Hi Shawn,

 RH> Steve wrote out instructions for his mom to use her DVD player but I
 RH> think she has stopped watching much tv/many movies. She's getting
 RH> more active in her assisted living community now, good for her to get
 RH> out with other people.

 SH> That's much better then sitting home watching movies and TV shows for
 SH> sure.  Good for her!

Yes, it took her a while to do so. Her husband was in the hospital most
of the time for the first 9 months after they moved there, then he
passed away. I think it took Mom several months to grieve before she
felt like doing any of the activities the place offered but she is
enjoying them now. Also nice that family is close by and can pop in for
a visit easily.


 RH> No, she always wrote about the same basics--what was in bloom,
 RH> rainfall amounts, anything of note in the community. Her mind had

 SH> Oh interesting.  Nice history lesson there from the eyes of a single
 SH> person.

Actually, 2 people because Dad would close out the letter with usually a
fairly substantual note of his own. Toward the end, he was the only one
writing, as Mom's mind was too far gone.


 RH> Mom went into the nursing home. For a while Dad did OK on his own,
 RH> then broke his 2nd hip so we hired a full time aide for him and
 RH> the housekeeper's hours increased again. A few weeks after Mom died,
 RH> Dad went into a nursing home for the rest of his life.

 SH> Wow.  Strange how fast people go.

He lived almost 3 more years after she passed away. We'd always thought
that he would go first; he was 7 years older and had some major health
issues as he aged. But, the broken hip and out of control diabetes
brought on the dementia rather rapidly.....looking back, we saw some
signs of it coming on but didn't recognise them  for what they were
until too late.

 RH> Sounds about as big as the one we gave away. I'd rather have the
 RH> bigger fridge tho, since I do have a working oven otherwise.

 SH> Yes don't blame you at all.

And right now it is quite full. (G)


 RH> Most often, the major sweet we have on hand is some form of
 RH> chocolate. We've still got some that we got out in Ohio in May, plus
 RH> and some bars we got at Ikea last summer. Bit by bit tho, it is
 RH> disappearing. (G)

 SH> Laugh.  Andrea goes through stages where she'll buy chocolate, then
 SH> it won't be here for months and months.  I try to not buy stuff like
 SH> that as if it's in the apartment I'll eat it.

We know it's there, but just eat it a little bit at a time, and
intersperse other goodies.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Our necessities are few but our wants are endless...

--- PPoint 3.01