It is also the UN International Day of Older Persons this October 1st, 2013. Sweden treats its elderly the best and Afghanistan the worst. Perhaps appropriate that this is Jimmy's birthday, for, in a way, it honors his presence and import on this earth of ours. He has made yeoman contributions to humanity.
Today is a RED letter day as I made mom and dad's tea and toasted her bread and spread the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" and Dutch jam (Rozenbottel) and actually transported it to her room where I saw her take small mouthfuls of water to swallow her 10 pills (2 lasix for urinary output, 2 Hydrocodone for pain, 2 metoprolol for heart rhythm, 1 Vitamin C & D for body systems, 2 Fergon for her body's iron).
Got to fix dad toast and two hard-boiled eggs this morning and he ate them with gusto, finishing his plate and then washing them with an abundance of dishwashing soap. A concerning event(s) was his call to check his checking balance. He dropped the phone on 3 occasions and said voiced his displeasure each time. Do not know whether he was balancing it on his year but think he held it with his left hand. It is a sign of weakness and he is feeble but he did share with me his finances and when he gets his 3 checks (i.e., SS, two annuities from AllState and the Hartford, the only one he has to cash by going to the Wells Fargo in Greenville, a lengthy but pleasant jaunt where he can have a nice lunch, too, hopefully into the future with me). I want to get him out and away from the thought of continual discomfort.
I leave my father, his eyes closed as he listens to the Prelude; Good Friday Music of Wagner's Parsifal, conducted and beloved by Arturo Toscanini and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. We talk about operas. He's only heard a few in person but he remembers Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in Moscow but cannot recall if the libretto was sung in Russian. He traveled to Russia twice, once with mom and another time with Doug. (I never had the pleasure, other than our trip down the Colorado River on raft and a trip to Alaska, to be with Dad, alone on the river, and with mom to our most northern state).
Earlier I left mom, who I'd brought the paper up for, with the promise to return and work on the crossword, which I started this morning, before my walk with Dancer where I phoned and spoke to Mr. Rotter for a little over 14 minutes. We shall get together to share the B&Ws of Rich with Kim and their newborn boy, Jason, and other amenities in the near future. I just wanted to touch base after talking with Mrs. Rotter on my trip up from Georgia last Tuesday in the early evening.
Dad mentions the composer Joachim Raff and the remarkable, nay, unbelievable, memory of his idol, The Maestro Toscanini, who wrote out the score of his 5th symphony, "inspired by Gottfried August Bürger's ballad Lenore, set during the Thirty Years' War", by memory flawlessly. Dad says I pulled info from Wikipedia, I imagine, on this obscure (now) but
famous-in-his-time composer.
The sounds of a lawnmower (the business is owned by Kevin Manley Lawn & Landscaping, who lives at 4504 Pickwick as the street turns and moves up, his house in on that curve), fast and furious, operated by Alfredo, who will cut up to 40 lawns today, whirs on the side of the house and both Dad and I worry about the power seeding and the the effects cutting the grass will have on the seed distribution. Will it all be for naught. I motion to Alfredo and he stops the mower and we check the lawn and we decide, after Dad appears walking from the backyard in his jacket, that he will cut it "slower" and this will prevent seed loss. Due to the arid nature of the backyard, no cutting is done. Later, when Juan comes to blow off the leaves, he asks whether I want to move the Honda Accord. Initially, I say "No" but Dad suggests it and tosses me the key, a little short of its destination (my hands), and I run down Juan to tell him that I will move the car. He returns and blows off the driveway and then I return the car to its original location. Exciting, huh?
Before the call from Lisa, had the opportunity, at Mom's suggestion, to put her red socks on and to apply, prior to sock placement, lotion to her swollen feet and calves. It feels good and she does not complain, at least much when I rub her feet, ankle and calves. When I place pressure there is some distress but all in all, it's okey-dokey.
Lisa just left. She is a phlebotomist working for LabCorp and the preferred blood drawer for my parents. Flawless, she drew three vials and then patiently held a wadded gauze on the entry point and then taped the covering to her right arm. Mom has this done each week so I wonder about injury to the tissue but the arm and the vein look fine, perhaps a little bruising but she weathers it like a pro. It's all okey-dokey to her. Lisa leaves and we all ponder the origin of that term which she uses as she goes out the door, dropping the long "ee" sound and just saying "Okey-doke". It works.
