On Monday we went to park lunch at Park West. In the afternoon Abraham had an ice cream party at his primary teacher's house who is moving at the end of the month.
We spent Tuesday morning at A Park Above with the Brown's. Hannah and I walked the large circle around the park while the kids played. That evening one of my nursery workers, who has just received her mission call, was attending the temple for the first time. I had planned on going to support her, but Matthew had some things come up at work and had to stay late. Hannah called me when she was done though and I met her at Menchee's for frozen yogurt.
The kids and I had our semi-annual dentist appointment on Wednesday morning. All looks well and no one had cavities. We went straight from the dentist to lunch at the Purple park. That evening Matthew went to help the young men fix up their bicycles in preparation for a mountain biking merit badge.
All my time outside of the aforementioned activities was taken up with cleaning the house and preparing for the events of Thursday and Friday evening. On Thursday I hosted book club. We read The Orphan Keeper, which is about an Indian boy kidnapped as a child, sold to an orphanage, then adopted by an American family. In keeping with the theme of the book, I practiced and prepared three desserts: carrot pudding, coconut balls, and a chilled raspberry and basil milk drink. The coconut balls and drink were fine, but the carrot pudding was definitely the star of the evening.
On Friday I hosted a farewell open house for Dixie, whose siblings have decided she has gotten too old/frail to live on her own. She is 75 and has epilepsy and diabetes. I've seen her health decline noticeably over the last year and agree that she needs a better living situation, but my heart breaks to see her being packed up and shipped off like an inconvenient obligation. She will live with her sister in California for several weeks while a suite is prepared for her in the home of a different sister in Washington state. I don't know everything about her family dynamics, but they seem rather strained and my friend has definitely been disheartened by the decisions being made on her behalf. To the party Dixie brought with her three of her sisters and a brother-in-law. One of the sisters is the one from California who has flown out to collect her, another lives in Farmington, 3 hours away, and one of the sisters lives here in Albuquerque, just 20 minutes away. Where was she when Dixie wasn't getting groceries or needed a competent representative at doctor's appointments?!? Despite my biased outside perspective, I'm glad she has some family looking out for her and am grateful for the sacrifices they are making on her behalf.
I advertised the open house two weeks in advance as a potluck and hoped at least a few families would come, especially those with children whom Dixie had taught during her years in primary. I felt impressed to make a rather sizable base for the potluck portion in case others didn't bring much, and I'm glad I followed the prompting. Dixie came at 5:30 with her four additional family members, and the Brown's arrived about 15 minutes later. They brought a couscous salad, but theirs was the only other contribution made. We all sat around our table and ate the Frito Pie, raw vegetables, and chocolate chip cookie's I'd prepared. Becky Jensen came, but didn't bring the kids, and another lady came who knew Dixie from before the ward split a few years ago. That was it. Our three guests all left together around 7:00 pm. We managed to keep Dixie's sisters in conversation for another 20 minutes, but then they decided they were done and whisked her away 40 minutes before the open house was scheduled to end. Whether it was fortunate or not, no one else showed up.
I've always felt bad that I didn't call my own beloved Grandma more often after I moved away to college. I know my mom saw to her physical needs, but I can't help but feel absolutely heartbroken at how lonely she must have been and how a few simple acts of thoughtfulness on my part could have brought her so much comfort and joy during her last years. I supposed I've tried to make up for that failing by becoming a surrogate family for Dixie. We've had her over for holiday meals and regular family dinners. I've driven her to book club and baptisms. I've checked in with her every Sunday at church and texted or called her at least once during the week, often sending her pictures of the kids. In my efforts to make her feel thought of and looked after I've come to truly love her. I don't know how much longer she'll live, but I feel fairly confident that I won't see her again. I'll continue to text her and hope with all my heart that her last years will be happy ones.
We spent Tuesday morning at A Park Above with the Brown's. Hannah and I walked the large circle around the park while the kids played. That evening one of my nursery workers, who has just received her mission call, was attending the temple for the first time. I had planned on going to support her, but Matthew had some things come up at work and had to stay late. Hannah called me when she was done though and I met her at Menchee's for frozen yogurt.
The kids and I had our semi-annual dentist appointment on Wednesday morning. All looks well and no one had cavities. We went straight from the dentist to lunch at the Purple park. That evening Matthew went to help the young men fix up their bicycles in preparation for a mountain biking merit badge.
All my time outside of the aforementioned activities was taken up with cleaning the house and preparing for the events of Thursday and Friday evening. On Thursday I hosted book club. We read The Orphan Keeper, which is about an Indian boy kidnapped as a child, sold to an orphanage, then adopted by an American family. In keeping with the theme of the book, I practiced and prepared three desserts: carrot pudding, coconut balls, and a chilled raspberry and basil milk drink. The coconut balls and drink were fine, but the carrot pudding was definitely the star of the evening.
On Friday I hosted a farewell open house for Dixie, whose siblings have decided she has gotten too old/frail to live on her own. She is 75 and has epilepsy and diabetes. I've seen her health decline noticeably over the last year and agree that she needs a better living situation, but my heart breaks to see her being packed up and shipped off like an inconvenient obligation. She will live with her sister in California for several weeks while a suite is prepared for her in the home of a different sister in Washington state. I don't know everything about her family dynamics, but they seem rather strained and my friend has definitely been disheartened by the decisions being made on her behalf. To the party Dixie brought with her three of her sisters and a brother-in-law. One of the sisters is the one from California who has flown out to collect her, another lives in Farmington, 3 hours away, and one of the sisters lives here in Albuquerque, just 20 minutes away. Where was she when Dixie wasn't getting groceries or needed a competent representative at doctor's appointments?!? Despite my biased outside perspective, I'm glad she has some family looking out for her and am grateful for the sacrifices they are making on her behalf.
I advertised the open house two weeks in advance as a potluck and hoped at least a few families would come, especially those with children whom Dixie had taught during her years in primary. I felt impressed to make a rather sizable base for the potluck portion in case others didn't bring much, and I'm glad I followed the prompting. Dixie came at 5:30 with her four additional family members, and the Brown's arrived about 15 minutes later. They brought a couscous salad, but theirs was the only other contribution made. We all sat around our table and ate the Frito Pie, raw vegetables, and chocolate chip cookie's I'd prepared. Becky Jensen came, but didn't bring the kids, and another lady came who knew Dixie from before the ward split a few years ago. That was it. Our three guests all left together around 7:00 pm. We managed to keep Dixie's sisters in conversation for another 20 minutes, but then they decided they were done and whisked her away 40 minutes before the open house was scheduled to end. Whether it was fortunate or not, no one else showed up.
I've always felt bad that I didn't call my own beloved Grandma more often after I moved away to college. I know my mom saw to her physical needs, but I can't help but feel absolutely heartbroken at how lonely she must have been and how a few simple acts of thoughtfulness on my part could have brought her so much comfort and joy during her last years. I supposed I've tried to make up for that failing by becoming a surrogate family for Dixie. We've had her over for holiday meals and regular family dinners. I've driven her to book club and baptisms. I've checked in with her every Sunday at church and texted or called her at least once during the week, often sending her pictures of the kids. In my efforts to make her feel thought of and looked after I've come to truly love her. I don't know how much longer she'll live, but I feel fairly confident that I won't see her again. I'll continue to text her and hope with all my heart that her last years will be happy ones.
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