Family Time...

Saturday, March 6, 2021, we sent a text to our Andie asking if it was a day we could visit. One of the things I appreciated most about my parents when we were first married was their respect for Claude and my time together. We actually lived on the same street as them for a while our first year of marriage, only about 5 blocks down. I had one little sister living at home, Neffie. Mimi and Papa did not come to visit us unless they called first and Neffie was not allowed to just pop in. She loved Claude like a brother and this was a big deal. To me, that was very respectful of my parents to give us space. So, even though Michael and Andie have been married a long time, we still are sure we call before going over to be sure it is okay. Andie assured us that it would be a good day to visit. Claude and I got ready and drove over to the Marx home. We stopped along the way and picked up KFC meals for each of us. We enjoyed a good lunch with Andie and the Mini's. Michael had gone to help one of his co-workers with something. We watched a bit of television with Hayden. He enjoys a show about Film Theory. There was one on the Lord of the Rings which is a shared interest between the three of us. I cut Andie's hair. Bailey practiced putting on make-up. She starts high school this fall. She is becoming a full-blown teenager. It was a quiet bit of time with this part of our family. We very much enjoyed it and talked on the way home about how nice it is the grandmonsters love us. 

Sunday, March 7, 2021, marks the anniversary of the last in-person visit I had with Papa. I posted this to Facebook about this anniversary.

Saturday, March 7, 2020, I visited Papa at the nursing home. At the end of my visit, we talked about Sunday's visit. We planned a nice car ride. I got my car all ready and plotted a route for us to drive. 

Sunday, March 8th, I drove to the nursing home after Church. On the front door was a sign stating "No Visitors Allowed". I spoke to someone in the lobby and they explained this was due to Covid-19. 

It has been one year since I gave my 92 year old father a hug. I know many others have experienced this same situation. I am so very grateful for the staff at Signature HealthCare. There have been minimal cases of the virus. I am grateful my father has stayed healthy through all of this. There are many blessings through this that I fully acknowledge.

I know plans are in the works to open to limited visits again with certain restrictions in place. It will be good to visit with Papa in person again even with restrictions. 

I have learned through this experience that we need to make the most of each bit of our time with family. So happy I had a good visit with Papa that Saturday a year ago. So happy I can wave at him through a window and blow kisses, even if he can't hear my voice. He reads my letters written daily. He enjoys the birds at his birdfeeder. He loves the bags delivered with a treat and something new to read. It is not the visits we had before the virus but the connections are still in place.

My experience is one of gratitude not complaint.

In the evening, Claude called his mother, Bonnie. They had a good chat. 

Monday, March 8, 2021, I went into Georgetown to see my podiatrist. First I stopped at the nursing home and left a bag of treats for Papa. Then I filled his birdfeeder. He was sitting in his bed and we waved and blew kisses. Such a lift for my heart and his. Such a simple gesture that can mean so very much.

Dr. Fine determined he needed to take another x-ray of my feet. He took one a year ago and this would compare and help explain the strange feeling I had on my heel. It turns out my bone spurs are coming back! Yuck. That is all I can say about that. Yuck. They do not do surgery to remove them anymore. They do release the tendon and that gives relief to the person with the heel spurs. 

I hurried home, later than I thought I would be, and we hopped in the Buick and headed for Michigan. We had a nice drive with no traffic slow downs at all. This is a miracle in and of itself. We arrived in Chelsea at 6:30pm. We contacted Jake and ate our Wendy's chili until Jake arrive at our hotel. We had a nice visit in our room. It was so good to see Jake. We have not seen him since a visit last year at a park in Chelsea. Jake is being very careful and we respect his care. But it was wonderful to be in the same room with him again.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, we left the Comfort Inn for Muskegon. We arrived just before 1pm when Katelyn would have her one hour lunch break. We scooped her up and headed to Firehouse Subs drive-thru to pick up sandwiches for lunch. Then we drove back to a parking lot by the bank where Katelyn works to eat and visit for a bit. 

After we left Katelyn back at work, we drove back up Apple Avenue to Port City Automotive to say hi to Nissa and Todd. Nissa came around that counter and gave us each a big hug. Boy did that feel good. We wanted to take them to dinner or bring dinner home for them but Nissa had planned to make spaghetti. 

Claude and I drove to Holton stopping at Whispering Pines (the Amish store) to pick up a few much loved foods. I got my Molasses Crinkle cookies. Claude found cheeses and breads. Then we settled into the Tyler home until Nissa and Todd got home from work. 

We had a nice evening visiting and enjoying that spaghetti. In bed by 10pm. Early for us. But ready for a good night's rest.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021, is when the miracle occurred. I contacted each of Nissa's three kids when we decided to make this quick trip to see if anyone was home on Wednesday. Turns out that was Katelyn's day off work and Aubrey's and Aubrey had Nelson with her. Paul confirmed he would come after work. We would enjoy a nice meal together after Drew and Paul got there after work. 