Well, the afternoon as it has progresses has been eventful and event-filled. Paramount has been the initially, "dilated pupil" my dad just says to mom -- they opened up the capsule and corrected the imperfection of the previous cataract in the LEFT eye, which was clearly marked in the operation prep room at the Surgery Center at Limestone Medical Center where the ophthalmology associates (at least a dozen of them) have their cramped offices on one side of the medical building and the SC is on the opposite end, we traversed both destinations today and as I began to say and was distracted by dad's voice, the short lived (all laser surgeries are short and punctual and piercing, naturally) surgery appears to be a success. Dad barely wore the paparazzi/Cannes-Film-Festival glasses and then we were out in the bright sun and he had no problem. It looks good.
Tammy,a blonde, attractive RN, began the drops for dad's eyes and then went on break and Chris took over and finished. It took two sessions to have the pupil wide enough, according to the eye doctor, Dr. Ralph Milner, middle aged and dapper and collegial, offering his hand, immediately when he entered the prep room. Dad had been dissatisfied with the previous surgery and carried a mild animus toward the amiable doctor, but Dr. Milner assuaged his concerns and the surgery went quickly and apparently, successfully. We were asked to traverse, by car, to the other end of the building and have the doctor take a look at the procedure. I have a photo and he motions in the picture for me to take a look. Had no idea what I was looking at but saw a half-parabola looking incision that he proclaimed was the opening and exactly what he wanted. I concurred. We left without making the next appt. in a week or two. A call later promised another call from the office to confirm a time. Any time in the afternoon during the week but not in the morning on Tuesdays or Thursdays, said Dad.
Afterward, we crossed Kirkwood Hwy on Limestone Rd and ate a nice meal at The Crossroads Restaurant nestled in the juncture of these two busy thoroughfares. Dad had a Chardonnay and a favorite of his, a lengthy split hot dog with the fixins'. I had a stuffed pepper and cole slaw and a Diet Pepsi. Dad had a coffee after his meal. So glad he ate with his usual, though less seen now, fervor. We ordered, as requested by Mom, a takeout cheeseburger, which turned out to be huge and eaten, completely, by Mom with a salivating Dancer close by. (I don't think she got any of it. Mom ate a good portion of the baked beans but couldn't manage the pickle, but what an admirable job of delightful gluttony. I returned with a cup of tea, as requested, and then, later, another scoop of sugar for my "sweet tooth" mother, a third heaping tablespoon -- but she can use it for the calories and I don't mind.)
I received my first Amazon-ordered item, resting by the patient door on the driveway, the book by the retired UU minister and native Delawarean, Rev. Edward Searl, entitled Around the Delaware Arc, is a compendium of 101 People, Places and Lore around the First State. Even though it was a self-gift, I wrote a preamble on the first pages:
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
The author, a retired UU minister, who practiced in the midwest
but who is a native Delawarean, came home to the border near Pennsylvania
to care for ailing parents. He had already written a number of books and was featured
in an article in the News Journal article the last week of September, the time
I returned to Delaware to care for my parents.
The journey continues and this book, all about my home state, is a fitting foundation
for a life forward.
Here's the e-mail that I sent Rev. Dr. Gay Williams Ortiz regarding the book/article above:
"Dear Rev. Gaye,
"Dear Rev. Gaye,
I thought this serendipitous article in the Wilmington News Journal that appeared Thursday, 26 September, 2013, in the New Castle County Crossroads section entitled, "Sacred space and place - Delaware native explains what makes the state's arc unique" might be of interest to you and others in the Church. It is a homily of sorts on the home territory (I've ordered the book through Amazon) of this retired UU minister, Ed Searl, who served several decades in the Midwest and then returned to his native Delaware to "care for his parents."
Enjoy and once again, I miss everyone but I will be attending the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek this Sunday and will attempt to join the choir. Voice and life moves onward.
In loving humankindness,
rudy"
Just responded to a FB post, within seconds, from Lindsay about a podcast about Science Signaling. "Am I being too nerdy?", she asked her FB friends. I answered and "Like"d:
"Sounds intriguing to me Lindsay. Have no idea what Science Signaling is? A podcast might help."
http://podcasts.aaas.org/science_signaling/ScienceSignaling_130917.mp3
This is an amazingly detailed Podcast with terms that require an advanced degree.
Got a call from Lindsay this afternoon and she had the time, she's talking to her grandfather right now about eating and his eye surgery and he asks her about her studies and I hear her voice over the iPhone (her voice does stand out). On the TV is the conclusion of the NewsHour and Ray Suarez is doing a feature on Rita Moreno. She called on her way back from Vanderbilt, a commute that can run into serious traffic. She does not like one of her classes and she is having some difficulty with her lab director, Dr. Peggy Kendall, who tends, she says, to have too many pots on the fire and a little too disconnected. I think she needs a little more direction in her investigation at the lab.
Rita Moreno, 81, is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards, which include an Oscar, ...
Rita Moreno, 81, is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards, which include an Oscar, ...
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