What follows is a post from 2011. My mother in law was 83 years old when this event happened. And today, we will spend time with my mother in law's family, including some of these same people, mourning her passing but also celebrating her life.
Now that my mother in law is no longer with us a lot of memories have come up. This is a good one.
As background to this story, my mother in law had a dizzy
spell in her house and fell. She sprained her ankle and bruised
herself up badly. The recovery was going to take a while. Back then, we lived 150 miles from her.
What happened next? Panic time. Mom was going to have limited mobility
and a long recovery time. We'd have to cook for her, help clean for
her, take care of shopping and transportation needs - from 150 miles
away.
But then, to the rescue...and here is the post from 2011:
There were several sets of guardian angels in my mother in law's life,
and yesterday we all converged on my mother in law's house for a BBQ we
had promised as a thank you.
Two sets of nieces and nephews, and a single niece, sprung into action
to help my mother in law out. These weren't local people either. They
lived closer than we do, but they still had to drive a bit. One of the
duos sometimes came out more than once a week. They all had experience
with caregiving for their elderly parents (in all cases, since
deceased). They did many things, too many things to mention, to help
her recovery and make her everyday life easier. I learned a lot from
the experience. I know we are going to have many more adventures in our
care giving journey. I know this is only the beginning.
All of these relatives, and you know who you are, thank you. You will always have a special place in my heart.
One of the nieces, during this whole process, gave me almost nightly
updates on Facebook. We kept in touch with my mother in law, of course,
and visited when we could, and other siblings helped out also. But we
both work, and anyone who has done long distance caregiving knows how
difficult it can be. I know it is only going to get worse. We've been
lucky so far.
In our case, the fact that my mother in law lives with her
developmentally disabled son just added to the complications. That's
worth a blog post all by itself.
Thankfully, my mother in law is a lot better now. But time marches on
and she is very frustrated at what the aging process has done to her.
Today, the weather cooperated. My spouse (the family cook) grilled hamburgers, white hots (a type of bockwurst popular in our part of upstate NY), pork tenderloin spiedies (spiedies are
another specialty food of our area), and grilled vegetables. Everyone
else brought a covered dish or a dessert. Two people brought their
I-Pads and owning one is very tantalizing. One of the men brought a
remote control helicopter, called a Parrot, which is controlled through
an I-Pad. If I'm up to it, I'll post some pictures of the adventures of
the Parrot later this week.
One of the couples brought their daughter. What a smart, well poised cousin my husband has. This is a
young woman who is going to go places. She pitched right in and did
more than her share of the cleanup.
After dinner, my mother in law brought her wedding photo album out for some family memories.
There was a lot of sadness in watching my mother in law age. She's
always been a hard worker, and it is so hard for her to sit down and let
other people do the work. She kept herself in shape when younger, but
time takes its toll on everyone. A stroke several years ago didn't help
her, either.
And now, in 2018, she's gone, and today, we pay tribute to her.
Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about flowers, gardening, my photography adventures, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
3 comments:
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May you and the guardian angels find joy in remembering the well-spent life of your mother-in-law.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for yours and your husband's loss. It is good that there is an extended family that was around to help.
ReplyDeleteThe traditional Jewish response to hearing a loved one has died: May her memory remain for a blessing. Your post. Today shows the truth in that wish.
ReplyDelete