Today was a beautiful day. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, and seeing family again was beautiful. My dear Aunt Blanche was there at the annual family reunion hayride. I so wish she lived closer so she could come to the club. Aunt Blanche told everyone that she was so glad they came, and asked if they could come and see her more often. I know she gets lonely living on the farm with her son and his wife and children. She can no longer drive. She used to be so social and involved in civic matters. Her family, both immediate and extended, have busy lives and don’t take time to visit her as often as she would like. It is the plight of many older Americans. Aunt Blanche is blessed to live in a little house her son built for her next to his house. It is completely wheelchair accessible in case she ever needs to be in wheelchair. If she lived in Lexington, the Wheels bus could pick her up, and if she was in a wheelchair, the Wheels bus has a lift. I wish every neighborhood, both urban and rural, had a health club for seniors and para-transit  available.

Thanks to Hospice, I did not need my friend to sit with my mother in law and have a nurse on call in case she was needed while we were at the family reunion. Hospice has a thing called respite care available to families who are caring for their loved ones in their homes. I learned about it on Wednesday when the social worker called to tell me about it and invite my husband and I to a family meeting. We had the family meeting the next day, and in a little while our Hospice team was on the phone making arrangements for Marjorie to be admitted to the Hospice unit at St. Joe’s. Respite is for five days. I feel guilty about allowing Marjorie to go to the Hospice Unit, but at the same time, I am enjoying not having to check on her every few minutes. We visited her Thursday and Friday and she seemed to be comfortable there. Lawrence went to see her after we returned from the reunion and he said she was sleeping but he woke her to ‘talk’ with her sister. Her sister did all of the talking.

May you and yours have a blessed week ahead.

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