Say What?

Our hummingbird feeders have gone quiet as of a few days ago. In the days leading up to our little guys flying south, our feeders were as busy as I'd ever seen them. I couldn't look out there without seeing some activity. I'll miss them and I hope for their safe return next spring. Tammy and I had our first extended time away together since her mother came to live with us 4 months ago. (Elaine has Alzheimer's and needs 24/7 care and monitoring.) Tammy's good friend Brenda offered to stay with her overnight in our home to give Tammy a break. That was so incredibly nice of her but then that's who Brenda is. She's the most selfless person I know besides Tammy. We left home around 5:00 on Friday afternoon and worked our way toward Winona and our room at the Holiday Inn Express. We stopped in Cannon Falls to visit a winery and taste their assortment of wines while enjoying our temporary independence and freedom. It was nice. Yelp directed us to a restaurant...

I met with Rachel a week ago yesterday in Rochester. We went for lunch at 5 Guys and then she accompanied me to a couple of appointments at Mayo Clinic. The first was for an audiology exam to see if the hearing in my left ear had continued to improve since the previous exam 12 days earlier. (If you've just stumbled onto my blog, I suffered Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss  (SSHL) in my left ear one month ago .) I'm very relieved to say that the hearing in my left ear is now back in normal range. It's not quite as good as my right ear but it's wonderfully good and it may still get even better. For comparison, here's the exam from September 3rd and here are the results from the 15th . In both audiograms, the red plot line is for my right ear and the blue is for my left. There's still some tinnitus when I stop and think about it but otherwise, it mostly goes unnoticed. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in and see me, I was joking with Rachel about ...

Twenty years ago today I went golfing at Highland Hills Golf Course with my then stepson Dave . I returned home to a message on the answering machine from Jackie informing me that Dad had died. He was a little more than a month away from his 70th birthday and much too young. But it was expected news as I'd just been up to visit him in Michigan's Upper Peninsula a few days earlier, quite certain that it would be the last time I'd see him. He hadn't been well for years with most of his health problems related to emphysema brought on by years of smoking both unfiltered and filtered cigarettes: Lucky Strike and then Winston. He was happiest when he was either out in the garage or down in the basement tinkering on whatever project he had in front of him. I can still recall the days before Super Glue when he'd heat a fork or knife over a flame on the stove and use it to melt/weld broken plastic parts together for us. Of all of us six siblings , I think it was Jackie w...

I've taken hardly any time to put my feet up since signing my retirement papers 11 days ago. As most people who've recently retired will tell you, it's hard to distinguish this absence from that of being away on vacation. I think it will begin to be more real for me after my mom's Celebration of Life service one week from today. It sort of seems like a part of my life is on hold until that's behind me. We've got several family members coming in from out of town in the next week plus a family reunion planned for next Sunday at Keith and Tracee's. I'm looking forward to so much of what the week has to offer but there are several things about Mom's Celebration of Life / funeral service that I need to tend to. So many people are stepping up and taking on big and small tasks to make this happen. Mom would be so happy to see this because to be honest, we haven't always been so united. I spent the better part of two afternoons last week power-washin...

Rachel just left for her new home after having spent the summer with us. It goes without saying that it was nice to have been able to spend as much time with her as we did. We'll both miss her presence and her perspective as well as her input into our lives. I don't have any of my own children but if I did I can't imagine being capable of any more love for them than I have for her. My first day of retirement was a success! Rachel rented a 17 foot U-Haul and we got busy moving her stuff into her new digs on the north side of Rochester, a little further removed from the bustle of downtown than she'd like but the new place has its advantages as well and I think she's gonna like it there. She's excited about her new position with UMR as an Admissions Representative. It will involve travel and I would imagine that will be to high schools and college informational fairs as she reaches out to prospective students. I can see her thriving in the position for the yea...

I can't think of a more emotion-filled day than the one I just experienced. I woke up out of a deep sleep at 3:45 and checked to see if there were any texts from Keith regarding Mom. There were none. I couldn't fall back asleep so I got out of bed and went downstairs. I received a text from Keith an hour later: "Mom passed at 5:10". I've been expecting such a notification. Sitting there in the quiet of the den illuminated only by my laptop, all of my thoughts turned to her with wonder for what she must be experiencing at that moment. I was sad about her passing but only briefly. I was more relieved and happy for her. She decided a few years ago that she wanted to donate her body to medical science. She arranged for the University of Minnesota to receive her remains and they'll be in possession of them for the next 18 months while medical students learn from her by dissecting and studying her body. It's such a selfless thing to do and I'm so proud ...

Many of us spent a fair amount of time at Mom/Grandma/Great Grandma's bedside the past few days, certain that she would be gone from us sooner rather than later. She is one tough Finn! She's comfortable for the most part but it seems once each hour we need to alert the staff that she's in pain and needs morphine. She will open her eyes and get the most desperate look on her face, maybe reach out with her arms as her whole body goes rigid with pain from her broken pelvis. The staff is quick to respond but it's often 10-15 minutes of agony for her until the medicine is administered and begins to work. That was my main concern as I left her tonight; that the nursing staff will be there hourly to check on her and give her the drug. I hate to think of her lying there any longer than necessary in that sort of pain. I just phoned Keith who is still by her side with Tracee where they've both been all day. He said her breathing is down to around 4 shallow breaths per min...