Welcome Home Auntie Donna!!!

I wrote this entry in my Blog yesterday, but I thought I would copy and paste it over here for you.

Welcome Home Auntie Donna!!!
Sunday I was so thankful to sleep in! Jenn said that she was going to visit Nana in the morning so I took advantage of that and slept in until noon! I couldn't believe it! The baby woke up at 7 so I got up with her but she was tired again by about 8 so I laid down with her in Katelynn's bed. (Katelynn was in my bed snuggling with her Daddy!) I remember Shawn coming in and getting the baby when he woke up. And I remember several attempts from Shawn and the kids to wake me up later, but all attempts were unsuccessful! I couldn't keep my eyes open at all! When I finally did wake up, I was shocked to find out it was 12:00!
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Katelynn and Ciara joined me to visit Nana! We brought a couple of movies to help keep them occupied..and it worked.
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Shortly after arriving, a nurse from Love Health Care (hospice) came by to visit. I can't even begin to describe the woman. She was overbearingly loud. Almost like she thought everyone in the room was deaf! I think we were all grateful when she didn't stay too long.
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Soon, it was just Nana and I. We were able to visit and chit chat for a little bit. Every car that drove by or every time that Lady would bark, Nana would get all excited. "Is that them!? Are they home?!" She knew that the kids were picking up their parents from the airport and was anxious to see her daughter!
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After about an hour the van pulled up! I couldn't believe how fast Nana was scooting her bum to the edge of the bed! She wanted to be up and ready for Donna! And there she was! Aunt Donna jumped into the room with the same excitement that Nana had! It was so wonderful to watch them hug and kiss and hug and cry and hug and kiss!

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I was able to stay just a little while longer to visit with the family and to hear just a few blurbs about the trip. I am so grateful that everything went well.

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Faith is a wonderful thing.
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Welcome home Auntie Donna!!

On a Clear Day...

I am so pleased to write that mom has overcome odds once more. Her fogginess and confusion has lessened and she seems much more clear and reasonable in her thinking.
She has confessed about some of her delusions and she recognizes them as being just that. No more conspiracy theories or hallucinations of destruction.
She told me she still sees people coming and going but there is no fear or threats. She was also a bit confused about what month it was, but she accepted the truth quite readily.
I have seen her eat more than she has the last few months.
She still needs lots of sleep and physically, the symptoms of renal failure continue to add up but she is no longer foggy.
On sunday, we watched Pirates of the Carribean and once again she loved it, tho she made a comment near the end about too much fighting!
On tues we watched Godzilla with Mathew Brodrick. It was sooo funny. During the movie, mom made the comment that "the other Godzilla is better". I asked her if she meant the old Tokyo movies and she said yes! I mean, this Godzilla isnt very good but worse than the 60's Godzilla?? I'd have to think about that one.
Anyway, she is doing better and that is what counts. My heart is lifted. I know she is slipping away slowly, but her mind being intact is such a relief!
Love to you all.

"The List"

    When I was a young adult I would often visit Diana when her children were very small. I would go and visit her and tell her stories about my life and she would give me her advice. I'm sure she must have been in her thirties or so at the time becauase I was about 21 or so ( I just turned 55 so this was about thirty years ago). I am sure all of you who know and love her see her as a rather unconventional woman. I always could trust her judgement no matter what we discussed because she never judged me and could always find a positive solution to a problem. A gift that really is so rare and looking back I now see that she had her own problems to deal with but she never let me  know that, she just listened and gave me her best advice. One day while we were visiting she showed me her "list" that she was working on for all the things she was looking for in a new mate.

It had 3 parts, one for the must haves- one for the maybes- and one for the no way! She really was giving me an insight, oh so many years ago to visualizing what you want in life and putting it on paper to help a person keep on the right path! I've never forgotten this about her and how impressed I was about her "list". The only problem I can see from this now, is that one who is honest can really never see a dishonest intention. I LOVE YOU DIANA! Thank you for all the great advice and love you have given me. Your Cousin , April

Santa Barbara Fiesta

I thought it would be fun to bring back some memories of the Santa Barbara Fiesta Days! These pictures of Nana (Diana)when she was a girl are so beautiful I just wanted you all to see them. We had some great times doing our dances and posing for the camera. Mama taught us well. She made all our costumes and taught us how to pose. We performed for every Fiesta in August for years! Maybe that's why Diana (Nana) was so good at teaching her kids to perform and have such fun showing their talents when she became a mother. She didn't need any magic clothes back then."Look at that figure!!!! (not sure the pics went in, I hope they did) Love to all

Good and Bad Weekend

Just wanted to let you all know that we were able to get the pics of April's post to go into the entry. So, go back and look for them!! It's the "Let us Entertain You" post. Great fun!!

