Between working full time, interrupted sleep all night long, and being a caregiver , homemaker and all the other usual stuff…. Ok I am tired…and so are you after reading this. This week was filled with some fun and some not so fun stuff.
                 I was really anticipating my friend Debbie’s visit from Australia. We spent a great deal of time together and my husband helped out with keeping the household in order so that I could do this.  Debbie and I met for lunch one afternoon and ate Italian Sandwiches. The following night, we went for pizza down the Old Port and walked around all the shops. Then on Saturday, we went to our mutual friends’ home for a fiftieth Birthday party. Then my husband, son and Dad and I left to visit my brother who had a very large cook out to celebrate his daughter’s graduation. My husband later found out that his 91 year old grandmother, in Massachusetts, went to the hospital.
                 Meanwhile my own mother and sister have been in Albuquerque, NM for a convention for School Nurses. My sister, Sharon, maintains their web site and my mother is an Event Planner. She plans the conferences down to the very last detail. 
                 On Sunday, I met Debbie at Jane’s [our mutual friend] parents’ home. The three of us have been friends since middle school. We spent many evenings chatting with her parents and we hoped to visit with them a while. Our visit was four hours long and filled with much laughter. I will never forget the time that Jane’s dad had worked all summer fixing up a second car for the family. Jane had just gotten her license. She was one of seven kids. We took a cruise around Ferry Village. The manhole covers were sticking up quite high as they had stripped the pavement in preparation for new asphalt. The frame of the car was wrecked as we drove over the protruding manhole covers. I started laughing nervously until it became a hysterical laughter. I could not stop laughing. I laughed all the way back to Jane’s house as she yelled at me to stop. She was upset as her Father would undoubtedly have something to say about the incident. He was very gracious and I will never forget the look on his face, one of disbelief and disappointment but with concern for us. I apologized for my laughter. Our visit was memorable.
                 My husband received news that his grandmother had died. I felt sadness but knew she had lived a nice long life. At the age of sixteen, she lost her own mother who caught fire tending the stove. Once she told me about a woman from her neighborhood in Clinton, Massachusetts that recruited strong hardy Irish girls off the boat to work as Domestics. She told me this woman’s name was Mrs. Connelly. I thought that was interesting. The last year or so, she was having trouble with Dementia. I enjoyed Margaret Schofield O’Keefe and I will miss her.
                 The following day, Monday, I received an urgent call from my husband. I was at lunch at the time, so later I tried to return the call. Finally, after reaching him, he told me that he was taking Michael by ambulance to MMC. Michael had somehow leaned forward and could not get back upright. He tried to use the wall to push him back upright, but to no avail. He sat there for 2 hours with his head pressed against the wall and his arm pinched against the wall. Someone knocked on the door, but did not hear him as my dogs were barking loudly. He was a little angry and upset when Terry came home. Terry thought it best to get him to the hospital. Mike had a swollen eye and his arm was very numb and his rib cage ached. Other than that he was ok. I made a call to Gould Health to see about getting an assessment for him. Maybe we will have some peace of mind if I can get care for him.
                 I found out from my Father that my Mother had something terrible happen to her. She was at a restaurant and started choking. Several nurses attempted the Heimlich maneuver as my sister called an ambulance. My sister took care of all the details for the hospital, after conversing with my Father. My mother could breathe through her nose only. She could hardly talk about it as she was very close to death according to the doctors. I am grateful my sister was with her at the time. I am looking forward to seeing both of them soon. 
                 Let’s hope next week is somewhat normal. I can’t handle anymore excitement. My tomatoes, cukes, beans and scallions are growing lovely. Nature gives me some balance.