Sunday, January 16
Happy Birthday to Jim’s brother Jerry in Roswell, New Mexico!!!
Another typical Sunday morning began rather early today, but everything went smoothly and in no time at all, we had completed the church breakfast and the Sunday School lesson. As I was headed for the choir room, I picked up a bulletin and read that David was preaching from Nehemiah 2 which was definitely a sense of déjà vu since this was the chapter that began our journey into retirement. I quickly asked Barbara if she had seen what David was using for today’s sermon and since she hadn’t, I filled her in as David began protesting immediately that we were not to take this as a sign we were to move again!
Let us explain once again to refresh memories: Back in November of 2005 while we were teaching in Liberal, Barbara and I began talking about retirement but we just couldn’t see that it was possible. Then, on January 29, 2006, David used Nehemiah 2 for his sermon. Basically, it was a lesson in turning to the Lord just as Nehemiah did to the King. First, one should ask permission (sanction), then safety (safeguard), and finally for the supply to accomplish the objective in mind. That day, Barbara and I were struck with how that answered our retirement question. If we followed those steps and if we were to retire, then surely God would show us the way. For daily reminders of our objective, Barbara made up little posters on the computer and we taped them where we could see them in each room. And…God did answer and guide. By the first board meeting in March of 2006, a little more than a month from the day of that sermon, we were able to turn in our resignations and begin looking forward to retirement at the end of the year.
It was with eager anticipation that we awaited the way David would approach this scripture today for we realize that scripture can be read over and over with lessons popping up that one never saw before.
Today was no different as we realized that through this chapter back in 2006, we were able as David pointed out in his talk to:
1. Visualize the objective (which at the time was retirement)
2. Capitalize on this objective (which included seeking permission, safeguard, and supply)
3. Analyze the obstacles. (comfort, contentment, conflict)
4. Actualize the plan/task
- Know that God will take care of us
The rest of the day was as awesome as it began with us heading safely back to Mother’s to fix her lunch before we returned to Yantis for evening service that night.
Monday, January 17
It would be simplistic to say that today began at midnight; after all, that’s when every day begins. But, our day began in a most unusual way at midnight when I awoke to hear Mother having a series of violent sneezes. After about the sixth sneeze, I got out of bed and went to Mother’s room to see if she was okay. She said she was, but she needed to go to the bathroom, which didn’t surprise me a bit, considering the contortions she was going through.
I got Mother out of bed and into the bathroom. When she was finished, I got her back to her bed, turned out the light, and headed back to bed. (Since Barbara handles most of the daytime hours with Mother, I take over the night shift. It’s an arrangement we seem to find most manageable.)
About ten minutes later Mother rang the bell that she keeps on the table beside her to let us know she needs something. When I want back in, she told me that she had thrown up. Sure enough, there was a pool of liquid on her nightgown. I cleaned it up, got her gown changed, and put back in bed before returning to our room to get some sleep.
About 20 minutes later we were all awake as Mother rang and said she had to go to the bathroom again. This time, she went into a phase of full-blown (pardon the expression) vomiting and diarrhea, resulting in Barbara and me going into full teamwork mode to get Mother cleaned up, change her clothes, start the washer, and then clean the bathroom.
By 2:30 the bathroom floor was mopped, the commode was scrubbed, and Mother was sleeping soundly. The only problem now…Barbara and I were wide awake and trying to figure out what had happened and what had caused it. We had already decided and told Mother that if she had another bout of either vomiting or diarrhea, we’d have no choice but to call At-Home Healthcare and arrange to have her taken to the nearest emergency room to be treated for dehydration and whatever was causing the problem.
Luckily, Mother slept through the rest of the night. I went back to bed at 3:30 and Barbara followed between 4:30 and 5:00.
