You are so Amazing!

Dear Mom,

You truly are amazing! Thursday and we were still in the dark and in the cold house, but you were still doing fine. The other day that we didn't go to Evergreen Walk was Friday. My friend Sharan invited us to come over again. This time they were going to be home. I figured you wouldn't mind since we had already been over there once. You sort of remembered the house. Sharan was so great! She also invited me to bring over any laundry that we might have. That was a huge blessing, since I had been having you wear double pj's, when you had an accident that was two pairs of pj's that had to go in the laundry. Thank goodness, I think you only had two accidents, but I didn't know what I was going to do if you had any more. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do about laundry. How silly of me to worry, when the Lord already knew what we needed, and had it taken care of. It was also great because Thursday late afternoon you had another type of accident that we kept contained as much as possible. It didn't get on your clothes, but since you had been keeping your gloves on those got messed up. The only other things that were affected were the bathroom rugs. It was rough for me to handle, but I was able to somehow handle it with the Lord's help. He was so good. So what a blessing to be able to do laundry on Friday! We brought Bella with us again, and her children kept Bella entertained while we took our showers. After our showers, we still had to wait for the clothes, so we were able to sit, relax, watch TV, and fellowship with Sharan. Her daughter made us some hot chocolate. You loved it...loved it so much that they made you another cup. After that cup you had the nerve to ask me if I had finished mine, I told you you could have it. You tried to pretend that you didn't, but it didn't take much convincing for you to drink the rest of mine. Hey, as long as you were happy. :) Saturday and Sunday were a little more of the same. The only thing that was different was that when we came home from Evergreen Walk on Sunday, we found out that our electricity was back on. It had been a week and a day, and we finally had our electricity back. I was shocked that you did so well that whole time...being home, being cold, being in the dark. And even continuing to have your ice cream each night in the freezing cold, but it never quite seemed to bother you much. We stuck it out and made it through, who knew?!
I couldn't help but to think of all the things you have been through in your life, getting rheumatic fever as a teenager, having rheumatoid arthritis, having to live in a convalescent home for part of that time, having to go to night school to finish and graduate High school, having a heart murmur, risking your health just to have me because your heart wasn't supposed to be strong enough, having two knee replacements on the same knee, finding out you had breast cancer, having a lumpectomy, then having about 20 lymph nodes removed only a week or two later, going through chemo and radiation, surviving breast cancer for the past 4 or 5 years, dealing with sciatic and arthritis pain, and now dealing with Alzheimers. And now here we were in a freezing cold house and you handled it like a champ. That's just who you are...an amazing, strong woman! I'm proud to be your daughter! Love you!

Sad News

Dear Mom,

Earlier this week we heard a news story that really got my attention. There was a silver alert issued for a 68 year old man, Ronald Masci, who had gone out for his daily walk. Two hours later when he had not returned home, his wife called the police to tell them he hadn't. The reason it really got my attention is because Mr. Masci had dementia. Of course now anytime I hear of anything with dementia or Alzheimer's it makes my ears perk up because it just seems so close to home now. The wife and people from the community said that every day he go for a walk, it was just part of his normal daily routine. I know how important keeping same routines is. Once I heard this I started praying that he would be found, and soon. I was concerned because the weather has gotten cooler now and the next day was supposed to be really rainy and cool. I prayed that he would be found before all of this cold rain came. The police went out looking for him, along with many people from the community. He was well known in the community. That was an encouraging thing because at least many people knew just who they were looking for. All week I have been following this story and praying for Mr. Masci to be found and for his family to have peace. Today I read a status update from our local news station stating that they found him and police were not giving many details. I wasn't quite sure if they meant alive or dead the way it was written. I was hoping it meant they found him alive and well. But as I read some comments under the status I soon found out that people from the town had gotten reports that his remains were found. Not long after, the local news station put an updated status saying that his remains were found by police dogs. My heart just broke, it brought me to tears. Right away I prayed for his family. I can't imagine what they must be going through. We didn't talk about it. I knew you wouldn't have remembered the story anyway. Plus, I don't think you realize how close to home this hits for me. I often pray that you will not try to walk anywhere with Bella. I hate how much you have been in pain lately, I don't like the fact that you basically stay in bed most of the day, but someone reminded me that because of that at least I don't have to worry about you wandering off. I guess this is true. I pray you continue to be safe when I'm not there. This story still just breaks my heart. It's so sad there wasn't a better outcome. The coroner is still checking to see what it was that took his life, the police said it didn't seem like foul play at all. I am going to continue to pray for this family...praying for peace for them. And I'm going to keep praying that you and Bella will be safe...trusting the Lord for that...I love you!