Family
On the Occasion of What Would Have Been Her Seventy-Eighth Birthday
Dear Mom, I haven’t written a birthday letter to you before. Last year, I reflected on your birthday, and I’m glad I did. It was the last we spent with you. I didn’t know it then, of course, but with dementia (as with so many things in life), anything could happen at any time. This…
Read MoreThree Years Ago Today
Three years ago today, I bundled Dad in the car and drove to pick up Mom from where she lived at the time. I looked at Mom and told her we were going on a road trip. That our destination would be a good one. That she’d have a better life. She smiled at me…
Read MoreLife Lessons from Mom
When I stand in front of the classroom, I always tell my new crop of students two things: I talk way too fast—and I know it—and I get the hiccups often. The same would probably apply here if I were to read this aloud, and today, I give you one more warning—I might not make…
Read MoreAt Least a Little While
Here we are, at Wednesday of this week, and so far, I feel like it should be Friday. Actually, it should have been Friday at the end of Monday, but it wasn’t. What a shame. None of the events of the week have been onerous, per se, but because the kids head back to school…
Read MoreThe Waiting Game
Merriam Webster defines waiting game as “a strategy in which one or more participants withhold action temporarily in the hope of having a favorable opportunity for more effective action later.” And while Alzheimer’s will never result in a “favorable opportunity for more effective action later,” nor is there strategy involved, as I sit with my…
Read MoreMinnesota Taco Salad
In mid-January, Tim came home from work and said, “A young person at work is deploying in April, and she might need a place to stay for two months. I told her that Zoe and Talia’s bedroom was empty, and if she needed to use us as a last resort, we’d be happy to help.”…
Read MoreMy Speedster
A few days ago, a letter addressed to me arrived in the mail. It said: A vehicle registered in your name was photographed violating the traffic law or ordinance listed below, or the registered owner of the vehicle has submitted an Affidavit naming you as the operator of the vehicle at the time of the…
Read MoreOn the Occasion of Her Seventy-Seventh Birthday
Mom turns seventy-seven today. I took a cake over to the nursing facility yesterday and sang “Happy Birthday” to her with a small group of residents, staff, and my dad. No candles. We didn’t even set the decorated cake in front of Mom. Dad sat next to her, both of them in their respective wheelchairs,…
Read MoreThe One about the Hospital, II
With the pandemic living situation still current, many of my days blend one into the other, only delineated by a music lesson here or an appointment there. Otherwise, I’m on a repeat cycle of writing, editing, and Zoom teaching. Breaks are no better—maybe even worse—because without the structure of teaching, I rarely remember what day…
Read MoreThe One about the Hospital
A children’s hospital is a place you don’t really want to have to visit on Christmas Eve. And until a few days ago, close to twenty years into parenthood, I had not had the occasion to do so. But this year, this lovely little when-will-life-get-back-to-some-semblance-of-normal year, we apparently decided to change things up a bit.…
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