SEPTEMBER - A MONTH OF MANY PEACHES AND PRAYERS

Dad in therapy before his
relapse that landed him back
in the hospital

This month has been a harder month then most because of the downturn of my Dad's health.  After making some progress in his rehabilitation, his brain started bleeding again and he ended up in the hospital by mid month.  He contacted pneumonia and was not doing well so Saturday, the 12th, I boarded a plane to fly home to Bakersfield. We experienced a tender mercy when trying to book a flight finding the only seat left on a flight from Salt Lake to Phoenix.  Thanks to Todd's expertise in booking flights we were able to get me to Phoenix and then to Bakersfield by noon on Saturday.  

Back in the hospital with Mom
always by his side

I was so grateful I had come as Dad was not doing well at all...mostly sleeping, barely eating, and not able to move his extremities. My heart was breaking as I saw the conditions he was in.  We all felt he would not last too much longer but, much to our surprise, by late afternoon he was telling us where his financial information was kept and what was included in it. He perked up with a smile when I told him Deon was bringing him a chocolate milkshake.  By Sunday, he was more responsive and able to swallow better so eating was a little easier. He was released back to the care center as there was no more the hospital could do for him. At the center, he seemed to perk up a bit more and was much more alert. 

It was quite a shock seeing Dad in this condition
for the first time.  Lots of prayers were being offered.

Deon and Gary and I left Monday morning to meet Paul in St. George. We had planned this trip months ago. In fact, Dad and Mom were suppose to come with us to see the shows at Tuachan. Because we were leaving, I was so grateful that all my brothers found time to come visit during that week. Darrell and Dave and Wanda came in on Monday and stayed till Thursday. Ed and Debbie drove in on Tuesday and stayed till Sunday morning. Don and Dana arrived Wednesday and extended their stay until Tuesday. 

Dad was so thrilled to have all his boys with him. They were such help to Dad as they helped feed him, worked on his physical therapy, and rubbed his jumpy leg to help relax it. 

 

It was good to be all together is this trying moment.
Darrell and Dave left just before Deon and I arrived back
from St. George.

I returned from St. George, on Thursday, with Deon and Gary.  With the boys taking care of Dad's needs, my goal was to help Mom a little. I cleaned out her refrigerator which was full of spoiled food items as she hadn't cooked anything for almost a month. The refrigerator was the last thing on her mind. Debbie and I also cleaned out her freezer.  Mom was right there with us to tell us what she wanted to keep and what was too old.  We threw out lots of old meats and freezer items so now her freezer is organized and things are easily accessible.  I even put a chart on the door to show what was in the refrigerator so she can mark off things as she uses them. The rest of the days were spent with Don and Ed at the care center with Dad and Mom. I was so grateful I was able to spend this time with Dad. It was healing for me to see him in his present state and to easily accept Heavenly Father's will for him. On the Sunday afternoon, before I left for Deon's home in LA, Sam and Don gave Dad a blessing. It was a beautiful blessing reminding him of the need to endure to the end no matter what. He was also blessed with whatever his most heartfelt desire was - continuing life or returning home to Heavenly Father. As I kissed him good bye, I told him to try to get better but that it was also OK if he wanted to go back home to Mom, who passed away when I was 21, some 49 years ago. Such sweet sadness.

Whitney's children just before
Beauty and the Beast

Our trip to St. George was bitter sweet. It was good to be there Deon and Gary like we had done so many times before our missions. It was sad that Mom and Dad, who have always joined us in the past, could not be there with us. We relaxed around the pool, went to the temple, and, in the evenings, enjoyed the shows... at least the ones that were not rained out.  
Beauty and the Beast was on Monday when a big thunder storm passed through. The show had to be stopped during the first half so we did not get to see it in its entirety.  'Sister Act' and 'When you Wish' were on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and were wonderful, as always. We invited Whitney Bennett to use the extra tickets so on Monday she brought Riley who was totally enthralled with the production until the rains came. Luckily, we were able to arrange for them to see the whole show the following Tuesday evening. For the other two shows, both Whitney and Allen were able to join us.  It was great to be with them and witness their excitement at being able to see the shows. They thoroughly enjoyed them as did we. On Thursday, I said goodbye to Paul who drove back to Heber, while Deon and Gary drove me back to Bakersfield. 

Waiting for one of the shows

Other happenings of the month included peaches.  We bought 6 boxes of Elberta peaches and spent several days canning 28 quarts and 28 pints.  We also froze several bags of frozen fruit cocktail and slush. Nothing's better then peach slush and cocktail.  We've missed fresh peaches for the past 3 years. We alerted Todd and Kailee that peaches were about off for the season so they wanted us to buy several boxes for them, which we did.  On the following Monday, we took them down to them and helped peel and freeze most of them.  We did plain peaches for smoothies, some fruit cocktail, and some for slush.  The sad thing though.....a few days later their freezer got unplugged by some painters and they lost the majority of their peaches. A $400 compensation eased some of the pain but the peaches will be missed by them for sure.  

Paul and I also spent a few days at Todd and Kailee's new home weeding their backyard.  The barked areas were over run with weeds so we decided to get rid of most of them before the landscaper came to redo the yard. It was appreciated by Todd and Kailee as it allowed them to see the potential of the yard. There were lots of great plants in and among the weeds and the landscaper would not have weeded as carefully as we did to save them.

Sweet and beautiful Sasha

Just before leaving for Bakersfield, we had the privilege of meeting Sasha Uskova, one of our Russian friends for breakfast. Sasha was our YSA president and we came to regard her as a special friend.  When she came to America in March we were unable to see her so we were glad we could arrange a time to meet this time. We picked her up in the late morning and took her to Mimi's Cafe. It was good food but the company was even better.  We love Sasha and have missed her very much.  We were so glad we could spend a couple of hours with her, catching up on her life and news of some of the young singles.


We also had the opportunity of taking Taylor out for a birthday dinner.  He is 18 now so this may be the last time we are able to celebrate his birthday with him.  He could be away to college or on a mission by his next birthday.  He is such a great kid and it was wonderful to visit with him for a couple of hours.  We took him to Winger's, at his request, and enjoyed the dinner and the company.  

The last weekend of the month was crazy, especially the last Sunday.  During the week before, I had been baking different kinds of bar cookies for refreshments. They were to be served at a regional single adult fireside for which we were responsible for on Sunday night. Sunday, we had an early morning meeting, the primary program, and our primary lesson to teach.  After church, Jon and MIndi and their family came to dinner and then we had the fireside.  Busy busy!!!  Everything came about without a hitch and at the end of the day we were tired but grateful to be apart of it all.