Family Update - All is Well

Apparently I haven't posted since Dad's traumatic header down a flight of stairs on August 8th. He and my daughter were attending a birthday party for a long-time friend of Dad's. The party was held in their church basement. As Dad and Deb were leaving, they climbed a flight of stairs and Deb told Dad to wait and she would grab their jackets. While he was waiting, he apparently became dizzy and took a dive down about eight steps, face forward and head down, coming to a stop on the landing.

To make a long story much shorter, he spent three days in ICU and ten days at a rehab center. He has had home health care since that time, mostly due to a large wound on his leg that is slow in healing. He is diabetic and healing this wound is a major consideration. Thankfully, the wound care people are taking good care of him.

David's Visit

The second major event this fall was the visit by my other daughter, Barb, and her son David. You will see his picture in the previous post. They stayed for approximately two weeks, and were missed before they even left the driveway. Texas is a long way from Michigan, and we have no idea when we will see them again. Thank God for cell phones with the ability to send pictures and short videos. We are able to keep up to date on David's growth and his activities.

Dad's 87th Birthday
The third event this fall was Dad's birthday on October 18th. He turned eight-seven-years-old (87). What a milestone. His sister turned 92 on the same dad. We didn't do anything really special, just had a quiet day of football and special dinner, but he did receive numerous birthday cards and phone calls throughout the weekend.

If you haven't had the chance as yet, stop over at the Elder Care Cafe.net and check out what is happening. We are up to 266 posts at this time and still going strong. Lot's of changes there recently in the look of the site, but the same intent - to support caregivers and the elderly - is still of utmost priority. We celebrated our 1st birthday in early August. We had a birthday cake, balloons, and of course Beyer's sugar free pecan ice cream.

Just a quick update. Hope you get a chance to visit us somewhere on the web. We are still here although we don't post as often anymore.

Let us know what is going on in your life. We would love to hear from you and how you are doing with your care giving. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

September Will Bring a Family Visitor to Our Home

We are all atwitter here since we learned our grandson/great-grandson will visit us in September. Now two-years-and-four-months-old, David is growing fast. We have received quite a number of photos via cell phone, well over a hundred at last count.

About twenty short videos also allow us to watch him as he grows. He is becoming quite a young boy.

Long distant grand parenting is difficult when we see such wonderful changes taking place. I would love to be with him in person, but I am thankful that modern technology allows us to stay in touch pretty much in real time.

I have a picture that I framed of David and his Dad soon after they left a local restaurant one evening. The cool thing about the picture is that while they were in the restaurant I received two videos showing David and his family while they were eating.

Now when I look at the picture, I can remember, or watch once again, how he behaved while eating. Almost like being there in real time.

We haven't yet tried Skype, although I think being able to see and talk to him via that type of resource would be a great addition to our photo and video arsenal to keep Grandma and David in touch with one another.

I know that I am where I am supposed to be as far as caregiver to my father, but I certainly miss the physical closeness, i.e. hugs and kisses, I could have with my grandson. Thankfully modern technology helps us stay in touch.

Shoppe Opened, Shoppe Closed

Unfortunately, the Shoppe at Elder Care Cafe has closed. Sometimes what we would like does not materialize as we envisioned. I will continue to write reviews as appropriate and relevant books or movies become available, but the shoppe for browsing will no longer exist.

Life seems to be a series of experiments. As we try various opportunities, we learn what works and what does not. Hopefully, I will always continue to look forward, and be willing to try new territory. No matter how old I become, or where I live, or what happens in the future, I hope that I continue to grow, move forward, and try new things.

How about you? Are you settled in where you are, or are you willing to experiment, reaching out into the unknown, and try something new?

You're Planning On Living How Long?

About six months ago, my dad was scheduled for a four hour session related to his heart condition. The cardiologist was running a one hour test and a three hour test. Dad adamantly declared he did not want to go through the test again. After talking to my siblings, we decided to let him make his own decision and therefore he did not have the test.

Last month we got a letter from the cardiologist who had rescheduled the test for Friday, April 3. Although Dad really did not want to go through the ordeal, he said, "Well, if I'm going to live to be a hundred, I guess I might as well stay healthy."

We arrived at the office about 8:45 a.m. and left a little after 1:00 p.m. with Dad looking pale and weary and declaring, "I'm never having that test again!"

After a quick very late lunch at a nearby Arby's, he felt much better. Friends of his, the wife is a distant relative, had accompanied us to the appointment and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and the drive to and from the doctors office. I think their presence made the whole event a little easier for Dad.

But, I bet we have a little different response from him the next time the cardiologist tries to book an appointment. What do you think?

Country's Family Reunion DVDs Review

As most readers know, my Dad has had limited vision all his life. He also was born color-blind. He attended the Lansing (MI) School for the Blind during high school, and has not had a driver's license since he was young.

At eighty-six-years-old he spends much of his time listening to talking books and watching TV (sitting right next to the TV). One of his favorite channels to watch is RFD. He enjoys the many old-time music shows featuring his favorite singers and musicians from the past.

We had purchased a series of videos from Country's Family Reunion, but he gave his video/DVD player to one of his grandchildren. A couple of weeks ago I bought him a set of DVDs showing hours of the Family Reunion shows.

I happened to have a 17" TV/DVD that I placed on an end table across the room from his TV. He can set in the rocker/recliner next to the smaller TV/DVD player and watch the DVDs. He quickly learned to operate all the buttons on the remote, and now watches the shows anytime he gets tired of listening to his books. It also causes him to move to a different part of the living room, which I think is good for him.

The shows are hosted by Bill Anderson and feature singing and conversation by major stars from past years. Occasionally they show outtakes of old performances from the 1950s - 1980's with comments by those who knew the performer, or by the performer themself.

I watched several hours with Dad and the shows are such a joy to watch for country music fans. The DVDs are produced and available from Gabriel Communications, 125 Belle Forest Circle, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37221. You can reach customer service by calling 1-800-820-5405.

I highly recommend this series to any country music fan who would like to revisit a bygone era, and catch up with where those stars are now. The senior set will especially enjoy seeing their favorites.

Elder Care Express

The Elder Care Cafe is definitely growing up! Today the site for caregivers and elders not only got a new Shoppe to enjoy (sorry, no Starbucks as yet), but it also has a newsletter - The Elder Care Express.

The Elder Care Express is a weekly newsletter highlighting the happenings at Elder Care Cafe. You can sign-up right here:
==> Elder Care Express

We will keep you updated about further changes to our flagship site!

Elder Care Cafe Shoppe Added Today

Today the Elder Care Cafe received a new Shoppe which contains books, movies, health and beauty products, health care products, and any other items that may apply to baby boomers, caregivers, aging seniors, and family members.

Individual book, movie, and product reviews will also periodically appear on the site and will be added to the Shoppe's main page.

The Shoppe is colorful, handy, and filled with a growing number of items. When you have chance to check it out, you will find it here ==> Elder Care Cafe Shoppe

As always, let me know what you think.