Mother rang the bell again at 6:30, waking me out of a sound sleep. I asked her if she needed help getting to the bathroom and she said that she didn’t, she was just ready to wake up and start the day. So, I got her propped up in bed (the new bed has already paid for itself as far as we are concerned), had her take her early morning meds, turned the TV to Fox News, and gave her the newspaper and morning coffee. Then I told her I was going back to bed and to ring if she needed anything.
One of the At-Home Healthcare nurses came by this morning on a regular call. We told him what we had all been through since midnight and he said to continue what we were doing…bland foods, Gator-Ade, and lots of rest for Mother.
The rest of the day was spent taking naps (trying to get caught up on sleep lost last night), and keeping an eye on Mother, who seemed to have weathered whatever storm it was that made her so miserably ill for those few hours.
On an entirely different note, we emptied the rain gauge this morning after the rain had stopped and found that we’d received two inches of rain over the weekend. Added to what we received during last weekend’s rain, sleet, and snow storm, we now have about 3 ¼ inches of rain for 2011.
Tuesday, January 18
It was another early start for the day, but this time by design. I had the alarm clock set for 5:45 so I could get up and prepare for the trip to Yantis for our weekly prayer group. As I was about to get dressed, Mother rang her bell, so I checked on her, got her into and out of the bathroom, and then back to bed so she could get back to sleep. The good news was that she felt much better…just wanted to finish her nap before starting the day.
I drove to Yantis and then returned to Mineola for an 8:15 appointment with Dr. Bankhead. I was supposed to have a blood draw for tests to check on my blood pressure and cholesterol meds, but just before the nurse started to stick me, she rechecked the date of the last draw and discovered that I needed to wait three more days to meet the Medicare requirement of three full months between tests.
So, I had a short visit with Dr. Bankhead to talk about some problems with my left arm and she said she’d just order up another test when I come back next Monday.
I left Dr. Bankhead’s office and went by the donut shop to get an apple fritter for Barbara, went to the post office for the mail, and returned to the house for the morning.
We explained to Mary, the speech therapist about what had happened yesterday and then turned Mother over to her to watch Mother eat breakfast and evaluate how she was doing with chewing and swallowing. We don’t know what else went on in there, but we did hear a lot of belly-laughing going on, so we know they were having a good time.
When Mary got ready to leave she said that Mother has the mechanics of eating down, but that she eats more quickly than she has to. We told her that we understood that, but it was also a problem with us, having spent our lives in school and getting by with 5 – 10 minute meals.
We did some more work on the journals after Mary left then took a rest break before fixing lunch and making sure Mother followed the rules of eating.
Keith came in around 5:00 for Mother’s physical therapy session. He was quite pleased with Mother’s progress, especially considering what she had been through yesterday.
Gene and Michelle Young called while Keith was here and wanted to know if they could stop by for a visit this evening and then take us out to eat. We said that would be great and got busy preparing Mother’s evening agenda so we could have her settled in bed by the time our friends arrived.
When the Youngs did get here, we visited for about a half hour and then went downtown to a new Chinese restaurant. We base our judgment of Chinese restaurants on our experiences in China (very authentic) and at Kwan Den in Artesia (also authentic provincial cuisine), so it was with wary eyes and noses that we entered the new restaurant. We were immediately blown away by the variety of foods and their presentation…what a great selection of both familiar and new foods (well, new to us anyway)!
We got so busy eating and talking that the time quickly slipped by and we remembered that we needed to get back to the house to make sure Mother was doing okay. When we arrived at the house we found everything in order and Mother contentedly watching TV, but about ready to call it a night.
I helped Mother get through the nightly routine and settled down while Barbara, Gene, and Michelle visited in the kitchen and set up a new game (Catch Phrase) that the Youngs brought with them. When I returned to the dining room we played a sample round to bring me up to speed and then Gene and I took on Barbara and Michelle for a best-of-three series of games.
All in all, and except for not being able to do what needed to be done at the doctor’s office this morning, it was a great day.
