A day of emotion

On my desk is a sales flyer from K-Mart where I never shop, so wonder how come I find myself leafing through it. These 'packs' of ads come via the mail for those who do not subscribe to the local paper. This was told to me by Connie, our maintenance lady, and she got it likely through the letter carrier, who lives in fear of me!

As I page through, there before me are the little kids' outfits for Easter, which makes my lip curl under as I remember buying such outfits for my little guys. Mom made them their every day outfits, or many of them, but for church, they often got store-bought vest outfits. Timmy loved his vests and wanted to wear a neck tie like his brother and father did. My church/work friend, Rebecca, who also was the preschool teacher, gave me a bunch of clip-on ties for Timmy, since she knew he liked them so well. One of the ties is in his memory box under the portrait, clipped to his uniform shirt worn for "Monday dress" day.

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Tuesday morning found me in the dentist chair once more, this time to be fitted for my new crown. As I wrote on Facebook: "I am soon leaving The Palace to be fitted for my new crown...perhaps I should get some bling, or a very nice wood!" It turns out there is gold in the crown, to use as an anchor so the bling will be there, visible only on an x-ray!

I enjoyed my time in the chair, nitrous oxide strapped to my nose, deeply breathing and relaxing. Peggy numbed me up perfectly, gums only, as she removed the temporary tooth, packed the area for making the impression (I like to make a good impression!), but had to do it twice. It seems somehow, I have bubbles, both times! Oh well...

The chairside assistant was not Yvonne although she was the one to prep me for the happy gas. The other lady, whose name I did not get, was thinking I was having too much after effects from the gas, but the staff assured her that this how I really am. "She even smiles when in pain!" Not too sure about that one! Peggy gave a nice discount on my bill, thank you, and I was on my way. 

My upstairs neighbor, Nancy, had taken a tumble upon leaving a show downtown, seeing "The Jersey Boys", unescorted. While folks helped her get back up and dusted off, she drove herself to the ER to be checked over, having a bloody lip and black eye as a result of the fall. Hearing this on Sunday, I sent her note expressing my sorrow over this news and asked what I could do to help her out during her healing time. She asked me to come and play Scrabble with her. OKAY! 

Nancy is a gracious Southern lady and allowed me to win---that's how nice she is! We played one game and she wanted a chance to beat me, but I took leave. "Always keep 'em wanting more"---a good author like Nancy should know this!

When I came home from the dentist, I met my downstairs neighbor, Tracy, in the courtyard. I asked her how she was, and she told me that MamMa was basically near death, and no one is sleeping in their house except MamMa. Oh my goodness! The Monday that Linda was here I saw Willie Mae coming home on a gurney and she told me she'd been in the hospital. I did not even know this, nor did I know she'd taken a bad turn since getting home. Oh my!

I offered my spare room to any over flow guests they get, family coming to town to see her once more, or after she passes away. And then I went down after the Scrabble game with a devotion book, and my new prayer book, a gift from the Elders. 

Her caregiver, Virginia, was standing at the bedside, as Willie Mae snored loudly. Assured that she could still hear, despite what seemed like deep sleep, I read to her, and to Virginia. What a difference a week made, but certainly at age 91, she was done fighting. Medical folks come and go, Hospice comes and goes, and naps by family are caught in between.

Before I went to play Scrabble, my friend, Joanne, called to tell me that her father, Clyde, had passed away. When we spoke on Thursday, she said he was hanging on by a thread, 'something' was keeping him alive. Since no one in her family could confirm it, Joanne's pastor had baptized him. This had made me weep then, and did again after Joanne told me he was gone. 

From the left is Clyde, Joanne, me, Olivia, Justin, Richard S., with Owen as the photographer

Clyde was a character, almost gruff in personality, but I only knew him as an old man. He was in the Air Force, graduated from UW-Madison at a doctor, and worked with NASA for the space launches. His daughters were all raised in Belgium, where he was stationed, as they used to visually track the space crafts. He also was involved in the selection of the chimps for space, and Joanne has the black and white photo array to prove it! In later years, Clyde worked for Upjohn, which is how they ended in MI rather than back in WI. He will be buried in Racine, next to his wife and his parents.

He was sort of an agnostic, would not admit, with his vast intellect, to being a religious man. But Joanne, and me also, is comforted with the fact that he recited The Lord's Prayer at his wife's memorial service. She also believes that he saw the glory of the Lord before he breathed his last, as the nurses reported that he had tears running down his face when he died. I pray for everyone's sake, he is seeing the glory of the Lord in heaven.

Referencing once more the movie "The Bucket List", there is a scene on the private jet which comes to mind for this situation. The rich man, Edward, is arguing about the Creator, filled with doubt that someone could just say "Let there be...." and create such wonders as those seen through the plane window. Carter, on the other hand, a man of faith, believed that the Creator was responsible for it all. Edward, sort of surrendering the argument, said, "I don't know--I just can't wrap my head around it." Carter, resting against his seat, sighs, and says, "Maybe your head gets in the way..." Oh, yeah, you nailed it, Carter!