and that would serve us well if we had to go to the bathroom!!!  One might ask why did you not bring some toilet paper with you?  Well all the time I lived at home we NEVER had toilet paper.  The toilet was stocked with catalogs or in the fall with the wrappings of the peaches.  That was the best!  Anyway Dave and I headed south for the day.  When I say "south" Jim's land was about a mile south of the farm.  We would drive the half mile on the road, take a right and then a quick left after we crossed the bridge and then there as a trail to the land.  The trail took us past George's land on the east and Rollof's land on the west.  We would drive through the prairie land that we hayed and then there would be the fields.  We were too far from the farm to see any dish towel on the barn door and of course we did not have a time piece so as noon arrived we would get off the tractor and stand facing north.  When we felt that our shadow was straight north it meant it was noon and time to go home for lunch.  We had thought about taking our lunch with us but we also needed to gas up the tractors at noon so home it was.  Now if we were dragging a field or picking rocks we would try to stretch noon to as long as we could get by with BUT with this plowing duty and the possibility of the Minnesota State Fair ahead of us our noon time was pretty short.  

We did finish all the plowing that fall and we did drive down to the state fair which was always a BIG thing.  AND Olaf and Mable would sometimes take us out to the pancake house for supper which was a big deal!  They actually had several jams you could put on the pancakes BUT of course they did not have chokecherry which is the BEST!

How we spent our time at the fair is another story but it was a fun fun time and special to be with Dad.  I am guessing that we took in the fair maybe 2 or 3 times and each time it was very fun.  One time we stayed with another of Mom's brother Phillip and his wife Maye.  They had a large yard in New Brighten and had many flowers and fruit trees.  Phillip worked for a seed company and was into plants and trees.

So here I am sitting at the computer and it may be time for breakfast.  I have been up since about 4:30 as Terry needed help and when we were finished I just could not get back to sleep.  My FP will keep me going for a while but not sure if it will last into the afternoon.  Yesterday I took a nap but I will see what happens today.

August 14th

TERRY

Terry had PT yesterday.  I think the PT person is doing a great job.  She had Terry stand with her hands on the walker.  Then move the walker ahead a few inches and then move her feet a little.  Of course Mei, the therapist, had her hand on her but Terry did move the walker and move her feet just a little.  She got tired and sat down and then did it a second time.  Close to walking, no way but it seems like it is a start to maybe walking down the road.  Mei will not be her next week but someone else will and then we will see her again the following week.  She has a birthday and their family is going for a vacation.  As far as I know Terry has nobody coming except the home care person who will be in from 8-12.  Another day and another tiny step towards a normal life again.

I had a 30 minute tennis session yesterday, my second one.  This Florida heat and humidity makes tennis almost like work!  Next week I want to do two more lessons but also get out and hit with someone.  Not a match, just hit cross court for a bit.  

I need to go to Costco today for a couple of things.  It is a day that Terry needs a show as well so maybe after the walk and the shower I will make a run.  I need to do it and be home by noon as the caregiver leaves at that time.

It is JUNE, the summer of 1955

It is a Saturday morning and brother Ronald is coming for a visit today.  I am always excited when he comes home.  Not only is it fun to have him but he is always full of ideas as well.  AND another plus is there is NO worry about Dad being silent or crabby when Ronald comes as that always puts Dad in a good mood.  To this day I do not know WHY Dad would get into his moods where he would not talk for days at a time.  Well actually now I have my suspicions but they are only that so I will not go there!  Ronald drives into the yard about 11:00 AM with a big smile on his face.  And of course one would know that smiles were also on Mom and Dad's faces.  I run up to the car and greet him with my whole being.  When he gets out of the car he tells me he brought something for me.  He opened the trunk and pulls out a golf bag.  Now I had never even thought about golf as a sport for me BUT I did have Arnie Palmer as one of my heroes.  He puts the bag in my hands and say now I can be a golfer!  Little did I envision that those golf clubs, the balls and the bag would provide 100s of hours of fun for me.  That led me to make my sand putting surface in the ditch near the mailbox.  It led me to make my 3 hole golf course in Bert's pasture.  There were many many Sundays where Arnie, Jack and Gary (all great golfers) would hit balls towards the broom stick which was my hole marker in the putting surface.  My new sport consisted of a 3 iron, a 5 iron, a 7 iron, a 9 iron, some real golf balls, some plastic golf balls and a wooden driver.  No putter but I converted the driver into a putter as there was no use for a driver on a 90 yard hole!  Over the years I spent many many Sunday afternoons playing golf and hoping friends would drive by on their way to the lake.  When that happened I would put the clubs away and pedal like a crazy guy up to the lake to join them!  I write about Ronald today as this morning is a lonely morning for me.  Ronald died when I was 17 and to this day I think of him often.  AND now Dave is gone as well.  I think I am one lucky guy to have brothers like that.  But it does make for sad moments when I sit back and think!

