We had an ice storm at the end of March to beat all ice storms in memory. We ended up with 2" of ice on everything, and nine of our thirteen trees either broken or damaged. The whole town, and the surrounding area, looked like a war zone with thousands and thousands of trees down, power lines down, etc. Silver Bay lost power for 4 hours, Finland lost power for 4 days. The Red Cross set up a shelter at the arena, though not as many people as one would expect took advantage of it. The ice was really gorgeous...but equally horrific. I'm grateful that David stayed in Eveleth those days, so I didn't have to worry about him driving on lonely, ice-covered roads back and forth to school.
Dad's seizures are still not completely controlled and they, along with dementia, have taken a toll on his cognitive abilities. Some days he thinks he's in Wabasso, a town near the farm where he grew up. Other days he thinks he's in a hospital. Some days he doesn't know who we are, other days he remembers not only who we are, but the nicknames he gave us when we were younger. Already basically skin and bones, he's losing more weight and the Vet's Home has begun monitoring how much he eats. Dad doesn't complain of being in any pain, really, so that's a positive. We have no way of knowing how far the cancer has progressed to-date because he's basically on comfort care that will include pain management when he needs it etc. Mom spends just about every day, all day, with him. She goes to church in the morning, then down to the Vet's Home to feed dad his breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and just to be with him. My oldest daughter, Kirstin, visits "papa" every day. I go down to see him anywheres between 2 and 5 days a week. I typically bring one of the "little girls." I say little, because they are my two youngest. Chelsea is 14, now, and Becca is 11. They're really not so little anymore. Well, unless you count size. Chelsea is pretty much full-grown and stands 5' 3 1/2" tall. Becca, three years younger, is 5' 2" tall. Chelsea giggles about being little (compared to me...Amazon at 5' 9" tall), sometimes she gets a little frustrated and wishes she could be taller. I tell her that she's "huggable." *smile*
A daughter of one of the residents at the Vet's Home, where David works, told him the other day "I didn't know you were married to the Bunny Lady!" Between my mom and our family, we have two rabbits (Thumper and Cuddles), a guinea pig (Fritz), and a chocolate lab puppy (Gidget). All we need is a goat and we'll have a real menagerie. My dad (and other residents at the Vet's Home) like to see the animals, so I usually bring one or two of them with me when I go to visit. The rabbits are especially well-behaved; Gidget...not so much. She's a lab, she's a puppy, 'nuf said.
David graduated from Mesabi Range on May 13, our 20th wedding anniversary. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate, than to go up to Virginia for his graduation ceremony. I cannot express how proud we all are of his accomplishments. In addition to going to school full-time for two years, he worked full-time. David would get home from school around 1:30 on Friday afternoon, and go straight to work at 2:00. He would then work 8 hours, come home for 8 hours, then go back to work for 8 hours, for the whole weekend. It took it's toll. Finally, for the last few months of his school, he dropped down to a .8 at work, which allowed him 8 hours of home-time on the weekend. I have to say, that I have a very deep and new respect for single parents because that's basically what I was for two years...a single mom. I am grateful that the kids are a little bit older and capable of assuming certain responsibilities. Ben was fantastic, with clearing snow at our house and at my mom's house etc. I never had to worry about not being able to get out of the driveway because Ben was so very, very good about taking care of it all. The same for my mom. There were a number of days that I would wake Ben up at 5 a.m. to go out and clear snow; he never once complained about doing it. I'm really proud of the girls, too. Kirstin managed school work (some classes better than others), a job, and play practice with good grace, and high expectations which I believe, were achieved. Chelsea and Becca...they did well, too. Yay girls!
I, too, have finally graduated from school. I now have an AA degree in Medical Billing and Coding, and received the Most Inspirational On-Line Student award from Duluth Business University. I'm pretty proud of that, but it would not have happened without the support, understanding, and kindness of the staff at DBU.
On that happy note, it's time for me to end this entry and finish the potato salad that I started an hour ago. David, Ben, Chelsea, Becca, the puppy, and I are all driving down to Duluth to have a picnic with David's parents. After that, I'm not sure what we're going to do. Kirstin will be coming down later with her boyfriend, Steve, when he gets off work. We like Steve. He's a nice guy and treats Kirstin really well.
