Background Info

So I had jotted a few notes when I was contemplating starting this blog and want to get rid of my scraps of paper. In my "Goals" entry, I covered my hopes for this blog. But a little background might be helpful . . .

In October 2010, I was 44 years old. My mom, Eileen Somers, was 82 years old (just a few months shy of her 83rd birthday). She started having trouble with her vision on either Sunday or Monday, but didn't say anything for a few days. When she mentioned it to my dad, he "made" her go to the doctor. Diagnosis? Temporal arteritis with 75% of her vision occluded! (Yes, she continued driving a car for two days with only 1/4 of her vision functioning. Stubborn, she was.)

The doctors prescribed prednisone (a rather high dosage) and within six weeks, she went from being dynamic and bossy to sleeping for 20-22 hours each day, being confused, and generally looking as though the end of her life was near. She was hospitalized a few times and I stayed overnight in the hospital with her, sleeping on the floor. I actually saw "prednisone-induced psychosis" on her chart.

Anyhow, I've chronicled that odyssey elsewhere. Suffice it to say that my siblings and I started providing care on weekends. Since my dad's macular degeneration prevented him from driving a few years earlier, both parents were dependent upon my siblings and I. Araceli and her daughters provided care Monday - Friday. So for five and a half years, I spent 25% of my weekend time in Bloomington, getting meals and pills, paying the bills and balancing checkbooks, running errands, etc. My mom passed away at age 86 on 5/16/2014 and my dad died on 1/21/2016 at age 89 (just one month shy of his 90th birthday!).

In late February 2013, my mother-in-law Betty (who had been dealing with health issues but was otherwise pretty healthy) went to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well. I wrote about her situation in my Lesson #1 blog entry and in a different blog. Two weeks after her death, my father-in-law came to live with us. He is currently 85 years old.

The past five and a half years have been full of lessons and I'm sure I'm not done learning yet! I am trying to focus on being obedient to God's will in my life, but I confess that I often struggle with a bad attitude and a healthy dose of complaining. I am blessed with an amazing husband who is far kinder than I am. He helps to lighten my mood when I get too discouraged or frustrated.

Leave any questions or comments in the space provided! I'd love to hear from you.