Wednesday, January 19
Jim: Mother woke up early today because she knew we had a trip to Tyler on the schedule. After getting her fed and dressed, we waited until TJ showed up and then we left Barbara in charge of the house while I took TJ and Mother to see Dr. Wicke, their ophthalmologist.
We got to the office in plenty of time and both TJ and Mother went in ahead of schedule. I just knew that we would be home before noon, but then Murphy’s Law kicked in. Mother’s report was good, but she has some film developing in her right eye where she had cataract surgery several years ago. Dr. Wicke said he could do a laser procedure this morning if we wanted, or could reschedule for sometime in the next couple of weeks. The only problem with doing the surgery this morning is that he would have to dilate, and that would take an extra hour.
Thinking that TJ was just about ready, we told Dr. Wicke that we would reschedule sometime next week so we could get home early today. Shortly afterward, I learned (once more) what thinking can get a person.
We went out to the waiting room, found TJ, and decided it was time to go; that is, until TJ said that they wanted to check something else and had dilated her eyes. To make a long story short, what should have taken 45 minutes to an hour for TJ’s treatment took two hours and it was well after 12:00 when we left the complex. We could have had Mother’s procedure done and still be through before TJ, but we learned that too late. So, Barbara and I will be taking Mother back to see Dr. Wicke next Wednesday morning.
Barbara: While the clan was in Tyler, I was experiencing a zoo like atmosphere here at the house. Wade came over to shampoo Edith’s room, chair, and the living room sofas, which wouldn’t have been too bad except that Bonita decided she wasn’t happy over the whole process and continually barked, whined, and meowed! Yes, I know she’s a dog; but there are times that she gets this high pitched voice which sounds just like a cat! Anyway, we finally had to put the puppies in the sun room so Wade could get his work done. I decided to use that time to run to the post office and the used book store, but before I could even get out of the drive, Wade came running out of the house. Seems as though his equipment had flipped a breaker and he needed to know where the breaker box was. So…I pulled back into the drive, got him fixed up and took off for 30 minutes of peace and quiet.
When I returned, we got the puppies out of the sun room and closed Edith’s door so they couldn’t wander back in there over the clean carpet. This arrangement did not suit Bonita at all. Spike, who is forever the gentleman and accepts life the way it is unless Bonita gets him riled up, decided to join the chorus and in no time at all the puppies were holding a concert in front of Edith’s door that no one would pay to attend. Before I could get them settled, the doorbell rang; it was Maria to clean Edith’s room. So…now, Bonita chose to rush in and bark at the new visitor. Truth be told, I was ready to strangle Bonnie right then and there!
Eventually, all of the activity was completed and the dogs, worn out from their earlier concerts, took naps while I continued with the laundry and other household chores. This time does not rate highly in the “times to be remembered!”
Jim: When Mother, TJ, and I got back to the house we found some beautiful carpet and furniture, all cleaned expertly by Wade of KUA (Keeping Up Appearances). Barbara and I were so impressed with Wade’s work that we asked about having him drive out to Holiday Villages and clean Big V’s carpets, couch, and dinette seats. Wade said he’d be happy to do that this afternoon, so after getting everything squared away at the house; I drove out to Our Little Lot and opened Big V so Wade could work his magic.
It took about an hour and a half for Wade to get the job done, but it was time (and money) well spent. The carpets looked just like they did when we first got Big V and the couch and dinette seats were showroom fresh.
My time waiting for Wade to do the job was also well spent as I moved more wood from the old woodpile to the new site…still lots to do, but I’m making progress.
I returned to Mineola when Wade was done and Barbara and I spent the rest of the evening watching TV and playing computer games…something to take our minds off the activities of the day.
Thursday, January 20
Mary came this morning to do some more speech therapy work with Mother. They get along really well; once again we were hearing lots of laughter as Mother underwent her “exercises.”
We just worked around the house during the morning hours. The high temperature for the day was when we got up this morning and it started dropping soon afterward…it was no day to be outside!
