I think Chelsea went bonkers overnight. She woke me up at 4AM. She was pacing so much that I took her out just to relieve herself, then tried to go back to sleep. I finally got up at a little before 5 and walked and fed her. Then I took my shower, ate breakfast and took a nap.

I stopped over to see Dick on my way to the Legion of Mary Mass and Brunch. Not a good start to the day. The wound on his right leg (the good one) had started to bleed. This might not be a BAD thing as it shows that there is circulation to the wound BUT on the other had is it a problem. I was uncertain as to whether I should be gone for the day or not but Jacki, one of the nurses, pointed out that he can bleed just as good with or without me and that they would take good care of him.

I arrived at Mother's at almost 9:30AM and we walked over to church to join the "Legion" in the rosary and then the following Mass. While we were waiting for the Mass, Fran Johnson asked if I would do the first reading and the psalm. So I did. Mother was trying to figure out how I got that job. I told her I did not know but when Fran asked, I figured that it was meant to be my gift that day. Fr. Theison was the celebrant and Deacon Bill Jens the co celebrant. They are both wonderful men of God. Deacon Bill said that he is so sorry to hear about Dick and has him held up in prayer each day. That is SO comforting. God listens to Deacon Bill. I know. Fr. Theison asked what was happening, overhearing part of the conversation. He said he did not remember Dick. When I told him that was probably because Dick was not of our faith, he got a twinkle in his eye and said that I should tell Dick that God won't mind. He will be praying too.

After Mass, we went down for the usual lovely brunch that the Legion regulars provide each year. Wonderful pastries, an egg dish, deviled eggs, cheese and juice and coffee. Then door prizes. Mother and I each got one. A lovely dish with shells and a light in it. This was to symbolize the seashore as the theme was the Footprints in the Sand story.

I went right from there to Sheboygan to Mead for the Sheboygan County Writer's Club's presentation of the winners of their Big Read contest. A fiction writing contest. We published a third book of writings from the members who wanted to contribute and the members read their work. The attendance was very poor despite lots of publicity. Such a shame, but one gentleman, a bit different, came and was our very best audience member. He enjoyed all the treats, and cheered on each participant and clapped the very hardest. I hope if we do this again, he comes. Sometimes the best presents, even people, come in strange packages. He was a treasure.

Then home again to take Chelsea out and over to visit my guy. He was feeling much better by then and the bleeding was checked. There was none on the fresh gauze on his foot. Jim and Michelle brought a batch of super brocolli cheese soup and bisquits over for supper for all of us. We ate in the sun room. Then they took things home and came back to play a game of rummy with us. They stopped at Culvers for ice cream. Couldn't ask for a better evening than that, could we?

Richard called this evening too so it was a good day. I feel much more relaxed.

Love Mary

This is the poem in the booklet that the Sheboygan County Writers just published. I hope you enjoy it.

KEEPSAKE

By: Mary J. Kunert

Precious in my heart
Is the scent of the sweet neck of my newborn son
As he sleeps on my shoulder.

Precious in my mind
Is the memory of a flight, harnessed to a parachute, into the clouds
That gave me a vision of freedom.

Precious in my ear
Is the sound of the rain on the roof drumming me to sleep
In the soft cozy nest of my bed.

Precious on my skin
Is the caress of my love when he drapes his arm around my shoulders
And gently strokes my arm.

Precious in my mouth
Is the taste of snowflakes or strawberries or s'mores by a campfire
Each to its own season.

These moments tucked in my being
Are part of what I am
Precious souvenirs that need no shelf or wall.
To take me back to their beginning.

Well, I had to shut the girl out but I got to sleep until 6AM anyway. I am trying to remember what happens to daylight when the time change goes into effect. All I know is that it is a BIG adjustment for Chelsea. Pretty soon, I will just let her out to do her business and we will take a walk later in the morning.

Got over to see Dick at about 9AM. He had a rather rough night and had already had a busy morning. Everybody is wanting "a piece of him." The Therapy people want chunks of time to do their magic and the nurses need to be changing bandages, getting him into bed for naps and change of position and various treatments and everything seems to clash. Oh Well, it has only been a week. Every day DOES get a bit easier. Today we had to add his doctor appointment with Dr. Sharon into the mix.

