Newsletter 2005
Jan. 23rd, 2006 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
filkferengiHere's the final installment; enjoy!
2005
In January I enjoyed music at GaFilk, then spent the next several days driving our 3 British buds all over town every day & having dinner in different [& widely-dispersed] parts of town every night. Fun, but fatiguing.
By February my mom had pretty much joined the “stroke of the month club”, so I started spending a couple of days a week with her, to give my dad a break & let him work on outstanding projects. He’s no more known for patience than I am, but his ongoing labors were nothing short of heroic. My mom had already begun a gradual decline by then, but we didn’t know that at the time, as she’d always rally after each stroke. After all, her father lived another 5 years after his stroke at 56, before dying of another one at 61. My maternal grandmother made it to almost 88 before dying of her stroke, so we had some grounds to hope.
Being needed at home, I sent ze spouse to Arizona for spring training. In addition to the cool cave in Bisbee, he went to 12 games [too much even for him?]. We also got a new computer, the sound system for which I have yet to completely figure out.
March and April were rough, as my mom steadily weakened. Max had it by far the worst, seeing the bright, sassy, snarky woman he loved decline so rapidly. She eventually needed basically fulltime supervision, most of which fell on him, because he’s stubborn like that. I helped out when I could, & it was only thanks to my wonderful husband that I was able to be so available & flexible in the scheduling. But then, he’s all supportive like that.
My mom died towards the end of May. Fittingly enough, her memorial was on Memorial Day. That she died two weeks short of her 64th birthday sucked muchly & set me to wondering about the timebomb in *my* head. But then, she had lots of risk factors I don’t: smoking, drinking, diabetes, emphysema, severe head trauma, ministrokes, et-exhaustive-cetera.
Throughout the whole year, a highlight has been walks on the nature trail with my husband almost every day, up & down hills. There’s a duck we look for, along with varieties of fungus [which don’t give out when mere flowers fade, plus that whole lawyer-fungus connection].
The main things my mom, grandma, and I had in common were reading, eating, and music. We read different stuff, & I never learned to cook, so I’ve been re-connecting to them through music. To & from the walks we’ve listened to cds ranging from bluegrass, the Mediaeval Baebes, Louis Armstrong, British folk rock, to Jeff Foxworthy.
Confluence in July was fabulous [albeit overly abundant] for music--talk about your embarrassment of riches! Tamora Pierce, a favorite author, was there too. She’s short, round, wears large square glasses, has short hair, a longtime marriage to a cuddly husband interested in politics, and may be politely described as brusque. Sound familiar?
I wound up going to the North Georgia Celtic Festival [always the one weekend it’s so hot, no matter when they schedule it] on my own & saw 9 acts in 4 ½ hours. It was quite the adventure!
In August we heard the Skillet Lickers [the best bluegrass band *ever*]; I got 5 cds covering 3 generations. In September we went to Seattle for the Nasfic, baseball, sightseeing, ferry cruising, mountain-hiking, etc.
We saw butterflies on Thanksgiving.
This December at the housefilk, Himself got into some lively political discussion and enjoyed the music. My family found a better Chinese buffet [even Chef Maximilian, notorious food snob, liked it]. The herb garden on the nature trail still had some violets for Christmas.
It’s rough in spots, but life is full of good things, and we’re doing well & hope y’all are the same.
Take care of yourselves.
2005
In January I enjoyed music at GaFilk, then spent the next several days driving our 3 British buds all over town every day & having dinner in different [& widely-dispersed] parts of town every night. Fun, but fatiguing.
By February my mom had pretty much joined the “stroke of the month club”, so I started spending a couple of days a week with her, to give my dad a break & let him work on outstanding projects. He’s no more known for patience than I am, but his ongoing labors were nothing short of heroic. My mom had already begun a gradual decline by then, but we didn’t know that at the time, as she’d always rally after each stroke. After all, her father lived another 5 years after his stroke at 56, before dying of another one at 61. My maternal grandmother made it to almost 88 before dying of her stroke, so we had some grounds to hope.
Being needed at home, I sent ze spouse to Arizona for spring training. In addition to the cool cave in Bisbee, he went to 12 games [too much even for him?]. We also got a new computer, the sound system for which I have yet to completely figure out.
March and April were rough, as my mom steadily weakened. Max had it by far the worst, seeing the bright, sassy, snarky woman he loved decline so rapidly. She eventually needed basically fulltime supervision, most of which fell on him, because he’s stubborn like that. I helped out when I could, & it was only thanks to my wonderful husband that I was able to be so available & flexible in the scheduling. But then, he’s all supportive like that.
My mom died towards the end of May. Fittingly enough, her memorial was on Memorial Day. That she died two weeks short of her 64th birthday sucked muchly & set me to wondering about the timebomb in *my* head. But then, she had lots of risk factors I don’t: smoking, drinking, diabetes, emphysema, severe head trauma, ministrokes, et-exhaustive-cetera.
Throughout the whole year, a highlight has been walks on the nature trail with my husband almost every day, up & down hills. There’s a duck we look for, along with varieties of fungus [which don’t give out when mere flowers fade, plus that whole lawyer-fungus connection].
The main things my mom, grandma, and I had in common were reading, eating, and music. We read different stuff, & I never learned to cook, so I’ve been re-connecting to them through music. To & from the walks we’ve listened to cds ranging from bluegrass, the Mediaeval Baebes, Louis Armstrong, British folk rock, to Jeff Foxworthy.
Confluence in July was fabulous [albeit overly abundant] for music--talk about your embarrassment of riches! Tamora Pierce, a favorite author, was there too. She’s short, round, wears large square glasses, has short hair, a longtime marriage to a cuddly husband interested in politics, and may be politely described as brusque. Sound familiar?
I wound up going to the North Georgia Celtic Festival [always the one weekend it’s so hot, no matter when they schedule it] on my own & saw 9 acts in 4 ½ hours. It was quite the adventure!
In August we heard the Skillet Lickers [the best bluegrass band *ever*]; I got 5 cds covering 3 generations. In September we went to Seattle for the Nasfic, baseball, sightseeing, ferry cruising, mountain-hiking, etc.
We saw butterflies on Thanksgiving.
This December at the housefilk, Himself got into some lively political discussion and enjoyed the music. My family found a better Chinese buffet [even Chef Maximilian, notorious food snob, liked it]. The herb garden on the nature trail still had some violets for Christmas.
It’s rough in spots, but life is full of good things, and we’re doing well & hope y’all are the same.
Take care of yourselves.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-23 05:44 pm (UTC)Peace
no subject
Date: 2006-01-23 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-24 05:23 pm (UTC)Let the Mutual Admiration Society ensue! ;)