I went to the store for a few items while Barbara stayed at the house to build a large pasta salad. Our church was hosting the regional association dinner and meeting tonight and our class was “volunteered” to bring salads. When I returned from the store, Barbara finished what she was doing and scooped nearly all the salad into one of the big pans I had just bought, saving back a little of the salad for our meal today.
During lunch today, we were sharing our date day agenda tomorrow which lead Mother into sharing some memories she had of her younger years. One in particular had us in stitches. It seems as though my grandfather (Dad Little), who was a staunch Republican, came in to their house in Roswell on the day that Franklin Delano Roosevelt died and said, “Well, we ain’t got no president.” To which Grandma Little replied, “Of course we do; Harry Truman is the new president.” Dad, who had been in Kansas when Truman was an aspiring politician, and had a very low opinion of the man, then closed the conversation by saying, “That’s what I said; we ain’t got no president.”
We don’t get as many family history anecdotes as we’d like, but when Mother is in rare form, we do get glimpses of what and who my ancestors were.
Keith came by for physical therapy for Mother a little before 4:00. While he put Mother through her paces, Barbara and I went to the post office to gather the mail for the day, then stopped at Sophie’s house to see if she would be able to sit with Mother tomorrow so we could have a “date day.”
When we got back to the house, I gathered up everything I would need for tonight (Barbara was staying behind to watch Mother while I went to work in the church kitchen). Barbara always asks if I have my phone in case she needs to get hold of me and I showed her that I did have it. Then, I took off for Yantis. I had just turned onto the highway when I realized that I didn’t have the salad, the whole purpose of going to Yantis. So, I turned around in a church parking lot and headed back to the house. I used my phone to call Barbara and let her know I was returning. Imagine my surprise when a phone started ringing in the car…Barbara’s phone was in the front passenger seat!
I got back to the house and Barbara asked me what I forgot. I told her I probably needed the salad and she laughed and said I was right. Then I handed over her phone and told her I’d tried to call her, but she wasn’t going to be able to answer unless I brought it back. We both had a good laugh and she said we’d have to remember this story and write it in the journal…so we did.
I drove on out to Yantis without further incident, but when I got there I didn’t see any cars. On the door to the Family Life Center was a sign announcing that the dinner and meeting were cancelled. I drove over to David’s house to ask what was going on and he explained that many of the people who would have been attending were from churches farther to the north and that the weather forecast earlier in the day was for sleet and freezing rain, so Kent Pace, the association director, made the executive decision to cancel for the night.
I asked David if they wanted a large helping of the pasta salad, but he declined, so I got back in the car and started home, stopping along the way to check on Big V at Holiday Villages. As I was leaving the park, Barbara called and said to check to see if anyone was home at Ladd and Angela’s house…maybe we could unload some of the salad there.
I stopped first at Walmart to buy a tank of high-priced gasoline and then went to the Logan house where I found Ladd getting ready to feed his horses. He gladly took a little over half of the salad and then gave me a sack of turnips that had been pulled from the ground just this morning. We’re finding that it is almost impossible to just give away food around here. Almost everyone has something extra that they want to give in return…and believe us, we aren’t complaining about that!
I got back to the house to find Barbara fussing and fuming about Face Book and the internet. Something screwball was going on with our internet service and we spent the entire evening trying to figure out what was wrong. We thought it was problems with our computers, but later learned that Suddenlink was working on their services and for us it resulted in total disruption for internet. We finally gave it up as a lost cause and went to bed to read…what a “novel” idea.
Friday, January 21
We’re going a little retro with today’s entry. Once we were underway with the journal, back in the fall of 2006, we did a lot of traveling to new and exciting places and used our experiences to tell and teach about the things we saw and the places we stayed, particularly those of national and historic importance. The last year hasn’t allowed that sort of travel, so our journals and blog have become more of a diary of our daily lives.