It sure was great to have Chris, here this weekend. (I don't know if I'll ever truly get used to Chris, instead of Denise or Neecey, as I used to call her, it still slips) She spent a lot of good time with Nana. It seems to have been good for Nana as well. She was awake a little more and actually ate more too. We did find out that she's not as clear headed as we thought, at times, even when she seems like it. Sometimes, Dementia patients down play their paranoia to cover it up and not draw attention to themselves. It was interesting to see her do that.

Poor dear, had another fall this weekend. She actually fell off the potty and bruised her tail bone, OUCH!! That has created a lot of discomfort. Also, the vertigo hit her once while she was on the potty and just about nose dived it into the tile. I'm so glad I was there. It just creates a fear of leaving her in there all by herself, now. We are trying to figure out the best way to get enough help in here while I'm on my trip. Hospice is going to have a big discussion about it on Wednesday and let me know. It's about time, since I have been trying to get them to plan this out for weeks. Everyone has just been so busy. We'll just have to wait and see.

Love to you all, and hope you are all thinking about your next post...Keep the great stories and memories coming!! It sure makes this more exciting when everyone contributes!!

Mothers kind words

Well it was November 6th 1987, I woke up in labor with my first child Megan. We all got to the hospital and mom, Deanna, and Dad was taking turns helping me through labor. Deanna and mom got hungry and told dad to stay with me while they went to eat. Dad being quite nervous desired them to return quickly. Well wouldn't you know it I hit hard labor and was getting ready to give birth. I was scared, dad was scared, where is your mother, he cried. I told my father I can't have this baby alone you can't leave me. Just as the doctor said it was time to push mom came in the room,(to both me and my fathers relief.) My mom looked and said,"I can see the head look Terry!" I looked over in horror to see where my father was,(hoping he had already left the room) looking up I found my father squeezing his body into the corner of the room yelling no, no. He quickly found the door and ran. Being so young and completely terrified I wasn't doing so well. Then came the words from my mother that I would never forget. She leaned down and whispered in my ear, "this is the best thing you will ever do in your whole life" I looked at her and knew I would be ok. I then gave birth to the most beautiful baby. I have been blessed to have my mother there for two of my children's birth.

TickleFest '78

I wish I had pictures to show you with this memory....

I had a lot of friends in high school. We were mostly made up of actors from theatre class. We were also the group who went to Rocky Horror.
Anyway....we would "Bunbury". Now, "Bunbury" was a secret word that we would use on the phone when calling each other if we wanted a get-together. What has all of this to do with mom??
Well, everyone's favorite place to Bunbury was my home, a little apartment in Westminster. Now, this was not because of me, no no no...they loved "nana". She was nana to most, "mom" to some, and she loved each of them dearly.
During one particular Bunbury, mom was in the kitchen baking cookies and the smell was incredible! We were sitting in the living room chatting when we stopped and looked at each other. There was about 7 or 8 of us that day, and we had one thing on our minds. How to get to the cookies! Mom had told us to stay out of the kitchen till she was done.
Elaine Fong, one of my dearest friends, had an idea....and Ticklefest 1978 began!
One would run in, tickle mom, who would laugh and scream hysterically, into a corner, and another would run in and grab a cookie (or a dip of dough!), then both would run out.
She would gasp for breath in the kitchen, then yell out that what we were doing wasn't fair.
I think she realized after the second attack that there were at least 5 more coming!!
But she was wrong...how can you eat just one of mom's chocolate chip cookies.
We had a blast, everyone laughing and tickling till we were stuffed with cookies and exhausted from laughing!!
Mom loved it, by the way...don't let her tell you any different!