About Barbara Anne Hough

Another great week.  Another great visit.  And we solved the health shake problem.

Mom had LOTS of visitors this week. Dee Whetsel came with daughter, Tara and new grandbaby.  Carol Williams  stopped by.  Mary Hackman came twice.   Of course, Wayne was there each day and played a lot of cards with Mom.   Much mobility, too.  Mom walked OUTSIDE from her wing of Lorien all the way to the front entrance, saw the lobby that is undergoing a facelift, and walked back to her wing (all OUTSIDE!).   Today, she walked all the way from her room to the front lobby and back, and mid-week she did seven trips around the nurses station.  Her strength is building still!  And she loved, loved, loved being outside.  Some of the days this week were perfect weather-wise, too.

Today, we caught up on the week, FB, g-mail, blog, etc.  Mom especially LOVED the picture of Hope and Mark’s first anniversary (of dating!).  And she’s asked me to call Wayne on news of Kori’s baby.  Scott’s daughter, Kori, went into labor this morning with her 4th child.   Daughter Eden, or a very shy baby boy, will likely be born today!    Today, we brought a DVD to show Mom of Andy’s visit to Mt. Airy when he was 4 years old.   Mom got a kick out of that, plus a segment that included a 4 year old Andy singing songs…   Honestly, it seems like not so long ago when I saw that sweet little four year old face.   But it was 26 years ago…   At the end of today’s visit, Wayne stopped by to open birthday presents since he is celebrating today.  There was a nice familiarity to it although things are certainly different.

I shared my Father’s Day Sunday afternoon trip with Mom.  Scott and I went out to Baltimore to my father’s grave to fix it up and put fresh roses.  Through my internet research, I discovered that my dad’s father, Edward John Viehmyer, is buried a couple of miles down Taylor Avenue from where Daddy is buried at Moreland.  So, Scott and I went to see if we could find the location.  After 30-40 minutes of trying, I called to leave a message at the office and got a live person.  She was able to help us find the right part of the cemetery and I ended up walking right to the grave stone.  Born 1903.  Died 1940.   Just 37 years old.  Daddy never talked about his father to me, though, and Mom concurred that had been her experience as well.  Likely because Daddy’s parents divorced when he was eight y.o., and his father was an alcoholic.  We aren’t even sure if Daddy went to his father’s funeral, when Daddy was 16 y. o.  Nonetheless, it still felt right to find EJV and pay a visit.

Health shakes:  bad when you add the thick-it.   Health shakes: good when you drink them right out of the carton.  Mystery solved.

Have a great week everyone!     I’ll update again on Saturday!

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there!   Scott and I visited Mom for the usual 8:30 – 10:45 a.m. time slot on a weekend – this time a Sunday.  Sometimes a Saturday.   Mom had a good week.  Jeff came and did her hair, so it looked great.  She walked a LOT on Friday and Saturday in particular.   We got caught up on Facebook, e-mail and the blog.   Isn’t it pretty amazing?  I am writing the same kind of updates each weekend.  Wow.  Mom is STABLE!   We had the dream team today at Lorien –  Dawn, Sheila, Beth and Kelly (nurses, RT and aide).   Mom is always comfortable when they are her caregivers.   And so am I. 

On Thursday, Mom had Wayne call me to check on me, Scott and our house because she’d heard “Rockville” on the news regarding the recent storms.  We are fine.  I chuckled.  Once a mom, always a mom.  She’s worried about ME?!  Ha!  Ok, of course she is.  She’s my mom. 

Scott’s birthday was yesterday so we brought the two ties to show her that she’d given to him.  She gave me the money and I shopped for them.  She was thrilled to see the gift she’d given.  In some ways, nothing has changed.  In other ways, everything has changed.  But for today.  It’s all good. 

I hope everyone has a great week.  I’ll update again next Sunday. 

Mom had a challenging week with a good deal of secretions, but it ended on an upswing.  Mom finally was able to resume her walking around the facility on Friday, first time in 8 days.

Scott dropped me off at Lorien this morning and headed to Starbucks for the three of us.  Good coffee matters, although Mom adds four packets of white sugar to hers, along with cream!  Mom looked terrific today.  Jeff’s styling of her hair 13 days ago still looked fabulous.   Mom marveled at it particularly because she’d spent more time in bed of late than normal.   Jeff will be back tomorrow to do his magic.

Mom and I pretty much had our usual visit.   She wanted to hear about my quick trip to London, Andy, Scott, work, my week ahead, etc.  Then, it was off to Facebook, gmail, blog comments and reconnecting Mom to those she loves and who love her.  Mom spent a good bit of time reading granddaughter Samantha’s blog, too, which Mantha just started last month.   All and all, it was a wonderful two plus hour visit.   I’ll be back next Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. and will update everyone then.  Happy Sunday, everyone!

Wow, it’s June.  How did that happen?

Mom had a pretty good week!  On Tuesday, she had a surprise guest.  Patty Causey.  Patty worked for me for a short time back in my early USP days.  She moved on to a different job in a different town, but we bonded, are FB friends and Patty is a loyal blog follower.  She was traveling through the area and made a special trip to Lorien to meet Mom and visit a while.  Mom was surprised and very pleased.  I think Patty’s visit helped Mom realize (truly) how many people are out there who think about her, pray for her, care about her and are interested in her life.  Given the radical change in Mom’s life in February 2011 with the accompanying loss of control, it’s nice to understand how many folks are “rooting for you”.

Mom and I had a great two hour visit this morning and I helped Mom undertake a bit of “spring cleaning”.  When you’ve been in the same room since June 2011 (she was next door for the first two months), things accumulate.  So, we organized her cards, letters, notes, found a random $20 bill at the bottom of a bag, and threw out odd Kleenex, Ziploc bags and various things that had found their way into each box.  I told Mom we’d tackle the closet on another trip.  Of course, there was FB time, e-mail time and blog comment reading as usual.  And Mom had her eggs, pancake and coffee.  Then, like clockwork, it was time (10:30 a.m.) to get into bed for the morning nap.  I’ll be in London next week on business but back for my weekend visit so will update you all again then!

Happy June!