December 7, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Birthdays.

I like birthdays. I especially like birthdays when the celebration goes on for several days. Yesterday my birthday was just fine. Linda took me out for my birthday lunch. David called me and we chatted for ages. I looked at e mail messages along with texts. And Rita phoned too. My whole day was taken up with celebrating my birthday. Today I stayed home and looked at more greetings on the internet, with people saying kind things to me and wishing me happy birthday. And flowers arrived for me from David, Suzanne and the girls. They are beautiful and sit on our bar which reflects from the mirror, thus I am able to see the flowers from all around the room. Today was also a day of celebration. For years we have hosted a party in December. No one knew it was my birthday but for many years we have a party on the weekend closest to my birthday. We celebrate with family and friends to start the Christmas season. And we also celebrate my birthday. Last year, because it was my 80th, we invited people to my birthday, so the cat is out of the bag. Tomorrow evening, we will have a party for friends and their children, held at the yacht club. And Sunday at noon, our family will celebrate together to say a last hurrah for my birthday and to congratulate the girls for the end of their successful school year. And that will be the end of my birthday celebrations. I like it when the birthday extends day after day, but enough is enough. Soon my birthday celebrations will be over. I have enjoyed every minute.

December 6, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Update.

Today I turned 81. December 6 is my birthday. I have had a wonderful day reading the birthday greetings from my friends. The modern form of communication is a marvel. And I even received messages from the office party, sending pictures. Maureen looks wonderful dressed as Mrs. Santa Clause. Linda took me out for lunch to celebrate. Pretty nice being 81. Wonderful Wendy has officially retired. Yesterday she attended a matinee performance of a play in Toronto. They took the train. She could not do that before she retired. Now every day she will decided what to do today, not what is required to do. Congratulations to Wendy. Ken and Anne have settled on their new home and are busily opening boxes. Their plan is to retire at the end of 2019 and sail off on their boat. It all sounds exciting and scary. But we wish them well. Grandniece Rachel is being married in India just after Christmas. Lots of the family will attend the three day event. Norm and Diane will be there, along with Ken and Anne, Eric and Elise. Alana is going too. Dave and Irene will not attend and neither will we. Too far. Katie has taken a job as archivist at Purdue University, beginning in January. We are so pleased for them. Brock starts work Jan.1. He has rented an apartment at Purdue, one he calls an adult apartment as opposed to a student size. Sarah will spend the full spring semester in Australia at the University in Sydney. She is stoked. Abigail is thriving at Furman as is Allison in the 11th grade. Her grades are excellent. Kate begins her last semester in nursing school at Mississippi College. She just passed with flying colors a review exam. We are proud of her hard work and diligence. Mary Frances has been thrilled with her first semester at Millsaps. The English class and the art have been the best. And Molly has started to get interested in her school work. History is her favorite. Ken sent all his camera equipment to Samantha, who is a fine photographer. And the lens work with her new cameras. For Christmas she asked for some specific piece of equipment which David said was remarkable expensive. And Ken began physical therapy at the university. So here we go. My update is complete. Our family is marching on and doing well. My Mother and Father would be so pleased to see these young people taking their place and always on the go. My hats are off to them all.

December 5, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Leaking Pipe.

Monday morning first thing, Kashina noticed water on the floor by the sink and dishwasher. I had not run the dishwasher so I knew a pipe must be leaking. I called the plumber, who could come on Tuesday after lunch. In the meantime, I kept think towels in front of the leak. The water seemed to be coming onto the floor from between the dishwasher and the sink. Kashina said that if you listed closely, you could hear a faint sound, probably a tiny hole spewing out a small amount of water. The plumber came and quickly found the leak. Sure enough, the tiny hole was spewing out water in a fine spray, which is what Kashina could hear. The hole was in a hose connecting the water supply to the dishwasher. A small amount of water accumulates quickly. During the day, I changed the towels every few hours. By morning, the towel was socked. The plumber installed a new pipe, this one a stainless steel pipe so now we no longer have a leak. I finally ran the dishwasher after the plumber left. The plumber was the same man who fixed all our problems when we moved in. He and I laughed about the fact that no shower or no faucets worked well, until he fixed them all. Fortunately we were here when the pipe decided to leak. If we had been out of town, we would have had a mess. Christina checks the house every week, but a small amount of water could do a lot of damage. One winter a tiny hole appeared in the entrance pipe of our Franklin Street house, the only pipe we had not replaced. This tiny hole sprayed a small amount of water for several days. It was winter and no one had gone downstairs. By the time I spotted the water, most of the lower level, which was fully furnished and carpeted, was covered with water. New carpets and new pads needed along with the big mess of drying the place out. As I said to the plumber, "Thank heavens for good plumbers". Now we have no leaking pipes at least for the moment.

December 4, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Kashina.

