Choosing a title is hard sometimes...

Hi, friends.

I'm sorry for having been gone a while... again.  There are certainly things to ramble on about... but I think because I tend to be on FB and messenger more often... I get a bit drained and don't come here to catch up enough.

The end of January was pretty rough.  Ron's parents died within 6 days of each other, during the same week as the 4th anniversary of his brother's passing.   It's been a lot to deal with, but we feel some comfort knowing his mom and dad had many years on earth, both were 87.  They were married for 67 years!  Hopefully, they are at peace now.  

As you might remember, they had been at an assisted living since the end of 2019.  There were some ups and downs after the move.  I could write for days and days about all of it, and family relationships, and disappointments, and other frustrations.... but I'll keep it fairly brief.   Our family is doing ok, we have been shown much kindness, and for that we're grateful.  Of course, it's sad to lose anyone.  And, it's strange that they died so close to each other.  They actually hadn't even been living in the same rooms together for some months prior, not Covid related, but because of other circumstances.  Maybe that was part of it, too.   We did see his mom the day before she passed.  She hadn't looked well for a while, was needing more help, yet still being quite stubborn.  No one knew how sick she actually was though, with a serious kidney issue.  His dad hadn't been very communicative for some time, but did seem to like sitting in front of a window, or enjoying some sweets, a family visit, etc.  The dementia wasn't going to improve (for either of them).  Also, he was confined to a wheelchair and did need to be washed/dressed by staff... but, then...Covid. *sigh*  We can't seem to get away from it, in the world or in our family.  You may remember Ron's birth father died from it in 2020.  His dad here developed different symptoms, probably got the variant, seemed more like a deep head cold.   Initially, he was spending time out of bed and in his wheelchair, still eating.  So we hoped he was getting through it, but then just began declining pretty quickly.  I guess in the end it was a combination of things.  Family was able to spend some days with him, even though he was mostly unresponsive.  Of course, we like to believe he sensed all the love around him. 

 

 

Here's a photo from happier times when celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

 

So for the living, life goes on ... and here we all are.  Weather has not been as cold here lately, but we might get another winter blast on Sunday.  I am still enjoying the coolness and don't want it to end just yet.  The other seasons will come soon enough and I'll appreciate that weather eventually, too.  Just not the bugs.  Definitely can do without them. 

I've gotten back to painting and will share new creations in another post.  

I'll be around to visit all your pages after I go fix myself a big mug of something warm and yummy.  Looking forward to catching up.