Terry woke me up at 6:30 as her feeding tube was empty and making a noise.   I was so thankful as it was the first night that there was no diaper change at 2:00 AM or so!  The diaper change came at 6:45!  The feeding tube was empty and making a noise she said so I stopped that and then took it into the kitchen to clean it out.  The pouch that the liquid goes into is used for two nights so every other morning I need to clean it out.  I actually got in about an hour nap yesterday and then waking up at 6:30 this morning I should be good for the day.

I actually made eggs, sausage and hash brows for breakfast and now I am sipping my FP so how could a day start any better???  Time to do a couple of things as Vida will be here in a few minutes.

Thursday is here and will it rain?

TERRY

We now have a routine in place.  The one thing we do not have down is WHAT to eat.  Terry knows she needs to eat but for the most part she is not hungry.  Last night she said she should eat some as she knows she needs to but she was not hungry.  You maybe have heard the saying that goes something like this, "You can take the person off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the person".  Well the picture below shows that is true for a woodworker as well!

Even though Terry may say she is the same I think she is slowly getting stronger.  It seems that way as we go from bed to wheelchair and back again or from the wheelchair to the couch.  It may be that we are just getting better at it but really it seems she is gaining some strength in her body.

The car seats are much higher than the wheelchair so Terry needs a boast to get up.  I am hoping this helps her get into the car without me pushing and pulling her!!!  I think I made one mistake with it but will hold off in  judgement until we use it.  

Another day in Naples with summer temps of mid 90s and maybe some rain as well.  I have a half hour tennis lesson this morning and darn it I have in my mind it is 9:30 but I wrote down 10:30.  Sometimes I wonder about me!

I do need to go to the store for a short time this morning and I need to do it before 11:00.  Vida, the care giver, is here 7-11 instead of 8-12.

I was tired yesterday and am thinking this getting up 2 or 3 times during the night might mean I HAVE to take a PM nap.  I just hate those things but really it may be a good idea.

Not much else to say.  I may sit down later and write but not sure.  For now there are things to do.

It is a Wednesday

TERRY

Terry had PT yesterday and it seemed that Mei was pleased with her progress.  She stood by her walker for a few minutes and then did several exercises.  Mei had her stand and the lift her leg and move it as if she were walking.  Don't get me wrong, she did not walk but did make movements as if she were doing that.  Mei will come again on Thursday.

I did get 30 minutes of tennis in with the two pros yesterday.  AND of course, as always, they were positive and said I did a good job.  Was that true?  Just let me say that at the end of the session I was sweaty, sore, tired and really I did not do all that much.  Phil said he would like me to hit with him again later this week.

YES YES we finally got mail yesterday.  We finally got mail on the "14th" day of being here for mail.  I will not say it was me or the USPS but regardless we are now getting mail.  It was important yesterday as Terry received her new Medicare card that the hospital had lost!  As one would guess the other several pieces of mail were put in the recycling as I walked into the house!

So the days continue to go by and most days we see someone who is here to help Terry.  Monday it was OT, Tuesday it was PT and today Hector is coming.  To be honest I am not sure the purpose of Hector but I do know Terry was not all that happy with him last week when he came.  He told her she should be exercising 4-5 hours a DAY!  