One aspect of our life in 2018 has been to get to know our helpers. Without the difficulties of our year, we would never have met these good folks. We have enjoyed getting to know them, including Kashina. In many ways, she is different. She is in her mid 30s and she is single with no children. She was brought up in a family with a mother and a father and siblings. The family has always lived in Crystal Springs, the place we bought our fountain. All the family lives close by. She has a degree in Education from Jackson State University. After her student teaching, she decided not to teach so she got certified as an assistant nurse. She has been helping people ever since. Kashina is a worker bee. The joy in her life is helping people. She does not enjoy parties. She does not drink alcohol or tea or coffee. She works long hours. Financially she lives within her means. Her mother is still alive and still works. She loves cars and still buys and sells and trades cars. Her father was a mechanic and taught her lots about cars. He thought she would be a mechanic but she rejected it after her father died. And she has some health issues and takes medication for thyroid and heart. And she is not particularly religious and does not attend church, which in Jackson is unusual. Perhaps the most interesting thing about her life is that she eats a terrible diet. She eats meat, mostly fried. And no vegetables or salad or fruit. She does eat mustard green and an occasional baked potato. And of course, she eats French fries. I have read about bad diets but I have never lived with it. But we do not criticize. She is a wonderful helper to both of us. She is competent and fun. And she is a good driver too. Without our issues, we would never have met Kashina. She has enriched our lives and for that we are grateful.

December 3, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Physical Therapy.

I asked our Doctor, a Geriatric Specialist, if Ken could be referred for physical therapy at the University Hospital facility. Ken took a clinic in June at the same place and I noted the elaborate equipment available, which all seemed under utilized. The referral was made and today we met with the therapist for evaluation. She needed to know if Ken would benefit from their therapy. The therapist we met with today was the same one who gave Ken his drill for the last bout of exercises, so Ken was pleased because he like her style and competence. Regina was pleased with Ken's arm and leg strength but his hip muscles are weak. She accepted him as a patient. We are pleased. Regina will work out an exercise program for Ken. And we will meet her twice a week for the next three weeks. Our goal is to increase strength and to help him get off the floor. She also will give Ken exercises to use when we are in Mexico. We checked out the local gyms and one has individual exercise people to work with him but I am fearful that trainers will work him too hard and he will get injured. They also know nothing about Parkinson's patients. Ken is pleased to be working on his strength and balance. His first 45 minute session is Wednesday. Ken feels better already. Regina also reported more strength for Ken than she expected, which pleased him too. The stairs and the walking in Nova Scotia has been beneficial. Now we will roll back the years a bit to add strength. When we return to Mississippi at the beginning of February we will return for more physical therapy with Regina. This physical therapy is just what the doctor ordered.

December 2, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Gout.

Attitude is everything. This week, my friend Suzanne, urged me to be prepared for something else to come along for Ken. Her husband who suffers from chronic mobility issues due to polio is the same as Ken. Something is always happening to him. Sure enough, Ken began to have severe pain in his right toe. He was so uncomfortable at brunch today with the family that he asked Kashina to take him home. When Christina brought me home, Ken was extremely uncomfortable so I gave him pain medication. And he took a nap. When he woke up, he worked through all the options causing the pain. He finally asked me to call our doctor on her cell phone. She returned my call at 5:00. Between the good doctor and Ken, they decided he was having an acute attack of gout of all things. He is now taking Tylenol along with ibuprofen. Tomorrow she will call in a prescription for gout medicine. Ken is hoping that is the problem with his big toe. But it could be nerve issues, or his neuropathy, or even Parkinson's. We will find out. But the attitude is the most important. If you expect other things will happen to Ken, you are not irritated or surprised. It just goes along with living with Ken. After all he has lung disease, Parkinson's Disease and heart issues, so any one might cause troubles somewhere in his body. His lifetime of disease has caught up with him. But he is 82 and is walking and talking. So here we go. But he never expected to have gout.

December 1, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Shopping Expedition.

We enjoyed ourselves, Molly, Mary Frances, Christina and I. At the end of our excursion, Molly said, "This shopping tires me out". But she was a happy 11 year old. Molly selected the stores and wanted them in the right order. First she and Christina selected clothes and hung them in the dressing room while Mary Frances and I sat outside the dressing room in comfortable chairs. The first thing is whether Molly liked the object. If she did, she came out to model the garment and we three passed judgement. Then we had three piles. Mary Frances held the definite yeses, Christina kept the rejects and I held the maybes. We were efficient. And Molly did well with her selections., When driving to the stores, I asked her what she hoped to be able to buy and she gave me a list. Sweaters, dresses and shirts. I did suggest to her that sometimes we are not able to get what we want when shopping. She was not buying it, and she was right. She did well in the first store buying two dresses and two sweaters. And a hairband. The second store she was able to buy two tops. By the third store Molly was unable to like anything other than a warm fuzzy vest. It was time to go for lunch. Molly had shopped till she had dropped. And she was a happy 11 year old. For lunch, Molly selected the Italian restaurant in the Renaissance, which is my favorite eatery. Our food was delicious and the company delightful, We all four enjoyed our shopping spree. But Molly was thrilled with the whole event. And she was grateful too.