Back From Florida

Hello everyone! Well, I’m back on the road with Richard. It feels good to be “home”. We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support regarding Mom’s fall. She is doing much better and is now able to walk around in the house without her walker. She still has to use it outside of the house and she still needs to wear her back brace 24/7. All-in-all she is very blessed to be recuperating so quickly and to have many people in her life who love and care for her.


For those of you who have never met "Mommsie". She is the one standing to the right of me. From right to left: Ellie, Tricia, Ruth(Mommsie), Kerri, Stephanie. These are my sisters from the "first four". I have two sisters and two brothers from the "second four" as well.

I left Salt Lake City, UT Friday evening November 20th, to go spend some time with Mom. My flight went from SLC to LasVegas, NV, then from NV to Detroit, MI, and finally from MI to Tampa, FL. I arrived in Florida around noon on Saturday, November 21st. Since Daddy Harry was out to sea, Uncle George came to pick me up at the airport while Aunt MaryEllen cared for Mom. I really need to figure out the secret of packing light – lol.

Thank God for placing people in our lives who are very special! Some of those special people: Paul Grey and Mom’s neighbor Jim came to Mom’s aide when she first fell – thank you both. Uncle George and Aunt MaryEllen helped out at the hospital. Once she was discharged from the hospital (they don’t keep you long at the hospitals anymore), they took Mom home with them. Aunt MaryEllen and Uncle George cared for her every need and did a fine job at it – thank you Aunt MaryEllen and Uncle George. Dad came home later in the day Saturday from his sailing trip and together we began our new found job of taking care of Mommsie! Mom is a tough patient since she is accustomed to doting on others, making it hard to except the care others want to give her. It was a great time of being together and I am thankful that God provided a way for me to break away to be there for Mom. I joked with Mom and said, “She really didn’t have to go to such extremes to get me down there”.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle George and Aunt MaryEllen’s house. Paul and Mike (their sons) were down from Massachusetts to enjoy the holiday with us. We had a great day filled with family, fun, Thanksgiving trivia, great food, and lots of love. During my time with Mom and Dad I had the pleasure of shopping for Mom (and myself of course), wrapping gifts, decorating outside of the house with Dad & Aunt MaryEllen, decorating the tree and inside the house with Dad. Mom helped from a sitting position – lol. We had a great time of rolling in the Christmas season.

I also had the pleasure of escorting (had to make certain she behaved herself and didn’t overdo it) Mom to her Ladies Christmas Luncheon. It was nice to spend time with the people in Mom’s life. From left: Doris, Ruth (Mom), Tricia, Paulette, Kathy.

Aunt MaryEllen and I took a sleigh ride (her golf cart – lol) one night throughout the park to see the houses decorated with lights. The only thing missing was hot chocolate. Another night Mom (in a wheel chair), Dad, Uncle George, Aunt MaryEllen, Martha, Vinny and I enjoyed a wonderful meal together and then went out to see the lights at Largo park and at a Horticultural park. Again, we had a wonderful time. Okay, I know by now it seems as though I did more sightseeing and festive events than I did taking care of Mom! We did manage to mix work and pleasure that’s for sure.

I was due to fly out of Tampa back to Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, however, in an effort to make things easier for us, Richard’s DM sent Richard with a load to Massachusetts of all places. Johnny thought I was in Massachusetts helping Mom. So, I worked diligently to sync up arrival times for both Richard and myself. I then managed to get a flight into Bradley Airport on Thursday, December 10th. Let me tell you, it was like jumping through hoops to get the airline to change my flight to Bradley instead of SLC. Well, after all of that and reserving a hotel room outside the airport, Richard was stuck in a severe snow storm all the way across the country. His load ended up getting swapped in New York and he didn’t make it to the hotel until 5:00 am on Friday, December 11th. After a few hours sleep, we had a small Christmas together in the hotel room. We just couldn’t wait for Christmas!!! The clerk at the front desk let me take a Poinsettia plant into my room, we had candles and more, that Mom sent me off with. It was a little Christmas for us before we had to leave. We received an immediate load assignment which caused us to have to leave the area right away.

Some of our eleven grandchildren. Picture on the left is Ethan and Corey. Right picture is Lucas and Corey. Corey, Ethan, and Phoenix are brothers (Chrislyn's children).

It was very, very difficult for me to be so close to our daughter Jessica, grandbabies, family and other loved ones and not be able to see them. It was a few days before I was able to adjust emotionally to that one!

Below is Hailie and Frederick. Lucas Hailie and Frederick are siblings (Jessica's children).

Jessica to the left and Jess with Mom to the right... We were at the Waterfires in Providence, Rhode Island celebrating Jessica's Birthday in August '09. We had a great time. It was awesome just the two of us hanging out.