First, the update: My mom continues to fade – she’s now asking for pain and anxiety meds round the clock – a big change from a week ago. She has only short periods of relative alertness, and her waking/sleeping are nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye. She’s eaten or drunk very little the last few days, and her breathing is painful to hear and watch. She sleeps in fits and starts, mostly in an upright position, and needs someone with her round-the-clock. Hospice has pulled their continuous care, and we’ve hired a live-in-health aide named Judie to help. My sister heads back to Washington, DC tomorrow. It’ll be me and Judie, the aide, to care for my mom over the next leg of her journey.
Like others who are caring for a dying person, I have been amazed at the people I’ve met along the way: hospice nurses and social workers, Starbucks employees, strangers and most especially, my mom’s case manager, a Christian who has shared the essence of the gospel with my mom in a way that I could not, opening the way for…?
The familiar words of Psalm 23 are 3-D for me in these days, not only because of what it is to be intimately involved with walking a parent through the end of her life, but because of the turmoil in my daughter, son-in-law and grandson’s lives. It is a story for another time, but suffice it to say that what has occurred with them this week is another potential loss in the life of my family that perhaps is even more devastating.
Please pray, as the Lord leads you.
– I have never eaten so much deli in my life – ever. Corned beef, stuffed cabbage, matzo ball soup, rugelach, and more corned beef.
– Elderly New Yorkers living here in South Florida have a fashion sense like no other. I have seen some of the scariest outfits this side of Halloween whenever I’ve ventured out.
We keep you in our prayers. I have a member of our parish in similar circumstances. Psalm 46 is also helpful.
Dan & Tammy Dahling
Thanks, you guys.
Psalm 46 is a favorite of mine.