We stopped at McDonald's on our way to Katelyn's home and got a few burgers and fries for a light lunch. Emelia was happy to see us. She is not quite two years old and you never know if she will remember us. The last time we saw her was in August. She had no trouble warming up to us and was very happy to get the French fries and burger.

Aubrey and Nelson arrived. He and Emelia enjoyed going up and down the stairs and playing together. It was fun for us to watch the interaction between these cousins. 

Katelyn left to get Raelyn from school. Raelyn did not know we were coming. Oh for a picture of her face when she came in through the laundry room and found me standing in the kitchen door. She was so happy to see me. Then I assured her someone else was in the living room. She has a special place in her heart for Claude and rushed to be with him. 

I purchased a coloring book the Christmas the Ropers came to visit. I forgot to pull it out that Christmas. So I took it to Michigan for the kids to enjoy. With all three kids in the house, we spread out coloring pages for each of the great grandmonsters. I made a Ziploc bag of crayons for each child and I purchased each of them a book of stickers. They enjoyed all of that for a bit. Aubrey purchased each child a little container of M&M's. Fun to the kids.

The kids would play in the yard and in the house. Paul and Drew arrived from work. Paul brought Rachel Slade, his girl friend. She is quiet but very sweet. We were happy we got to meet her. We ordered Pita Place for everyone. Claude and I went to pick it up. After we all ate, it was time for some family pictures. First, we took Claude and me with our great grandmonsters. Claude started us off gathering these bundles of energy by holding the oldest two. Nelson & Raelyn. Then I gathered Emelia and we tried to get a good picture of us all. These are always fun times to me. Getting three little ones to all watch the camera at the same time is nigh unto impossible. At times they felt like they should wave at the camera. Lots of shots of fuzzy hands over faces as they waved. I will always treasure the pictures we took trying to get the best shot before the kids were done with sitting. I also loved watching Drew as we were getting ready to take pictures. He pulled Emelia aside and tried to wash that dirty little face. Sweet.

I really wanted a picture of our three oldest grandmonsters with Claude and me. Here we are: Katelyn, Claude, Sandi, Paul and Aubrey. 

Then we tried to get family groupings. Started with the firstborn, Katelyn and her family. (Emelia, Katelyn, Raelyn and Drew.) Katelyn is due to have great grandmonster number four in June. 

Then we took pictures of Rachel and Paul. They are sweet together.

Next we took the youngest of Nissa's kids, Aubrey, with her little man, Nelson. Aubrey had been in a wreck and was very sore. 

We enjoyed Krispy Kreme donuts for dessert. We purchased these in Grand Rapids on our way to Muskegon. We purchased a couple with pink icing and sprinkles. Sure enough, that is the first one Raelyn went for and gave one to Emelia. Before we knew it, Emelia also picked out a glazed one and a glazed with chocolate icing. That girl!!

All too soon it was time for everyone to head for their respective homes. Grateful for time with these grands and great grands.

Nissa sent me a text stating she and Todd agreed to take a break from Keto this one night and let us pick up Lee's fried chicken and fries. Nissa and Todd have done very well with the Keto diet and are really good about sticking to it. Nissa is turning 50 years old this month and we really wanted to treat them to dinner for her birthday but were not sure what they could do with their Keto. This was a good treat for them and us. They had a cheat day just so we could have a birthday dinner. The chicken was delicious. We enjoyed our evening together. 

Thursday, May 11, 2021, we loaded up the Buick and headed back to Sadieville. We left Holton about 9am and arrived in Sadieville at about 5pm. We stopped twice on the way. Once for lunch and once for gasoline. We had a major slowdown to get over the Ohio River bridge from Cincinnati into Kentucky. It was sure good to see the Kentucky sign letting us know we had less than a hour to drive until we were home.

It didn't take long to unpack and settle in for the evening. It is always amazing to me how tired one can get just sitting in a car all day long. Really, I was not doing anything but when I got home I was exhausted. 

We had a wonderful trip. By the time we got to Thursday evening, we had seen all of our family with the exception of one son-in-law and we had talked to Claude's mom within six days. This is amazingly wonderful during this pandemic. We love our family. 

Friday, May 12, 2021, Claude had to get his Jeep serviced at 9am. My back was again very sore. I curled up on the loveseat in the living room and watch my DVR'd episode of Oprah's interview with Meghan and Harry. Interesting to me. Not so much to Claude. 

This afternoon we will drive into Georgetown. We'll drop a treat off for Papa. Then on to the Scott County Library to get our second Covid-19 vaccination. Then we have planned nothing for Saturday and Sunday just in case we have a reaction. Most people have the hardest time after the second vaccine. Claude even stopped at the grocery store and got us ice cream and chocolate in case we need some morale boosting!! 

Family is so very important. But relationships don't usually just happen. You have to make time and situations for them to build memory into those relationships. We had a strong impression we should make this quick trip and finish visiting all our family before they open up the nursing home and I start visiting Papa regularly. We are very grateful we acted on this prompting. We had a really good time this past week connecting with family. We are grateful to each of them for making place in their lives for us. We have a good family...warts and all!!