April 2023

 Dear Family and Friends,

    As an April Fool’s joke, I thought of not sending out a letter for this month (March) at all, because I felt there was nothing noteworthy to write about. But I relented, because in thinking back there are a few things that do come to mind, So, here goes....

    As a refresher, last month’s letter ended with the fall from my wheelchair after mopping all the floors of this house with one hand while hanging onto the chair with the other, but at the end was unable to scoot farther back into the chair and fell onto the floor. Because True was not yet home from her trip and I was alone but unable to move, I pushed the button around my neck and help arrived. A trip to the ER and an X-Ray proved there was no damage other than a sore stump and bottom for a few days. I wasn’t thanked for the clean floors, but scolded for leaning so far out of my chair, which l successfully do every day in tying my shoe and picking up crumbs from the floor, as long as my other hand is firmly attached to the chair or other support. So I’m sure I shall continue to do so, but safely.

    During that week of recovery, I was unable to wear my prosthesis. And while it was not quite recovered from my mishap, I treated my poor stumpy to an even worse experience. I decided to get up onto my bed from the side, as I always do when I retire for the night, but did not lie down. Instead, I tucked the stump up under me and began crawling several paces to the head of the bed so I could better arrange the lovely white netting that hangs from the ceiling, fanned out, and covers the outside of the head or upper portion of my bed. It was beautiful to see, and made me feel like the Queen of Sheba. I don’t know yet what made me think I was going to improve the spreading of the netting from inside the bed, but there I was. And that poor stump, of course, not being used to having pressure of my full body weight put on the face or front of it, rebelled, decidedly!!

    Sharp pains shot upward into the groin area and others into the non-existent foot. The whole stump was on fire it seemed, with stinging going on throughout. Luckily, the initial shock didn’t last long, but the pain did. I don’t know whether I stretched and strained something, or pushed something out of whack, but after True’s scolding again (and mine), her treatment for it was ‘take a Tylenol and just stay off of it so as not to aggravate it any further” So, that’s what I did for almost a full four weeks, without being able to attach the prosthesis. But things finally improved, so I’m back to normal now, except that I’m having to learn how to use my patient little buddy all over again it seems. That’s why I have been scheduled to begin some physical therapy sessions again in mid-April.

    Another thing I guess I should at least mention, is that in seeing my dermatologist, she noticed several places on my face that needed the liquid nitrogen treatment. Then, in examining my back, discovered a spot that looked suspicious, so they took a biopsy of it. A week later, I was informed that it was cancerous. So, rather than operate to remove it, a treatment with a chemo-type cream was prescribed, to be applied once a day for four weeks. Then, it would be checked again. I hope this cream works, because I sure don’t want to battle with cancer again.

    Just because I didn’t use my leg and walker during the time the stump was healing, didn’t mean that I stayed at home. I had my wheelchair and continued to go to church, the temple, and other functions. Some of them included a meal, but most were pot-lucks. True only went to a few, but she always made sure I had something to share as my part of the meal. I certainly appreciated her doing that. I have also appreciated the meals she prepares for me at home and when she is going to be gone for a while. Yes, she, and Linda too, have managed their separate care responsibilities so well, that my life is easy now.

    True is also the keeper of the outside of the house as well as the inside, so she's anxious for the weather to warm up from the rain, snow and freezing temperatures we’ve been having, so she can pursue her garden work outside, which she loves to do. The beautiful orchids and other plants inside did very well during the winter and added a touch of beauty to our surroundings. The Christmas Cactus, which didn’t bloom at Christmas time, has now decided to burst into lots of beautiful pink blossoms, just in time for Easter this year. I’m hoping that the camellia bush, that didn’t do anything last year, will be covered with plenty of its beautiful pink blossoms soon.

    By now you know how much I enjoy making up my own word search puzzles, so one about our beautiful springtime is included with this letter for you to enjoy. You probably also know that I love to play our family game, which we call Tile Rummy, and I look forward to having family members visit so we can play it together. But several times during March, I had the opportunity to introduce it to a few friends in the Park. It is such a simple, but fascinating game, that they were able to catch onto quickly and were anxious to play it three times before leaving, especially if they had won one of the times. The Jacobs couple are going to buy a game of their own and will bring it to compare with mine. Iris has made Thursday at 11:00 a definite game-time with me. Debbie Barr, from down Leonard Road a bit, walks here occasionally and has promised to come and play it again, but doesn’t think her husband would come too. So, during that one month, I had more of a social life with potlucks and game playing than I’ve had in a long, long time, and it was fun to enjoy the company of others while getting to play my game more often. The Riviera has bingo, bunco and other types of games available at the clubhouse, but they all involve money, so I refuse to participate there. But if a few are willing to come to my house for an hour or two and play a game with me, without money, but just some good-hearted fun, then that’s great!!

