home again

We are back from a week’s sojourn in Kelowna. How great it is to be home again, even though the Christmas lights look a little tarnished this late in the season, and there are mountains of various things to deal with.

We got the phone call about E’s dad in the middle of the night. He’d had a fall Christmas day and when, after the meal and festivities, he was feeling very unwell, he was taken to the ER. Several hours later he was admitted to hospital with the diagnosis of an abdominal aneurysm.

Not surprisingly, the family has been on a bit of a roller coaster in the last few days. At first the doctors’ prognosis was grim. Then after Dad seemed to stabilize, his family doctor called him his miracle case and said that once he got stronger, he’d be able to go home to mom and the assisted living place we moved them to less than a month ago. In the last few days, though, he seems to be getting weaker, both physically and mentally. He is so trembly, it takes him an hour to eat by himself, he can’t walk at all and today he was sure the table beside the bed held lesson plans.

Poor Mom is lost and lonely. She herself is struggling with major memory loss – can’t find her way to her suite by herself and has been leaning increasingly on Dad to keep her on track with what to do next and what’s on the schedule for the day. Now her main focus each day is her visit with Dad. And they are so very sweet together even though their visits are less than satisfactory – what with Dad being dozy himself much of the time (probably medication) and disoriented.

We took turns spending time at the hospital – visiting (or trying to), singing and, for me, knitting. When I was packing to go a week ago, a little voice whispered, Take knitting. Am I ever glad I did! As a result, I have two new cotton dishcloths to add to my stash and a wooly scarf ready for the gift box

The last week hasn’t been all sad, though. We spent unexpected time with Ernie’s family from out of town and feasted on D’s delicious Christmas treats – way better than mine! New Year’s Eve was a groaning table of appetizers, with games later and putting a puzzle together.


Another time-filler was going through Mom and Dad’s townhouse, sorting, sorting, sorting. Dad, being a former teacher, loved books and was a dyed in the wool do-it-yourselfer when it came to handyman stuff. The result was a study and a workshop (the garage) filled to the rafters with the tools of his trade – books, pens, paper and office supplies, tape (of every description: book-binding, medical, cello, double-sided, packing, duct, electrical – you name it, he had a stash of it), and hand and power tools of every vintage. Not surprisingly, I came home with more books from his well-stocked study, and lots of office stuff.

Now the wait continues especially for Dad and Mom. We’re expecting Dad to be transferred to extended care (whatever is available in the Okanagan region – could even be out of town; we hope not!). And Mom...?