Family Time and Catching Up

I haven't done very well with blogging lately. I taught a summer school class in July, which took up a lot of my time. When the class concluded I took on a kitchen painting project that took up much more time and energy than anticipated. Then, of course, school started back and my summer to-do list kind of went out the window. On that to-do list was: #7-Catch up on blog. Hmmm...

Anyway, here we are on Sept. 6, Labor Day. I celebrated my 36th birthday on Sept. 1 and then went home to Oklahoma with my little guys for a quick weekend with my parents. My dad was improved since our last trip home. My mom was about the same. I suppose that when she doesn't worsen in a couple of months, that is actually a good report. I spent some time with her, brushing her hair, singing to her, talking to her, putting lotion on her, etc. At one point she looked right at me and called me Mama. It hurts when things like that happen, but it hurts more when I spend time with her and she only stares into some unknown world and mumbles like she is frightened. I will take her mistaking me for my Grandmother anyday over those terror-filled looks and mumblings. I hate Alzheimer's.

It was very good to see my dad with more energy. He's still not back to "normal" but I'm not sure that we'll ever see normal again in my family. He certainly enjoyed his grandsons, and I can't really ask for more than that. He and Alec are special buddies. Alec spends a lot of time snuggling with Poppa Jim when we're home and Dad just treasures that time. Zach has kind of outgrown the snuggling stage, but he still thinks his Pop hung the moon.

My dad humbles me with his love and devotion to my mom. He is the very best of men and I ache every time I see him brush a hand over her forehead. He is so good to her. When I run into people in the small town of Wynnewood everyone says, "He's a good man, Andrea. He's doing a great job with her." I've always thought my dad was a gentle giant, but more and more I'm seeing that gentleness and more and more I aspire to his devoted love for my mom.

Anyway, so we're back home and readying ourselves for getting back to school tomorrow. I'm going to try to do better with my posts!