We have been enjoying lasagne the last couple of days.  Cheryl brought a large pan of homemade lasagne over on Monday.  I am guessing it is enough for us over maybe a half dozen meals.  Terry thinks it is the BEST she has ever had and I would agree.

I put on my woodworker's hat yesterday as we need a platform about 5" high to make it easier for Terry to get into the car.  The seats are just a bit high for her to get in.  We did make it work when she went to the doctor BUT I think it was not a pleasant thing for Terry.  So there was a trip to Home Depot and I came home with lumber.  It is really interesting to build with VERY limited tools.  I do not carry tools back and forth as here the heat and humidity would rust them in a short time unless one had a shop with climate control.  AND we do not have that in the garage as I have limited control over anything in my life any more!!!

Our in-home-care person is Vida.  Today will be her third day.  She actually is doing a nice job but some things are always surprising.  One the walk yesterday I went about half way and then Terry and Vida went alone.  When they came back Vida was so so hot and tired!  I mean it was maybe mid 70s and I admit somewhat humid but still not enough to make it a hard trip.  In the house she is very helpful and tries to do things to make life easier for me.

It is August 16th, 1961

I look at this as being an old friend.  I learned to drive on this and spent MANY hours on it.

As the light filters through the west window I roll over and stare at the nails in the ceiling of my bedroom.  I think about what I may do today.  It rained last night so I will not be plowing today.  I am kind of happy but kind of upset as well.  I had thought I could finish plowing James' land down south and that would almost finish the fall work but that will have to happen maybe tomorrow.  

A smile spreads over my face as think about Dave coming home for the school year.  He has been working on a farm in Kulm for the last couple of summers.  I know that has been good for Dave as he and Dad often think one is oil and the other is water yet I know Dad loves him and respects him perhaps more than I.  As I climb out of bed and get dressed I wonder what in the world I should do today as no field work means free time.  Walking down the stairs I can smell that Mom has the stove on and I am sure I am in for a treat.  It will be pancakes with fresh chokecherry syrup which is the BEST.  It is only 7:30 but Dad is in the darkroom with the door closed doing his thing.  Opening the door and stepping into the kitchen I greet Mom and then allow my thoughts to wander.  I say to myself, "Is there another wife/mother in the world who would put up with what Mom does".  A few yesrs ago Dad had taken the old stove out and purchased a new small gas one for Mom.  BUT the idea was not to make it easier for Mom.  The whole idea behind that was he could then make his own little castle in the corner of the kitchen.  So here he is this morning with the door shut and working in his "cube" that measures maybe 4X8.  That takes up space from Mom's kitchen and for looks, it looks kind of crazy!  Granted now they do not need to put blankets over the windows and make the kitchen a dark room BUT could there not been a better way???  Anyway my mind quickly comes back to the "now" and I sit down to pancakes and syrup which is delicious.  About the time I finish eating Dad comes out of his darkroom and says that he is going into Cayuga to get the plow blades. After so many days we have to take the blades up to Keifers and they sharpen them.  I ask if I can go along and to my surprise he says yes.  As we drive off it is very clear that Dad's mind is somewhere else today so I sit back and "think".  I will be starting high school in a couple of weeks.  I really want to play football but have not asked Dad if I can.  I did get a letter from the coach last week saying that practice starts 10 days before school and I don't know how I would get to Forman for that.  I think about the last couple of years.  Before that Dave and I used to have a lot of fun during the summer but since he has been working away in the summer the time has not been all that great.  It did give me time to make my golf course and clean up the old foundation of the hog barn.  I miss our time together but I know that Dave is much happier now and he is also saving money.  He has said he wants to buy a car after he graduates.  Much later in life he tells me about what he did after graduation.  He said he bought this old car, put ALL his belongings in it and drove away from the farm with no regrets and perhaps not even looking back as he drove down the half mile to the main road!  Entering Cayuga I snap out of my dreaming and glance at the old grade school as we drive past.  I think about the many memories made there and most were good.  I think fast forward to now and think about what high school may be.  I am not the most social person so when I think about it I get nervous.  I say to myself that it will be OK as my good friend Larry and I will kind of stick together.  I am sure Larry is going out for football so I will use that when I get up the courage to ask Dad if I can play.  I will say if Larry can play I certainly can as I am a lot bigger and stronger than he is.  AND of course that changed by the time we were upper classmen!

