Fun for Anna and Me

The auction provided an opportunity for Anna and me to be together. She flew from Portland, Oregon, and I from Dallas, Texas, and met up at the Columbus airport. We spent four days together staying at Mom's house. Anna and I loved being with family, my brother and his wife, my aunts and uncles. Friday night we ate supper at Daryl and Clara's. Aunt Clara's cooking is incredibly delicious! And when you eat there, you can also count on a great time around the table after you eat because we always play games. This time it was Mexican Train dominos and LRC.

We were able to visit Mom at the nursing home several times. You should have seen Mom's face light up when she saw Anna! We had a nice time visiting with her. Mom was feeling much better than she had last time I saw her (just last month on her birthday).

We took her down the halls in her wheelchair. We stopped in to visit another resident there, Hazel Shuey, a girl Mom had grown up with. Hazel was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Shuey who lived on the next farm over from my Grandma and Grandpa Gompf. When a child, I remember Mr. Shuey in his farmer's hat herding his cows up the road and into a field across from Grandma's house. He always waved at us. Well, Hazel never married, and she cared for her parents until their deaths. She lived in that same house until she entered Woodside Care Center where Mom is also living now.

The two "girls" had an interesting conversation. I said to Hazel, "You were an only child. Were you spoiled?" She thought a bit, then answered, "Well, I don't think so--was I spoiled, Ivah?" My mom is very honest--"Well, you had nicer toys than I had!" We laughed about that. Then we talked about Hazel's dog, Heidi. She has no family at all, so her dog's pictures are on her dresser with a picture of her parents and one very darling picture of her when she was probably 3 or 4 years old. Well, when we turned Mom's wheelchair to leave Hazel's room, she said she wanted to go with us, so she put on her shoes and got up with her walker.

She followed us a while, and then we had the bright idea to take Mom outside, since it was the first beautiful sunny day there. We bundled Mom up with blankets, and Hazel said she didn't need a sweater--but the nurses insisted and they got her a wrap. We went out on the sidewalk for a little bit. Mom said it felt like zero, since she had not been outside for months. I think they both enjoyed the little excursion. My mom has always been an outdoor person. Her most common activity in her later years was to go around the property and pick up sticks so that the lawn would be ready for the lawn mower.

Another day when we were visiting with Mom, we heard on the loud speaker that there would be a "quilting bee" in the dining room at 10. So Anna and I jumped on the chance to give Mom some interesting activity. As it turned out, only one other lady came to the event, and she couldn't even see, she just liked to socialize. So the two ladies sat there and watched Anna and me cut out quilt squares from the beautiful fabrics the activities director provided. I got real excited when I saw a little piece of a chicken print fabric, and she told me to take it, as those were all donated fabric scraps. I was thrilled over that. Although Mom cannot do things like quilting anymore, I think she enjoyed just watching Anna and me that day.