August 2026

 Dear Family and Friends,

I should tell you that I took it upon myself to add a few names to the Email list of those already receiving my monthly letters, due to the increase in postage stamps.  So, you new ones, if you see a strange but handsome young man appear on the screen, please accept him, because it will be my son Dan Mundell, who is in charge of sending out my letters via e-mail.  

For those who have been following along with me, you’ll remember that Dan and Cathy on the first of June drove for two weeks to pick up Cathy's four young grandchildren from Utah, ages 3 to 10, and bring them to Florida for the summer.   It was quite an experience for all of us having those lively young children around, but ‘Nana’ Cathy handled them well, so that ‘Papa’ Dan and Grandma Ree were able to enjoy them right along with her.

But at the beginning of August it was time to take them back home to start school.  You might also remember that an exchange of vehicles was involved in that trip to Utah.  Cathy has a regular 4-door gas engine car.  Dan drives a 4-door Chevy that is electric.  To accommodate the children, they drove Cathy’s little blue car to Utah and left Dan’s electric car behind for Frank to use in taking me to the places where I needed to go during the time they were gone.  Then, leaving her little car for her daughter to use during the time the children were away, Cafhy drove the children all the way to Sebring, Florida in the minivan that they were used to riding in, car seats and all.

Dan wasn't left without transportation, however, because Cathy’s brother has been called to serve as a mission president and asked if they could take care of his large Mercedes Sprinter van so it didn’t sit idle for three long years. Dan was glad to help and the timing was right, so he drove the ‘big black beast’ all the way to Florida.  It’s become the unofficial “church bus" because it can easily hold 12 adults.  Cathy is the main driver, since she had been picking up several youngsters and young women and stuffing them into her little car for quite some time now.  So she was glad for something bigger.  The van is so large it has an extra step to get up into the front passenger and driver’s seats, so there’s no way in this world that I could ever get into it, but other doors and access are available for others.  It is parked at the church because that’s where it gets used all the time. Another 56-passenger bus is scheduled for a temple trip to Fort Lauderdale on Sep 19th, but the Big Black Beast may also be needed this time, and will definitely be available for future trips to the temple.

Again, for those who have been with me for some time, you know of the terrible frustration I had with the people at Smile Design, who made a whole new set of dentures for me and then wouldn’t believe me when I told them that the top part was okay but the bottom teeth just didn’t fit.  I could neither bite nor chew with them, so they were useless to me.  Their only response was to say, repeatedly, “They do fit.  You just have to get used to them.”  And they absolutely refused to touch my old bottom denture, which had been broken, but I was sure it could be repaired.  Finally, Cathy contacted a Dr.Ruiz, who offered to not only repair the broken bottom denture but also make a completely new set as a sort of backup, if I chose to have him do so.  I declined.  Well today, after a month of wearing no bottom teeth at all and eating only soft foods, I am happy to report that I now have my old, but solid, bottom teeth back “that fits like an old pair of shoes” in my mouth again and am able to enjoy any and all types of foods once more.  Yippie !   Thank goodness!   And I thank my Heavenly Father too.    

In preparation for my visit with my primary care provider, Dr. Kundlas, I made out a list of things I hoped to be able to discuss with him.  Nothing vital, just the same things I’ve been dealing with and I already know there’s nothing he can do to cure them.  But still, they kinda bother me, like: incontinence, which makes me get to the bathroom quickly at one hour intervals all day long; insomnia, which causes me to not sleep well in bed  but to fall asleep unexpectedly in my chair; a swollen leg and foot, which makes my leg tender to the touch such that it’s difficult to get a shoe onto my foot and I’m anxious to get it off again; fingers that are always fidgeting, moving around, touching and picking at things on my skin and face, especially my nose.  It is very disturbing for me to do that and for others who see me doing it.  I know the doctor can’t help with my silly worries, but I thought my list, which includes a few more things, should be part of his file on me anyway.  So I left it with him.  During our short 5 minute visit, I did learn that everything on the inside of my body is still working just fine, but that I do have osteoporosis. However, at this stage of my life it is not advisable to do anything about it.  So I was given a followup appointment for 6 months from now, in February of 2027.  I’ll be 99 by then.

People are always asking me how I feel, and I’ll answer with “Just fine.” which is the truth.  But I do have that list of little worries, silly though they may be, and another one of them is my memory.  I tend to toss it off as being just a natural part of growing old.  But it is happening much too often lately, so I am getting concerned.  First, there is the big loss of memory concerning most of my mission experience and all of the Spanish-speaking language I once had.  The phrase “use it or lose it” is mainly responsible for that loss because after my mission to Mexico in 1950, I’ve never had occasion to carry on a conversation with anyone in Spanish again.  There are certain phrases and words that I continue to use, but I can no longer speak nor understand the spoken language.  Too bad!   I wonder if other foreign missionaries lose their ability to speak the language they once knew, after too many years?  As to my short-term memory loss, it’s the times when I misplace things - that occur more frequently now - that are a mystery to me.  One day in my bathroom I was putting my hearing aids away for the night when I heard one of them fall onto the floor, but I couldn’t find it after searching all over for it.  So I spent a restless night wondering where it could possibly be.  Where was it?  I heard it hit the floor, so why wasn’t it here? I began conjuring up all kinds of scenarios; it grew wings and flew away, an angel came and carried it away, or better yet, that it had pulled a Houdini disappearing act on me and now no longer existed. The next day I told Frank about losing the hearing aid.  He had cared for his elderly mother until she died and he said she was always losing things, but his ‘second pair of eyes’ was usually able to locate them for her.  So when we got home, he went directly into the bathroom and within just a couple of minutes came out holding in his hand the delinquent little vagabond.  Problem solved !  But how? And where?  Frank’s theory was that it must have hit the floor at an angle, bounced toward a space between sink and toilet where it was not visible to me but was to him.  So, there you have it.  Frank, the sleuth, had won out!

Like most people I take pills and follow a certain routine for doing so.  I keep a 14-day supply of my pills on a large section of counter space.  Every night at bedtime when I’m sure it’s on an empty stomach, I take another prescription pill that is kept completely separate from the others.  To make it simpler for me to retrieve on my way to bed, earlier in the day I place that small pill, on the outer edge of the smaller counter and close to the hearing aid charger.  In all the time I have been placing it there, only once did it fall to the floor and only once did I fail to place it there. Because I’ve had a few short-term memory losses recently, I became quite worried when I saw something on the floor between the sink and toilet that looked familiar, yet how could it be?  I got out my trusty ‘picker upper’ stick to fetch it out for closer examination, and sure enough, it was a small, round, gray pill with markings.  But what in the world was it doing there? How did that particular pill get to that spot?  Did I for some reason take it off the counter and toss it back there?   Did that pill, on its own, just hop, skip and jump around the corner to that spot?  I know it’s nothing to be really concerned about, but I do question my memory.  Did I not put a nighttime pill on the counter or fail to take the one from there?  What could I have done to cause one of those pills to be where I found it to be?  Even Frank can’t solve this one.  I guess it will have to remain a real mystery!

With that for you to muse about, I will say goodbye for now, and pray the Lord will continue to send his love and sweet blessings for you to enjoy and that will keep you safe and free from harm.  I also send my love and warm wishes for you to be healthy and happy throughout all the coming month, until we meet again at the end of September.     

Marie

As for the puzzle.  In months without a holiday to celebrate, such as August, I choose other material not related to anything in particular but just fun to do.  At least I think so.  Picture Phrases is one of those kinds that is meant to be challenging but once you get the hang of how it works you just zip right through it, laughing as you go.   So have fun and enjoy this one because Labor Day will be a bit more difficult.