Dad picks up the plow blades (I know that is the wrong name) and we head home.  I was hoping we may stop at the store and Dad would allow me to buy some baseball cards as I did put a quarter in my pocket but as I said Dad's mind was somewhere else this morning.  As we drove around the lake I decided that I was going to go fishing when we got home as that kind of solitude sounded good for today.

My FP is gone and I will get to work now!

Happy Birthday AARON

Happy #47 Aaron.  May the Lord bless you in this coming year as you continue to be a super man, a super husband, a super father and a man of many many talents!  Love Dad and Terry

Another inch of rain yesterday

 TERRY

Terry had an OT session yesterday and today the PT person will come.  I would say at this point it would be nice if they could come more often but both of the gals are just super therapists and nice to have in the house as well.  I am having a difficult time knowing what work the in home care people should be doing and what I should do.  I try to keep Terry in the loop and often ask her who she wants to do a certain thing.  The OT said she did a great job yesterday with her work.  She had Terry stand and as she was holding on to the walker she stood for almost 5 minutes.  Yes, she pretty much was DONE at that point but it was a good start.   We will see how PT goes today.

I get so so tired of dealing with clinics, hospitals etc I could throw a phone book across the room.  Oh, I forgot we really do not have phone books anymore but that is all the more madding!  I called the clinic for a paper copy of Terry's blood work from last Monday.  They gave me the phone # of the record place.  I called them and they asked if Terry filled out a consent form to get records!  What the heck you need to consent to get your own records!  So now I have to get that done.  I called Dr. Vickers office to make an appointment for Terry.  They said they would check on the consent and call back.  Six hours later the phone is still begging for a call so I called again.  Then we got an appointment for next week.

Friends from Minnesota live just around the corner.  Yesterday Cheryl brought over a delicious dinner.  There was so much it will last for several meals.  My meal making skills are not the best in the world so that kind of thing is so welcome.  Several days ago another friend brought over a homemade dessert and that was great.  Before that friends brought over food and that also was very good.  It makes my skill in heating frozen pizza pale!!!

As I sit here and type I am enjoying Kona coffee that Kim had sent.  I am sure it will start my day with gusto as it goes down so smooth and does not have an after taste.  

I took care of Terry at 5:30 and then decided that I could not go back to sleep so I got up.  I may need some shut eye later in the day.  I am guessing 5:30 rise and shine is not all that great for tennis mid morning.

My goodness it looks like Minnesota is trying to compete with FL for rain.  The St. Paul weather showed they had 2+" a day or two ago.  Here we have had 2 1/2" in the last two days.  

This picture does not do justice to our haystacks as ours were MANY times larger than this BUT