This week we decided that our “date day,” if we were able to work it, would be time spent at a place we’ve never gone and that was of historical importance. So, when we got word last night that Sophie would be able to stay with Mother today, we finalized our plans to drive a couple of hours north of Mineola on U.S. Highway 69 to the bustling city of Denison, Texas.
Now, those of us of our ripe old time of experiential maturity (and years beyond) will know exactly why we were going to Denison, a seemingly unimportant community except for those who live or work there. It is the birthplace of the 34th President of the United States and we chose to visit this site today. Our first stop was the visitor’s center at the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site which included an Eisenhower museum, complete with a historical video that we thoroughly enjoyed.
In 1888, businessman David J. Eisenhower, whose dry goods store had failed in Kansas, moved to Denison to get a job with the railroad. Eisenhower’s wife, Ida, and his son, Arthur, stayed behind in Kansas until their second child, Edgar, was born and then they also relocated to Denison the following year moving into a small two-story rent house for which they paid $8.00 a month out of David’s $40.00 per month salary as an engine wiper.
While they lived in Denison, a third son, David Dwight, was born on October 4, 1890 (at home, as was the usual circumstance in those days). David Dwight’s name was later changed to Dwight David to avoid confusion with his father’s name.
The family lived in Denison until Dwight was 18 months old and then moved back to Kansas when a relative found work for David. The family never returned to Denison, but Dwight, who was would literally become world-famous, made three trips back to his hometown during his lifetime.
Ida Eisenhower, Ike’s Mother, was a religious pacifist and was very disappointed with Ike’s choice to enter a military academy and pursue the profession of a career military officer. But, the military training brought out the best in him and he excelled in advanced training and leadership, traits that later earned him distinction as a GI who loved and was loved by the GI’s and his fellow officers.
Though a good student academically, Eisenhower also earned his share of conduct demerits while at West Point and graduated 61st out of a class of 164 graduates in 1915. That class, incidentally, produced more generals (59) than any West Point class before or since.
Eisenhower returned to Denison three times in his life…the first time when he was honored as a true war hero in 1946. The city purchased the little frame house where he was born and kept it as a historical site. The second visit was when Ike was campaigning for the presidency. He carried the state of Texas, but failed to get a majority of votes in his own home town, a bastion of Democrat politics. The third and final visit to Denison was to the local high school when he was honored by having the new auditorium named for him.
Eisenhower’s accomplishments include being a golfer of fair repute, a painter (he was encouraged in this endeavor by Winston Churchill who told him it was a very relaxing activity). Ike painted well over 400 originals, but only one, a painting of an Indian, hangs in the Visitors Center at the Denison birthplace and historic site.
More than anything, Dwight David Eisenhower was known as a family man who demonstrated and espoused the ethical and moral values necessary for the United States to continue to be the great country that he knew it could be. He was a man with personal faults, but he had a deep and abiding faith in God, country, family, friends, and a strong work ethic.
History books are replete with the military and political exploits of this man who had such a humble beginning in the small town of Denison, Texas. The Eisenhower Birthplace Museum and Visitors Center is only a starting point for a study of Eisenhower, the man, but it is a very interesting and exciting place to begin that study. The collage below shows the house that Ike was born in and where he spent the first 18 months of his life. It was interesting to note that the citizens of Denison preserved this home while Eisenhower was hailed as a military leader, not yet a President of the United States.
Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, who worked in general anonymity as a pilot with U.S Airways, was elevated to new status as “Hero of the Hudson” when he brought US Airways Flight 1549 to a precise, soft landing in the middle of the Hudson River on January 17, 2009.
Sullenberger was an outstanding student while in the Denison schools. When he was 12 years old, his IQ was tested and found to be so high that he was accepted into the Mensa Society. In high school he excelled academically and was the first chair flute player in the school’s band. “Sully” was also an active member of the Waples Memorial United Methodist Church.
