Mom and Marge

Hello faithful readers.

I just arrived at the home to see Mom. My 9 year-old daughter Emma is in her final day at the Turcotte Hockey Stick Handling School at the Easton Chiller, so I had to be there first. Emma's a goaltender and boy oh boy do goalies require some serious gear! Her mom, Andrea, has a real challenging time trying to put all the equipment on correctly and really appreciated my being there to help.

I dropped cousin Bob off at the airport at 5:30am this morning. If there are an inordinant number of mispellings in the next few posts, it's because I haven't had any coffee yet! Bob had a very good visit. We talked about the family while in the car, sharing secrets about yard fertilizer. It was an awesome visit.

Daughter Julie was here early this morning, 8:00am.

Mom's singing with Marge, a member of St. Paul's here to share communion. They are singing a song about the lord of sea and sky and all that dwell in dark and sin my head will save. Paraphrasing, of course.

Marge told me she had double hip surgery and recently had knee surgery. She shared her secret to reduced swelling is "raise it above the heart." Mom agrees with that and shows Marge her system for elevating her left arm.

I think this will be my ninth communion. When we're done, I'll ask mom how many she's had. Mom's praying. Even now, with her body tired, she prays for others and not herself. She's very selfless.

Mom's breathing is very tight today. "Oh well," she says. "Mornings are harder. I breath better in the afternoon."

Mom's constantly battling the swelling issues with her arm and her lungs.