July 19th a Friday in 1957

As Joan, Dave and I scrambled down the stairs we knew we were in for a busy busy day.  Over the last several days we had seen Dad cut the alfalfa and let it dry for a few days.  Then Dave and I hooked the Ford to the rack and went round and round the field getting the hay in rows.  I thought, "Why does Dad not have a side delivery rack that would do that?"  Well it would take money I am sure.  After the field was in rows and rows of hay we then drove over them the long way and made bunches of hay.  That is the way the field stood as we hurried to eat breakfast.  I was kind of looking forward to the day as I did not have to stack the hay as that would be Joan and Dave.  Actually that was not a bad thing unless Dad happened to come in with the wind at his back which meant the hay dust would blow into the faces of Joan and Dave.  My job was to drive around the field with the rake behind the Ford.  I would drive over hay that Dad had missed with the stacker and then I would drive over a bunch of hay and trip the rake by pulling a rope that was attached to the fender of the tractor.  So all I did all day long was drive and drive.  Joan and Dave had the hard work.  Anyway here it was almost 9:00 AM and Dad said we could get to work as there had been a slight breeze so the hay was dry already.  As Joan and Dave made sure they had long sleeve shirts in case there was a lot of dust I grabbed the gallon jug what was wrapped with a burlap sack.  I made sure the burlap was very wet and then I filled the jug from the hose near the garden.  It was my job to make sure the water jug got to the field and then was placed in a spot out of the sun so it would not dry out.  That would mean we would have cool water all day long.  By 9:00 we were ready and Dad was already a bit cranky and impatient as he wanted to be sure and get all the hay stacked by Saturday night.  If we could get the hay stacked without rain on it he said it was much much better for the cows.  He also talked to Joan and Dave to let them know that maybe he would hire the stacks hauled home by Mr. Brecker who had a haystack mover.  Dad wanted to be sure that as Joan and Dave set the stage for the stack they did not make it too big so that it could not be moved.  Well we all remembered that a couple of years ago Ronald and Dad actually cut a huge hay stack in half with barbwire and the two tractors but Dad wanted to be sure we did not have to do that again.  So by 9:45 we were in the hay field just to the north of Rollof's farm.  We had gotten nice rains so the hay was nice and there was a lot of it.  As for me I was happy to drive around the field with the Ford and sometimes jump off to see if I could kill a mouse!!!  Dad had said that we really needed to finish the work by tomorrow so he had asked Mom to make sandwiches and bring them out to the field instead of going home for dinner (noon meal).  He also said that if the weather stayed dry we would work until dark which meant Mom would get the cows and milk them.  She did not have to do that very often but I knew she could do a great job.  So the day went by.  Dad seemed to kind of enjoy driving the Jayhawk stacker.  To my memory he NEVER allowed anyone else to drive the stacker.  It was the kind that attached to the front of the "M" so that when you wanted to turn the stacker to the left you had to steer to the right.  About mid afternoon Dad hit a rock that was almost hidden in the ground but was above maybe two inches.  One of the long tines snapped off when he hit the rock so for the last several hours we stacked hay with the stacker looking like a kid with a front tooth missing.  That meant more work, or fun, for me as it meant the stacker left more loose hay which I would gather up with the rake!  About 3:00 Mom drove up in the car with lunch and a full jug of water.  I poured the water into our jug which was under a pile of hay and felt the burlap which was still cool.  Not for a second did I ever think I would someday be purchasing water in plastic bottles!!  By dark we had finished one stack and were well on our way to finishing stack #2.  As we turned into the yard with our lights on Dad said that if we had good weather tomorrow he was sure we could finish with hours to spare.  He was happy as there was no rain in sight and that meant the work would be done and the hay would be in good shape.  AND IF we finished early maybe Dave and I could shot blackbirds or play some ball!  A good day came to an end as Dave and I rode up to the lake on the bikes so we could wash off.  It was late so it was kind of a challenge to ride on the gravel in the dark but oh my the lake water felt so fresh.  Back home it was a late snack, up to bed and then Dave and I would drift off to sleep talking about what the world was like beyond Cayuga, Geneseo and farther.  It would seem like a long time but really we would find out as we got older and then way after that we would have an appreciation for our early life ont he farm!

Writing in a different way and a super pasta salad!

 

The writing is from the journal I am keep about Terry's care.  I like to write BUT this is a bit different for sure!  We are trying to keep a record of everything which we hope will help Terry on her journey to good health again.  The bottom is what Travis picked out of the garden for his pasta salad.  It sure looks like that salad will be healthy and delicious!

Our new in home care person came and she seems to want to be a big help.  However on the walk I left half way through and put Terry in her care.  I guess she needed to stop twice and rest--Terry was not a happy camper!!  

I have a call into Dr. Vickers and am hoping to hear back soon so Terry can get in and see him.  That phone has become like a second arm and never far away.

Monday and we start week three in Naples

TERRY

Terry said she slept well last night.  The feeding tube was finished at 6:30 so I took the machine away.  She continues to get 17 oz of fluid each night.  She ate a tuna half sandwich yesterday and a small piece of pizza.  I would say her strength is about the same.  I THINK OT is coming today but I have not heard yet.

We got .75" of rain yesterday and once again the pool is full.  Our temps have been high as in the mid 90s or so.