That went quite well. We also had an appointment with Deb of the Anti-coagulation department. Earlier this week, his count was 5.8. As it is supposed to be between 2 and 3, I was a bit alarmed. With the adjustment made at that reading, today it was at 2.4. Perfect again.

Dr. Sharon was very reassuring. He checked all the reports and listened to our concerns. He ordered a couple of tests, notably a blood test to be sure that the kidneys are back to normal and a test of his sputum to be sure there is no infection. This is because of all the coughing he is doing.

We got back in time for his lunch. I came home to take care of Chelsea, take a nap and cook a chicken/rice casserole for my supper. I had decided to eat with Dick but bring my own meal tonight. I took a nap too and I slept really deeply. Not long enough, but really deep. Before going back, Chelsea and I took a drive over to the city hall to take in our absentee ballot request forms. I found out that Dick will be able to vote at the Care Center on October 24. The clerk is coming over there to help the residents vote. I will get mine in the mail.

Dick and I ate supper in his room. He had little appetite but did eat his chips and half of a sub sandwich for his supper. I left at about 6:30 for Rhine. I wanted to shoot some of my pistol league targets. Nancy had gone out earlier. She and I will plan on going some afternoon to get a bit caught up, otherwise we will not finish before the deadline. It was good to spend a bit of time with the "guys" out there. They are all so supportive. My first two targets were pretty bad, but the last one, I took a DEEP breath and it was not bad at all.

Now I am home again, obviously and shutting down. Tomorrow, I am taking most of the day off. I am going to a Legion of Mary Brunch and a Sheboygan County Writers Club event at Mead. It will be good to be doing something outside of a hospital or care center for a whole day. I figure that I will be back in Plymouth in time to go to the 4PM mass and then have supper with Dick and spend the evening with him.

Love

Mary

WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may make you think you are whispering
when you are not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may cause you to tell your friends over
and over again that you love them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may cause you to think you can sing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may lead you to believe that ex-lovers
are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may make you think you can logically
converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The consumption of White Wine may create the illusion that you are
tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOW JUST IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD ACHIEVE WITH RED WINE!!!

Hello again.

It was a six AM morning again. I wish it wasn't so dark. There were a couple of people also out walking, notably Marilyn Bordeau, who I met as I turned back onto Tallgrass. They have finished installing the sidewalk that was torn up between Valley Road and Tallgrass Lane during the road construction so it is an easy walk.

Then I had breakfast and went to Aurora Plymouth for my physical therapy. That is going quite well. I have one more session with Becky to be sure she has me doing the right things and then I will be on my own. There is definite improvement and I have not been able to do the exercises every day because of the schedule.

Anyway I got to the Care Center at about 9AM and Lori, the PT was there wrapping Dick's stump. She says that it is very important to keep the stump round and not let it square off. So she is rewrapping it every day. Jacki had already wrapped his right leg and dressed the wound.

He had a pretty good night and is getting regular breathing treatments to help relieve the congestion in his lungs.

I stayed until about noon, then came home to have lunch, wash, take care of Chelsea and do a few other things that NEED to be done around here.

I went back at 4:30 by way of the bank and the gas station. I got there in time to join Dick for supper. They had swissburgers. Hamburgers with swiss cheese and onion rings. Not a bad supper as far as I am concerned.

We have decided that I come home at seven so I can get to bed at a decent time. So. Here I am.

I called Barb. She is in Washington DC. They sent her on another "rescue" mission to help an office that is in trouble. She does not like it there but they are already trying to talk her into staying on.

This morning when I was waiting for Becky at the Clinic, Dr. Sharon came in and saw me. He asked about Dick and I told him that I will feel much better after he sees him. There are questions on a few things that I know he can help with.

So the day is done. Not a bad day. Fr. Van Beeck said Mass at the Care Center at 10AM so I went. That is comforting.

I finally filled out our absentee ballots and will deliver them to the City Clerk tomorrow. Maxine says "They hold elections in November because it is the best time for picking out a turkey."



