April 1, 2021

 Dear Ones, 

    It’s April Fool’s Day, but I’m not fooling anyone when I say I’m thankful for our beautiful Spring weather with its lovely flowers blooming everywhere, especially our bush of sweet pink camellias. Even though the early mornings are still very cold, True takes that time, while I’m still sleeping, to go to a fairly close-by gym to workout. Then later in the day, she is able to take a quick run around the block of homes where we live at the Riviera in order to keep in shape. Wheeling my chair around the house is all the “running” I get done now. But I am getting stronger and more independent as I continue to do my own exercises using 5 lb.  weights in one hand and a 2 lb. jn the other and a stretchy band for both. I try to keep my good leg elevated as much as possible to keep down the swelling that always seems to be there. It is now my lifeline and it must be kept healthy and strong, as it and my arms must raise me up and support my entire body now. 

    I told you that I had hurt my hand recently, and you can’t imagine what a dent that put into my my daily routine while it was bandaged and useless. How it happened is still a mystery, but I’ll give you a rundown, so maybe you can come up with a solution why the thumb area still hurts after six full weeks? As the tale begins, imagine this: I have an adjustable bed with side rails attached. They are three metal bars running vertically, held together at the end with a curved metal bar. I often use the upper bar to help myself up or change positions in bed. Well, on the morning of Feb. 21st, as I awoke, I found my right hand tightly gripped around the upper bar close to the end. As I attempted to remove it, the fingers didn’t want to move, so I brought up my left hand to carefully remove each finger tenderly. When the hand was fully released from the metal bar, it hurt so badly that I gave out a loud yelp and a Chispa Chihuahua!!! That brought True to my bedside, and as she saw it beginning to swell, immediately wrapped the whole hand with bandage. 

    We were both stunned as to what could have happened during the night to have caused such a plight? How could holding onto that metal bar have caused such anguish? Why was the hand gripped so tightly that it sent pains down into the wrist? And why the thumb joint is still sore after more than six weeks? Some things we may never know and will just have to remain a mystery, I guess. Being right-handed and never having had to use my left hand before, I was now - with my hand snugly wrapped - expected to use my left hand for everything, from eating to writing to dressing, etc. True helped with dressing, but all else was left up for me to figure out how to manage it. Some fun, huh? The bandage was removed by a home health nurse two weeks later, examined, and then wrapped with an Ace bandage from the wrist to the very tips of my fingers. I was told not to put any pressure on it, but to let it heal slowly. So the hand is now healed, except for the thumb, which still remains sore after such a long time. 

    The month of March wasn’t all about solving the mystery of the hand problem but had its good parts too. Having mastered the process of entering and leaving a car, True was finally able to take me to the beauty shop to get a hair cut and permanent. Linda took me to a luncheon for the 179th birthday of Relief Society on March 17th. Then, True took me to Sacrament Service and Sunday School the next Sunday. So, I have now been able to see and greet for the first time, with a mask and at an appropriate distance, many of my friends and church members, which was great. True promised to take me every Sunday as long as someone else would agree to bring me home, so she could have that time to work on her business projects. The Jarvises said they'll do it. In fact, I've always been considered their adopted “Grandma Ree” and they included me in a family picture taken after their boy Charlie was ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood last Sunday. 

    I’d like to tell you about another little “mystery” of a different type, but still seemingly impossible to solve. The wheelchair I have has a screeching noise that happens almost all the time as I move around in it. We’ve tried oiling the wheels, but to no avail. Others have suggested things too, but nothing seems to work. So we are left with this other little mystery of how to get rid of an irritating noise that is driving us crazy! I’m srarting to think we are becoming a house of mysteries. But not like the real House of Mystery, near Gold Hill, just a few miles from here. It sits on a Vortex and many strange things happen there, like water and balls that go UP hill, people that seem taller when on one side than the other on a level surface, and many more weird, unexplained things. It is a good tourist spot to see and experience if you ever get to Grants Pass to see me.

    I mentioned that True had purchased some yarn for me to use. Well, I did get busy with it and ended up with a nice white lap robe that I trimmed with purple because that is the color of my pretty Sunday "go-to-meeting" dress. I know only one crochet stitch, and so I'm able to do only little blanket-type things using it. I’ll need to learn something new. 

    Another of the enjoyable things that happened in March was the birth of my second great-granddaughter on the18th. True’s granddaughter, Makayla, now 14, is my firstgreat-granddaughter, and now little Paige Aerin Marie Mundell, born to Dan’s son Korey and his wife Metta, is the second girl in my family, along with her two older brothers, Ian ,5, and Scott, 3. This now makes four great-grandchildren for this 93 year-old grandma, and I see they used my name as part of hers, for which I am grateful. Yes, I am grateful for them, and for all the members of my family and for all others as well. 

    I look forward to hearing from those of you who wouldn’t mind sharing some of your thoughts and experiences with me and to let me know you are healthy and happy. And since Easter is already upon us, I wish you a very enjoyable one with family members, if possible, and encourage you to remember the sacrifice that our Savior Jesus Christ has made for you and for all of us. And this year, General Conference falls on the same Sunday as Easter, so try to enjoy that as well, and find out what our Prophet and twelve apostles have to counsel about our particular time and situation.