I intend to get on the tennis courts this week.  I may bike over to the courts this morning and set up 30 minutes with the pro.  I NEED to get some exercise and get out more than I have been.

We have a NEW in home caregiver coming today.  This will be #3.  The first to come fell asleep while working and that does not go over very well.  The second did an OK job.  She wanted work to do but last Thursday I told her that we would be cutting the hours down to 4 hours a day as there just was not enough work to keep her busy.  When I called to tell the agency about only 4 hours I was told that the gal would not be coming back as she did need to work 6 hours a day SO in 20 minutes we get Vida who is #3.  We will see how it works.

That is about all for now.  My FP is ready so I can now start the day.

AND the rain came down, down, down!

 TERRY

A PA came by yesterday and spent about an hour with us.  It seems like he will be a big help.  He said he could get more PT and OT for Terry and if needed he could get a nurse to come in and give help with meds etc.  As for Terry I would say her condition is pretty much the same.  We did not go for a walk yesterday.  Her day consists of getting up, washing up at the table and then eating something.  From then on it is on the couch or in the bed.  Will try to make sure she gets out today.  The feeding tube continues to work well but I still would like to see the amount cut down as I feel she would eat more then.  As I write she is in bed watching the news.  

The rain came in torrents for several minutes and in the end we received more than 1.5".  It filled the pool to overflowing.  I do not think I have seen rain like that here ever as much of the road was flooded for some time.

June 23rd, 1957

Dave and I hear Mom open the door to upstairs and we know what is coming.  "Boys get up it is time to get dressed and go to church".  As a ten year old boy who likes to run, fish, shot and play ball I admit church is not my favorite thing.  Really the thing that I dislike more than anything is going to church means I have to wear a shirt and I have to put on shoes.  Shoes almost seem foreign in the summer as I already have leather like feet as we are a month out of school and shoes pretty much stay in the entry of the house 24/7.  Much to the dismay of Mom my shirt usually is on the floor of the entry way as I view it as a bother.  Chicken poop, stickers and stones do not bother me BUT those darn old boards with nails in do get me!  Anyway Dave and I slowly get out of bed and put on our "Sunday clothes".  As I dress my mind goes back to a week ago as we only had church every other Sunday so last week was a free Sunday! Anyway Dave gets down first and hurriedly gets in a large bowl of Corn Flakes while I cut a think slice of bread and put chokecherry jam on it.  As we race to the car Mom and Dad are already in and waiting.  Today is one of the days that Mom gets to play the organ so she really wants to get there kind of early.  Dave is thinking that he and his friend Jim will be able to ring the large bell for the opening of church.  I am thinking that I can beat Chuckie in opening the song book closest to the song!  One can tell that at the age of 10 I am not into church!  Now I do know that I love Jesus.  I like to open up our Sunday School with an impromptu prayer as I think that is pretty cool AND really when I do that I mean it.    

Church and Sunday School come and go.  Each is about an hour long but the highlight is Sunday School where Chuckie and I crush the girls in the quiz.  We don't always do that but today we did.  The girls are Carol Jean, Patsy and Gay and they are nice BUT at the age of 10 I am not even close to thinking girls are nice!  On the way home Helen asks Mom what we will have for lunch and I gaze towards the heavens as I think Helen should know.  It will be fried egg sandwiches with a glass of fresh milk and a side of dill pickle!  There may be some saltine crackers with cake frosting on if there is any left from the cake Mom made for a birthday.  Then it will be outside most of the day.  Dave and I may jump on the big bike and little bike and head up to the lake.  We may play some ball or even play around the creek as it is still running with a few fish in it.  The grass is not too tall yet in the area east of the corn crib so maybe some ball.  I want to shot some blackbirds but we can not do that together as Dad's rule is one gun out of the house at a time.

The day ends by me climbing the light pole by the barn and lying on the west side of the roof and dreaming of places far away.  A fun Sunday for a country boy who is happy when he is outside and busy with things that boys like to do!

That is all I have for this morning.  I am on my second cup of FP which is great.  I think I need to ask Terry when she wants to get up and have a bite to eat.