Have a good day.
Love

Mary

It is almost 10PM. I just got home at 9:45PM. I was actually here at 9:30 but when I hung my coat on the rack, I thought to myself, "I didn't think my jacket had a blue lining." And it didn't.

This evening, I went to 52 Stafford at 6:30PM to meet the Sheboygan County Celtic Women for dinner, a meeting and some music. We had a good group. There were 12 of us there, a good turnout and we planned our next two meetings which is the way we keep going. There were two new people, Joan Brigham and Debbie O Grady. I used to babysit for Debbie's husband. There were actually 11 of us at the dinner, including John Nevicosi, Toni's husband and then Candy Durdin joined us for a few minutes after she had her choir practice. A lovely evening and as I was sure it would be, a welcome break for me.

This was another pretty good day. Dick is kept busy all day, I tell you. With bandage changes and breathing treatments and physical therapy, it is not a quiet restful place. He is working on several things to build up strength and to learn to be self sufficient. It is going to be a hard struggle but we have time. Our goal is , if possible, to have him home for Thanksgiving.

I did the grocery shopping this morning before heading over to see him.

This morning, I watched parts of Good Morning America as I usually do. Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer reviewed Robin's journey through cancer treatments this past year. She was so good about sharing this with her fans for the sake of others who go through this every year. I was impressed with her courage in handling it. Whe had a comment today that was so pertinant to any hard ordeal that we go through in life (and WHO doesn't.) She said, " We are all a little bit stronger than we think we are." She is right. We can always do just one more day. or one more treatment or one more chore. But we can't look too far ahead. That is for God to do.

Love

Mary

Today was a much better day all around.

I got up way too early. Chelsea fooled me. She came bouncing around at what must have been 5:30AM and I misread the clock and got up with her. I couldn't figure out why it was not getting lighter until I got back home and saw that it was only a bit after 6. Oh well, she won't get me again.

I took a nap after my shower as I was still very tired, then did a few things around here before heading to the Care Center. And Nora called to see how things were going.

Dick had a much better night. He said he slept pretty well for him and he was all washed and fed. He ate toast and bacon for breakfast.

He is getting breathing treatments again as he is still coughing up phlegm. I watched when Jacki changed the dressing on his right foot and the wound looks pretty good. Dick went down for an initial physical therapy just before lunch and we have "a plan." He is also being transferred to his bed for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon so there are different pressures on his bottom. We don't need bedsores and so far have avoided that curse.

I ate lunch with him in his room. It was delicious. Pork chop, potato casserole, green beans and a piece of cake. He ate a bit of everything, but not much. He really liked the casserole though.

Then I came home for the afternoon. I caught up on our bill paying and Quicken and made a cauliflower salad for my lunches and took another nap.

I took some of the salad and a cupcake with me back to the center so we could sup together again. This time I convinced him to go down to the dining room. I think he needs to get out and moving as much as possible. After we were done, we just sat together working puzzles until it was time for me to come home.

Tomorrow there will be more therapy and Mary, the head nurse and Laura the therapist may try to get him able to use the standing lift instead of the sling, which will be great to get him stronger and much easier on him and his dignity.

Tomorrow night I will be going to 52 Stafford for the CWI meeting and the music. I am so looking forward to the break.

Have a nice sleep. Sleep is so healing.

Love

Mary

These are the beautiful plants that Dick and Brenda brought to Dick before the surgery. They are thriving on the front porch and I smile every time I walk Chelsea in and out.

Love Mary

A full day. Chelsea tried to wake me up at 5AM but I staggered out to the kitchen, gave her some lettuce and staggered back to bed, closing the door, so I could get another hour. We had a lovely walk anyway despite the fact that it is dark at 6AM nowadays.

I got a few things done, then went over to wish Dick a nice morning before heading to Sheboygan Falls for Bible Study and to see Mother.

Bible study was fun. We have a new member, a man called John. That sounds very holy doesn't it. He IS very nice and has a lot to offer us. The readings were good and it will be interesting to see what the priests have to say on Sunday. The Gospel was about the wedding feast where the invited guests did not come and then some of the people who did end up coming were ejected because they did not have a wedding garment. Helen had a notation in her bible that explained that, in that time, wedding garments were provided by the host family, so there was no excuse not to be wearing one. And this applies to us also, when we get to heaven we will, if we believe and do what we are supposed to, have our proper garment.

