I actually thought about stressing in the title that this was not a candidate diary. I went home for ten days to help my mom, essentially I spent my time driving to and from the hospital where my grandmother was admitted. For the time being my grandmother is holding her own but we started looking at nursing home/apartment complex places where she could get help.
Retirement communities are getting seriously into marketing and lifestyle issues, I felt a bit the way some parents might when colleges are being pitched. There was substantial talk about "meeting expectations" and "active lifestyles" and it is clear that it will take a while to find one that is suitable and within budget. My mother called traditional nursing homes "warehousing" in a conversation with one administrator giving us a tour. In the mean time, we will pay for extra help to come in and a few of my friends said they would check in with my grandmother regularly.
Between trying to support my mother as she flailed about and confessed to feeling completely overwhelmed,and trying to avoid absorbing all of her spiraling anxiety, attempting to both support my grandmother in her desire to be independent while politely informing her she had to accept more help, driving two hours a day back and forth to the hospital a few times in "white out" conditions, dealing with my aunt and uncle who in one week demanded that grandmother come and live with them and then announced they were splitting up, I needed a space to go breath.
During my university days and young adult days I was broke, so my social life consisted of free and low cost things and I forcibly dragged my mother to an indoor exhibit at the local Royal Botanical Gardens. She said she did not want to go, would not enjoy it, and it seemed like a waste of time. I informed her that wasting time was my absolute specialty and off we went. Later I heard her telling a friend on the phone that it was restful yet whimsical and she was glad I took her. That I turned out to be a semi-productive adult in life must be a pleasant shock to my parents: I was a dreamy kid and a direction less youth and in truth I am not a firm believer in having big goals or directions.
I have to say these pictures are not my best, the good camera is in the shop, and my mental acuity was not what it usually is when I am taking pictures. However, it was the one time during my trip I felt peaceful.
The local RBG had an exhibit of glass work all done by local artists and I think they chose quite well.
Thanks ever so much for taking the time to have a look and please share any recent photos that you took and want the rest of us to see.