It's Been a While Since We Spoke...

It has been almost a month since I last posted. A very, very busy month with no end in sight. No regrets for any of the busyness that is life right now. It will not always be such and the things life is filled with right now have been good for the most part.

In my last post I alluded to new living room furniture. It arrived and we love it. Now I will have to vacuum under furniture. The other sofa and love seat sat flush to the ground. So different to sit high with a sofa or love seat that is very full of stuffing. It is beautiful and comfortable and Claude and I feel good about our purchase. May it last a hundred years.

Claude and I left Saturday, September 12th, for a trip to Japan. I will post about that in another Blog entry. However, while we were gone my sisters came and stayed in our home so someone was close to care for Papa. Could not have done our trip without them here. I am very grateful for all they did.

Before we left, Tiny, Papa's little dog, was not doing well. Then she perked back up. Papa and I talked and he knew full well this might be her last hurrah. I left the box she was to be buried in and instructions with the veterinarian's name and address on it for Junie and Neffie. There was money in Papa's wallet to pay for putting her to sleep if the need arose. Papa really wanted her buried on our hill in Sadieville when the time came.

Sure enough, during the trip, I got a phone call from Papa. We were in Kyoto and it was about 10:30pm there so that would have been 9:30am in Kentucky. How Papa managed to get through to Japan I will never understand. He doesn't have long distance service on his phone even. He was frantic and said Tiny was really bad and he needed help to get her to the veterinarian. I reminded him I was in Japan and Junie was there with him. She had instructions and knew what to do. He should call her. Her phone number was on his refrigerator. He was sure I was there and Junie was in Utah. Poor guy gets so very confused. He found Junie's number and I told him I would send her a text. Junie got my text asking her to call him as quickly as she could and she received a phone call from Papa. She went into Georgetown, gathered up Papa and Tiny and took them to the veterinarian where Tiny was put to sleep. Junie put her in the box and brought her out to our home.  Junie has surgery on both her knees 3 weeks before coming to help with Papa. Claude had me tell her to put Tiny in a bag, put the bag with Tiny in the box, then put the box in a bag and leave her in the garage. Claude would dig her grave and bury her when we got home. Junie did this.

We got home Monday, September 21st. Tuesday afternoon Claude and I went down the hill to the spot he designated and he and I dug the hole for Tiny and placed her in it. I took pictures to take to Papa so he could see that his little friend was taken care of as he wished.

Tiny is sorely missed by Papa. He is constantly looking for her and remembering she is not there. I have tried to remind him how we would still turn into the nursing home to visit mom for a long time after she passed. The other Wednesday we passed the new vet office near him home. He said, "I may have to try taking Tiny there." I gently put my hand on his knee and said, "Papa, Tiny is gone." Then he remembered. We'll just try to fill his time as best we can. Last night I asked the missionaries at Church to stop in when they are in that neighborhood and chat with him for a few minutes. They were happy to have the invitation.

This little creature fulfilled the measure of her creation. She was a friend and loving pet for Mimi even after mom lost her memory. Papa could bring Tiny to the nursing home for a visit and her eyes would like up with what must have been memory. Then she was Papa's companion until this month. They were quite a pair. Thank heaven for loving pets.

One other incidental before I do the big Blog posts. Had my teeth cleaned last Monday. For the last year and a half, I have had a very sensitive tooth on my lower right jaw, the next to last tooth. I told this to the dentist at my cleaning after it starting hurting. X-rays were taken and it was thoroughly check. It is just the nerve exposed under a crown with no damage to the nerve and no sign of a cavity. So we have opted to just watch it and I keep it very clean. This time I told Michele, the hygienist, it still hurt when I brushed and cleaned my teeth but at no other time. Michele set to doing her cleaning thing and when she got to the opposite lower gum I heard her say, "Hmmm."  She felt that under the crown on that exact spot on the left side of my jaw seemed soft like a cavity was trying to form. I don't feel anything over there. Dr. Clay doesn't feel it is a cavity yet. So I have to go back and they are going to try putting a filling over the ever so thin gap between the crown and my gum to protect it. It is just amazing that the side that hurts and I'm aware of and concerned about has no issues. The side I thought was perfectly fine is the one they are worried about and I would have never known without regular dental cleanings. Goodness. 

Now, on to the big Blog posts...