I also stopped to give my sympathy to some friends of mine who lost a son late last week. Veronica went to Ireland with me on my second trip and one of her other sons went with Bart on his Confirmation retreat. She and her husband are a loving and wonderful couple. This is the second son that they lost and as Mother says, it just isn't right that the children go before the parents. But God must have something in mind. I guess He needs them more than we do, though it is difficult to understand.

Mother needed some banking done so we filled out all the slips and I took them with me. We will meet on Saturday Morning for the Legion of Mary Mass and Brunch and that is soon enough to bring her receipts and cash.

I stopped at home then to pick up lunch and walk Chelsea. When I got to the Care Center I found that Dick had fallen kind of out of the chair. Apparently he tried to shift his weight and the chair toppled over. He landed safely. No head, no bumps on the stump and no bruises, but he was pretty shook up and so were the nurses. Their procedure is to check him every hour for about 6 hours, then every three hours and then once a day for three days so if ANYTHING is wrong it will show up by then. He also has an appointment to see Dr. Sharon on Friday. So we had lunch and then he rested. He woke from a bad dream once during the afternoon and thought that he was falling again, but aside from that seems no worse for wear.

This afternoon, I ran some errands and make phone calls from 3 to almost 5 when I went back to have supper with him. I had the last of the Mexican Lasagna for my supper. Dick had a BLT and pears. He hate half the sandwich and half the pears so I was happy. He really is not eating.

I came home at 7ish. Jaren, the therapist who helped Dick before his knee got so sore, came in as I was leaving to do an evaluation. How good it is to see a familiar kind face.

Now, this long day is over.

Tomorrow should be much quieter. I hope to be home more and with Dick when needed.

Today some young ladies came to the Care Center and decorated pumpkins for the residents. Dick got a nice medium to small pumpkin with four faces on the four directions. It is cute and brightens up his room along with the flowers that arrived from Leslie and Bill this afternoon.

Love

Mary

These are the flowers that arrived for Dick today at Plymouth Care from Leslie and Bill. They are really beautiful and brighten up his room.

Another day gone by.

Boy was last night weird. I stayed with Dick, you know. Not much sleep involved. With him waking up and being somewhat confused OR needing the nurses to go to the bathroom, not much chance of that. But we made it through til 5:30 when I headed for home to take care of Chelsea.

She and I went for a walk, I fed her and took a shower. Then I crawled into bed and slept until 9:30AM when I got up and did a few things before going to Mass at 10:45. After Mass, I came home, got some lunch ready and took it over to the Care Center so I could have lunch with Dick. We went into the dining room. Good thing. only one of his tablemates was there and it would have been lonely for Ed.

Jim and Michelle came just as we were finishing so we all went back to the room. We watched the Packers lose. Not a pretty sight. It was not a good weekend for Wisconsin. The Brewers AND the Badgers lost too.

Then Jim and Michelle went home to fix dinner which they brought back to the Care Center so we could all eat supper together. Michelle fixed her delicious Mexican Lasagna and corn. Sure was good.

Now we have another day of healing under our belts. Tomorrow will be a busy day for Dick as he will start therapy, both occupational AND Physical. I am going to bible study and over to visit Mother in the morning but will be back in time to have lunch again with Dick.

I talked to Jacquie, my ex sister in law, tonight. Found out that George is in the hospital. He has developed diabetes and had a count of 600. WOW. Please pray for him.

I have been thinking, a dangerous thing I know. Some people I know seem to avoid doing things, trying things, seeing things and enjoying being with each other. How sad it is to go through life not being a part of it. I guess the fear of being hurt outweighs the joy of being in the midst of all the wonderful things of this life. I wouldn't trace any of the rough times that Dick and I have been going through, despite the fear and concern, for one MINUTE of the wonders we have lived together.

Remember, the dance is worth the pain. God is good.

Love

Mary