A few updates
Life has been busy since my last post. Thanks to all of you who have posted here and to those who have emailed me, you guys are the greatest. Each note brought a bit of joy into my day, thank you so much. I thought it was time to post some updates here.
My mother is doing much better. She did a round of radiation therapy for the bone cancer in her skull and spine. She was very sick at first after the radiation, we were all so worried about her. It's been about 5 weeks since then and she is just starting to get her appetite back. Her catch phrase during this ordeal is, "I'm not going to sit under this." This healthy attitude towards life is one of her greatest assets. We decided as a family that Mom should probably move in with one of her five daughters, instead she moved in with her granddaughter, Tiffany.
Tiffany is like a sixth daughter to my mother. After all my sisters and I were out of the house my mother babysat for Tiffany before and after school and during school and summer vacations while my sister worked. Tiffany saw a much different woman than my sisters and I saw when we were growing up. My mother had 5 girls in the span of 10 years and the chaos meter at our house was usually set pretty high. Tiffany enjoyed her grandparents while they were still young empty nesters. They could spend quality time with her in a relaxed atmosphere. My mother and Tiffany always had a very strong bond.
My mother moved to North Carolina to live with Tiffany last week. Tiffany lives about a mile from her mother, aka my sister. My sister and my niece will take very good care of her. My mother is very lucky to have them. There was nothing they wanted more than to take care of Mom, I think they would have paid a million dollars for the privilege. The rest of my sisters and I wanted to share our homes with Mom too, but Tiffany seemed like the best option. I got knocked out of the running for a couple of reasons. The first is because my house is 2 stories and my mother has trouble with stairs. The second is because I'm actively raising my son and have a full time job. My sister in NC is done raising her family, and my niece is single. They have the time, space and dedication to make this work. We were all somewhat concerned about Tiffany making this kind of commitment. She's a young woman in her early 20's and we thought she should be concentrating on building her future life. Tiffany would not be deterred, there was nothing she wanted to do more than take care of her grandmother. She's a remarkable young woman.
Mom was too sick to pack up her belongings to move to North Carolina, so I took on that responsibility for her. The moving truck is in transit between NY and NC right now. Mom is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her things, it will feel much more like home with all her things there.
My mother seems to be doing well in her new home. She is feeling better and is in good spirits. I am concerned about all the change in her life. Dad died a couple of years ago and she was diagnosed with cancer a couple months ago. She just moved away from a community she's lived in for 40+ years, leaving behind 4 daughters, multiple grandchildren and many friends in NY. She also had to change her medical team. All in all, I feel confident that we made the best decision.
We made a brief trip to Washington, D.C. in November. My husband and I have been to D.C. on other occasions, but it was a first for my son. We made good use of our time in D.C.; we toured the Capitol, several museums, the monuments and the zoo. It was a first for me to see the National WWII Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial. I was so impressed with these memorials; they are wonderful tributes to our country's veterans.
My son recently had a Spanish assignment for homework. He had to create a collage with pictures of his family members and write something about them in Spanish to accompany the picture. I can't read Spanish, so I asked him what he wrote about me. He said he wrote where I was born, where I live now, and my age. I wasn't overly thrilled that he put my age on his poster, so I asked him why he did that. He said I shouldn't be that concerned because of the contest in fourth grade a few years ago. Apparently the children in his fourth grade class decided to see who had the oldest parents, and I "won" in the mother category. Parenting is so much fun.
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My mother is doing much better. She did a round of radiation therapy for the bone cancer in her skull and spine. She was very sick at first after the radiation, we were all so worried about her. It's been about 5 weeks since then and she is just starting to get her appetite back. Her catch phrase during this ordeal is, "I'm not going to sit under this." This healthy attitude towards life is one of her greatest assets. We decided as a family that Mom should probably move in with one of her five daughters, instead she moved in with her granddaughter, Tiffany. Tiffany is like a sixth daughter to my mother. After all my sisters and I were out of the house my mother babysat for Tiffany before and after school and during school and summer vacations while my sister worked. Tiffany saw a much different woman than my sisters and I saw when we were growing up. My mother had 5 girls in the span of 10 years and the chaos meter at our house was usually set pretty high. Tiffany enjoyed her grandparents while they were still young empty nesters. They could spend quality time with her in a relaxed atmosphere. My mother and Tiffany always had a very strong bond.
My mother moved to North Carolina to live with Tiffany last week. Tiffany lives about a mile from her mother, aka my sister. My sister and my niece will take very good care of her. My mother is very lucky to have them. There was nothing they wanted more than to take care of Mom, I think they would have paid a million dollars for the privilege. The rest of my sisters and I wanted to share our homes with Mom too, but Tiffany seemed like the best option. I got knocked out of the running for a couple of reasons. The first is because my house is 2 stories and my mother has trouble with stairs. The second is because I'm actively raising my son and have a full time job. My sister in NC is done raising her family, and my niece is single. They have the time, space and dedication to make this work. We were all somewhat concerned about Tiffany making this kind of commitment. She's a young woman in her early 20's and we thought she should be concentrating on building her future life. Tiffany would not be deterred, there was nothing she wanted to do more than take care of her grandmother. She's a remarkable young woman.
Mom was too sick to pack up her belongings to move to North Carolina, so I took on that responsibility for her. The moving truck is in transit between NY and NC right now. Mom is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her things, it will feel much more like home with all her things there.
My mother seems to be doing well in her new home. She is feeling better and is in good spirits. I am concerned about all the change in her life. Dad died a couple of years ago and she was diagnosed with cancer a couple months ago. She just moved away from a community she's lived in for 40+ years, leaving behind 4 daughters, multiple grandchildren and many friends in NY. She also had to change her medical team. All in all, I feel confident that we made the best decision.
We made a brief trip to Washington, D.C. in November. My husband and I have been to D.C. on other occasions, but it was a first for my son. We made good use of our time in D.C.; we toured the Capitol, several museums, the monuments and the zoo. It was a first for me to see the National WWII Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial. I was so impressed with these memorials; they are wonderful tributes to our country's veterans.
My son recently had a Spanish assignment for homework. He had to create a collage with pictures of his family members and write something about them in Spanish to accompany the picture. I can't read Spanish, so I asked him what he wrote about me. He said he wrote where I was born, where I live now, and my age. I wasn't overly thrilled that he put my age on his poster, so I asked him why he did that. He said I shouldn't be that concerned because of the contest in fourth grade a few years ago. Apparently the children in his fourth grade class decided to see who had the oldest parents, and I "won" in the mother category. Parenting is so much fun.
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Labels: About-Me, appreciation, Vacation
posted by Barbara Miers at
12/08/2007 09:42:00 AM
45 Comments
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