After graduation from high school “Sully” received an appointment to the Air Force Academy where he again excelled academically and in flying. He began flying in the glider program and by the time of his senior year at the academy he was a glider pilot instructor and at graduation, in 1973, he received the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship Award, presented to the top flier in each graduating class.
After a distinguished seven-year stint in the United States Air Force as an F-4 Phantom pilot, “Sully” joined US Air, as it was called at that time.
Even before his elevation to a nation’s hero, Chesley Sullenberger was a much-decorated and highly valued member of the US Airways flight team, serving as a trainer and check pilot before eventually becoming an aircraft captain. He also served as an accident investigator for The Airline Pilots Association.
Our trip to Denison today was clearly an educational success for us (and, we hope for you also). Many times we’ve driven through the city headed to somewhere else, commenting that “next time” we need to stop and find out what this is all about. We’re glad we finally took the time today and know it will serve as a high point of our travels in this area.
Saturday, January 22
Happy Birthday to daughter Leah McQuitty in Liberal, Kansas!!!
Happy Birthday to daughter-in-law Kelly Little in Midlothian, Virginia!!!
Saturdays are supposed to be for relaxing, right? Well, we must not have gotten the memo this week because today was full of a variety of activities, almost none of them having anything to do with relaxation.
First, Mother got up at 8:00 to begin her day with coffee, newspaper, and Fox News, along with the first batch of her meds, which must be taken before she can even have her coffee; then, she has to wait an hour until she can eat.
With Mother settled in and waiting her hour, Barbara and I did some computer work. Barbara was trying to figure out our monthly bills and I was working on the journal.
Around 9:45 I started breakfast since the day just ached for my specialty. Barbara has been doing nearly all the cooking lately, so I decided to give her the morning off. She helped cut up some fresh fruit and I started to work on bacon, eggs, and French toast.
We finally got everyone gathered around the table at 10:30 and had a leisurely brunch, eating, talking, and trying to ignore the sounds of Bonita and Spike, who were both acting as though they were in danger of starving to death (this after the each put away some pork chop meat, a piece of bacon, and some scrambled eggs.
When breakfast was over, Barbara and I started cleaning the dining room and kitchen and then she left that chore to me to finish while she got Mother to the bathroom for her Saturday morning shower and hair washing.
Barbara got Mother settled in her room after her shower, and then we tackled some housecleaning chores. We did a top-to-bottom cleaning last weekend in every room except ours, so that was where we started today…dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping until the place shined. Then, while Barbara finished taking care of the bills and related business, I vacuumed the living room and hallway and swept and mopped the kitchen and dining room.
By then it was 12:30 and Barbara retired to the bedroom for a nap, but I was wired with some ideas for yesterday’s journal entry and spent the next two hours hammering away at the keyboard, trying to take advantage of a teachable moment.
I spent a couple of hours outside this afternoon. It was cool, but very pretty and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to start cleaning up the lot next to Mother’s place. Because it is part of a large vacant field (and because that’s where we dumped all the weeds and leaves from Mother’s yard), it had a lot of “stuff” in it. I only got about a third of the job done because there were so many heavy, wet piles of leaves and weeds, but it was a start and I felt very self-righteous about doing some physical work outside, even though there is a lot more to be done.
While I was finishing the raking and hauling, Barbara went back to the kitchen and started our supper. We normally eat a late breakfast and then have lunch around 3:00, but today’s breakfast was more than enough to carry us through the day, so we had our dinner, Polish sausage, rice, and black-eyed peas at a respectable five o’clock.
Barbara shared some email humor with Mother while I cleaned the kitchen and then we got Mother back to her room for the evening before we went to Walmart for some serious shopping.
Back at home we all settled into our places to take care of various chores and finally grab our share of that relaxation that the day was supposed to be all about.
Our quote for the week was posted by one of our former students from Liberal. Lindsay’s husband died in military action so that others could hope for and share the same freedoms that we often take for granted. Thank you, Lindsay, for sharing this with us.
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” - Agatha Christie
Tired, but happy in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams
