July 3, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Our Day Helpers.

April and Kendria help Ken every day. They have done so since we returned from Mexico at the end of March. They have become part of the family. Ken calls them his assistants. April helps with the bird feeders and the electronic stuff. And Kendria thinks of Ken as her grandfather. The other afternoon she cut his toe nails. I did not know she had done it until Ken told me, so I thanked her. Ken has a problem with his toe nails. He can not have a pedicure because his feet keeps jerking and I can not cut them because of my tremor. Poor Ken tries to do it himself. But Kendria came to his rescue. Kendria told me that she never had a grandfather so she treats him as her own, which is very nice. Just yesterday she commented to me that she will be very sad when we go to Nova Scotia. "You are part of my own family now," she said. The reality of our situation is that our day time helpers have very little to do. Ken is confident walking around the house. He dresses himself both morning and evening and he bathes himself. They keep his water bottles full and remind him of his medications. But mostly, Ken is on his own. Tomorrow we will have no helper. We are trying it out to see what we need in Nova Scotia. We know we need help through the week, but we suspect we can function on our own on the weekends. This Saturday we will also be without April or Kendria. Our helpers are quiet so do not intrude on our life. But we prefer being alone. Tomorrow will be the first day thin year that Ken and I have been by ourselves during the day. We are grateful for the help. But we are delighted to be able to be on our own. Progress indeed.