    I don’t know why I thought March was kinda blank, because other nice things are popping into my mind that affect me even though they happened to my children. My son Dan and his wife Cathy recently put in for a mission call to serve wherever they might be assigned. Well, the call came, and they will be entering the MTC at Provo the 31st of July, before taking off for Hawaii to spend two years in the Honolulu Mission. As seniors, they will assist younger missionaries and wards and branches that may need their help and ‘sage’ advice. That will be a very interesting mission and we are all very glad and supportive of their desire to serve. Since he is the one who gets my letters to everyone on the email list, I wondered what we should do about that? As long as True gets my letter to him and he has access to the internet, he’ll be able to do it from anywhere, he said, So, no problem there.

    My daughter Linda, at the request of Dan, just left to spend a week with him and Cathy at their home in Florida. To my knowledge, this will be only her second ‘for-fun-vacation’ since she came to Oregon almost five years ago. I know she will enjoy it. She has had her times with the Pacific Ocean, now she’ll be able to say that she has at least stuck her toe into the Atlantic Ocean, I’m sure. But we’ll hear more about that when she gets back home. Too bad that she will be flying back on her birthday, which is April 5th, but I’m sure Dan will do something for her before she leaves, and we will do something for her after she arrives.

    That way she can have two birthdays. In December, I had two separate birthdays too, one a total surprise! Remember? True and I will be tending her little dog Pup-Pup for the week. He is familiar here, but is old and losing his sight and hearing, so I cannot let him out of the house, even to pee, so this will be an extra responsibility for her, but she’s happy to do it for her sister. True has had many trips by car recently, but most were of necessity and not for fun. The plane trip to Sedona was mainly for fun with friends, I think. All the car trips to San Diego and Spokane have been to assist others. She even has another scheduled for one week in mid-April to be in Spokane with her granddaughter Ella while her daughter Cedar participates in a class. True loves to help others, both family and friends, and doesn’t seem to mind driving long distances that require many hours of steady driving.

    Another reason for being in Spokane this time is to take the car she has been driving since she came here to Ella, now that she is old enough to drive. Just a few days ago, True went to Fresno, CA, in order to pick up a car she had just purchased for herself. That drive home turned out to be an extra long and tedious one because of the snowy conditions she encountered on the pass. Even though she wouldn’t reach home until after midnight, she continued on through the snow, for fear if she did stop, she might not get over at all. She did finally get home safe and sound, and flopped right into bed!

    Two days later, True was scheduled to take Linda to the airport for her flight to Florida, but sometime during the night the power went off and electric clocks were wrong when we woke up. Luckily, we have a couple of battery clocks and she has her cell phone, so we knew the correct time. But the heat pump was also off and no heat was coming in. So resourceful True hooked up our fireplace heater to a solar generator that she had charged. So we were kept warm. We also had bottles of water to draw from, so having a lack of electricity for a few hours was no problem for us.

    Except for the fact that the remote control needed to raise and lower portions of my electric bed was now useless. So I was stuck with a raised lower portion that I had to figure out how to get out of. The wheelchair was nearby, so when I squirmed myself around and found the spot where the rising began, I got my body into that spot, which was still higher than usual, and stretched the toe of my foot as hard as I could until it finally touched the floor. Then, while hanging onto the side rail, I literally threw myself sideways into the chair. I knew I could do it, this time! But, maybe some of you remember way back, when I was alone and the remote fell on the floor. I didn't even try then, but pushed my button for help. Not only an ambulance arrived, but all four of my responders too. We had such a laugh over all that fuss, just to pick up a remote. What made that experience even funnier, was that in reporting back to their question, “Do you need help?” I said, “Yes, I need the remote to get out of bed.” The lady’s voice was so hesitant and questioning when she asked, “You need the remote? that I knew she must have thought I was referring to a TV remote, and what would that have to do with helping me to get out of bed? With a bit of explanation, I could tell she was relieved to know the reason and that I wasn’t some kind of nut case.

    This letter is dated for April 1st, but was written and sent out a couple of days earlier, because General Conference from Salt Lake City will be broadcast that day(Saturday)and Sunday, the 2nd, and I want to be free to watch it on Zoom. I hope you too will all be able to hear the Prophet Russell M. Nelson and receive his counsel and advice into your hearts and lives. There will be messages from the apostles and others to inspire and motivate us to do better and draw closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

    And then, by golly, the very next Sunday will be Easter. But we’ll talk about that in next month’s letter. Now it’s time for me to say adios, and to pray for the Lord’s blessings to be with you. I’d also like to express to you my appreciation for sticking with me, encouraging me to continue when I’m tempted to quit, saying that you enjoy reading of my ramblings about myself and others. You even like my silly puzzles. So I guess I’ll keep on doing it for a little longer at least. I love each and every one of you.

Marie

Aunt Marie or Grandma Ree