Is It Live or Is It Memorex | by Linda Brendle

Yesterday was my birthday, and if you remember the commercial quoted in the title of this post, you’re like me, older than dirt. But I don’t want to talk about age today. I want to talk about birthday greetings. I got a LOT. I got two cards in the mail, I got lots of face-to-face wishes and hugs at the Senior Center, and I got a phone call from my sweet friend Mary. Everything else was electronic. My question is, were the electronic greetings live or Memorex?

Breakfast Adventures – Part 1 (The Lab) | by Linda Brendle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venipuncture

I was going through some old files last night looking for an outline I thought I had started on a book idea. I never found the outline, but I came across something I wrote on November 3, 2010 after taking Mom and Dad to the lab to have some bloodwork done and then out to breakfast. It was just six weeks before they moved from my home into an assisted living facility near my brother Jim. I was rapidly approaching burnout, and I wrote this saga to get rid of some of the tension from the outing. I posted it in my Facebook notes, but I didn’t start my blog until six or seven months later, so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s rather long, so I’ve broken it into four parts and will publish a part each day from now through Friday.

###

It’s 10:30 in the morning, and I’m exhausted. Today was test day for Mom and Dad. They have their six-month check-up with their PCP next week, and they had an appointment at 8:40 this morning at the lab. Since they had to go in fasting, I planned to take them to breakfast afterward. I knew it would be an adventure. I was right.

Senior Humor – Edition 12 | by Linda Brendle

As you read today’s blog, you will notice a recurrent theme – but I forget what it is.

“How was your golf game, Jack?” said his wife.

“I was hitting pretty well, but my eyesight’s gotten so bad I couldn’t see where the ball went.”

“Well, you are 75. Why don’t you take my brother Scott along?”

“He’s 85 and doesn’t even play golf anymore.”

“But he’s got perfect eyesight. He could watch your ball.”

The next day Jack took Scott along. While Scott sat in the cart, Jack teed off, and the ball disappeared down the middle of the fairway.

“Did you see where it went it?”

Photo Memories of Mom’s 90th Birthday | by Linda Brendle

Mom was born 91 years ago today. Last year we had a birthday party for her, and I wrote about it in one of my posts. I talked about what fun it was, sort of, but I focused a lot on my caregiving angst. I told you about some of the highlights of the day, but this year I want to show you. Enjoy!

Mother-In-Law Penance | by Linda Brendle

The Piatts – Easter, 2011

I forgot my daughter-in-law’s birthday. Bad mother-in-law! And what makes it doubly unforgiveable is that she was an answer to prayer.

Mom’s Shrinking Life \ by Linda Brendle

I visited with Mom earlier this week. There is less of her each time I see her. I’m not talking about physical size, although she is losing weight now that she can’t feed herself and can’t graze off the plates of her tablemates, but her life is getting smaller and smaller.

Post Easter Whine | by Linda Brendle

I’ve had the blahs this week, and I’ve been trying to deal with it in the usual way, by writing about it. I haven’t made much progress, though, so I spent a good bit of the day catching up on e-mail and trying to help my brother untangle the red tape that has kept Mom from getting her survivor benefits from Dad’s pension for eleven months. I got as far as I could with the pension and turned my attention back to the post. I looked at my notes and thought, Naaah, that’s not it. Then I thought back to an e-mail I sent to my friend in Florida. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. So, with a few edits, here it is.

Birthdays and Engagement Rings | by Linda Brendle

Today is David’s 64^th birthday. It’s also the 12^th anniversary of the day he gave me my engagement ring.

I met David in the fall of 1999 through a Yahoo personal ad. It’s a long story, and you can read the whole thing in my book if and when it gets published. For now, I’m including a short excerpt about dependability.

Just a Dream

I dreamed about Mom and Dad last night. I do that quite a bit lately. I guess it’s my subconscious working through the grief of Dad’s death and the nagging guilt that caregivers feel about this decision or that situation that could have been resolved differently or handled better. When I woke up at 4:30, the dream was clear, and I mentally composed a brilliant blog post around it. I should have gotten up and written it then or at least

Happy Birthday to You

I’ve been thinking more about days lately and less about months or years. Maybe it’s because Mom’s 90^th birthday is coming up. When you’re 10 or 20 years old, being 90 is something you can’t imagine, but when you’re next birthday will bring a Medicare card, imagining it is a little easier.