Another Christmas has come and gone. Once again we were fortunate to spend time with family. Now we head into the long, cold suck part of winter.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Since we aren't really part of a church community for the first time in... forever... we simply attended the Christmas Eve service where the grand kids go to school. All three were singing this year from the balcony of this beautiful building at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
CHRISTMAS DAY
We continued the routine of visiting the Feipel's on Christmas morning. The grand kids were busy playing with their new presents, and Carrie made her scrumptious cinnamon rolls and sausage things(?).
After returning home it was just the two of us. I don't really even remember what we did. I suppose we cleaned and Jane cooked. The pic at the top of the page was our little tree in the basement.
Isaac and Ricci arrived in the evening and the Feipel's came over too. This is when we opened presents together. I was surprised with this bottle of Bob Dylan's "Heaven's Door" bourbon and an 07 Pub sweatshirt from Jane. Isaac and Ricci got me James Clear's book 'Atomic Habits' and Drew Carrie got me Richard Rohr's 'Falling Upward' and a new Moleskine notebook. Ricci also gave us all a unique gift from her trip to Costa Rica. It was a swell haul.
OFF TO BUDA
The day after Christmas (Thursday) we all packed up and headed to Buda to spend the rest of the week/weekend with my mom. My sister and her son Kevin and her dog Zoe also came down from Minnesota. The house was a little crowded, but everyone survived. I think there were 12 humans in all.
The first thing we did was go to our nephew's house in Sheffield to visit with some of the Pratt descendants (Jane's one brother and his kids/spouses/grand kids). They grew up with our kids and it was good to see them all.
Jane and I slept at her brother's house in Sheffield. He bought a small 1-bedroom and basically gutted it. It's mostly put back together, but there is no furniture or anything. We brought an air mattress and a lawn chair, so it was fine just for sleeping. At least it had heat and a shower.
Everyone stayed until Sunday morning. We stayed a little longer to help mom with some paperwork and to clean up the house a little.
DAD'S NURSING HOME
This was the first year we had Christmas without my dad around. We were surprised to find out they were taking him to a nearby nursing home on the day after Christmas. Of course it was the same day all of us were arriving, so I felt super bad for my mom. There was a lot going on for her over this holiday, and she handled it all just as well as she always handles everything.
In many ways it was probably a good thing he wasn't around the house. It would have been a lot for him to handle. At the same time, I am beginning to feel differently about my father as I see him in this light. Not only does he look much older, but beyond physical appearance he looks... defeated. It's actually hard for me to look at him at all.
We aren't sure if this will be his "home" or if this is simply where he will do rehab. The thinking is that he won't be returning to his home home, but might possibly be going to another facility at some point. It's all kind of up in the air at this point and may not be entirely up to them anyway. At any rate, I feel for my mom, as she has had to make some difficult decisions and will likely be making many more.
I/we hated to leave Sunday. The paperwork mom needs to fill out is a bit overwhelming for her. Jane helped as much as she was able. I wish we could be there longer so we could go with her to talk to some of the different facilities, lawyers, financial advisors and whatnot. I also felt bad sort of just leaving her all alone - and all of a sudden. I suppose the same could be said for dad. He does not have a private room, and I think that is difficult for him to deal with. It also makes it hard when mom goes to visit him. I know it was awkward when we visited him in the home.
Anyway, it was and is all a bit weird for me. No one in our family has ever been very good at processing emotions. There are a lot of them to deal with right now. I guess like most people we will simply need to do the best we can.
So, that's the rundown on all that. It was a good, but different, Christmas. Another year down.
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