A day of firsts

• Mom had her bed to a thirty degree angle, the lowest the bed has been since June. She slept well last night and had minimal coughing in the morning.
• Dad finally nailed a poached egg and fresh, creamy oatmeal for breakfast. He was very proud of the feat.

OK, maybe not a full day of firsts, but a couple good ones.

Today was much more exciting then yesterday. Dad's ill, with the throat and congestion bug, and slept most of the afternoon.

Sarah and Brian, Dad's neice and nephew stopped in to visit. Mary from church came with communion and supper "feeding my body and my spirit," said Mom. Dee also came from church. It was a terrific day of conversation -- something Mom really looks forward too. Colleen and Mary from Wilder came this morning. Mom was thrilled to see them.

Rayah from Willowbrook called and is planning to come visit on Friday. Mom's pleased to know that the nurses at Willowbrook still talk about her and wonder how she's doing.

Mom walked around more today than she has in the previous week. "I'm not venturing into the kitchen though," she says. "The moment I do, I'm going to begin moving things around and re-organizing and I don't want to do that."

Dad's telling Mom he's not sure what to pitch from the fridge. Apparently there are still items in the fridge from before Mom went into the hospital. "I don't know where to start," Dad says. I volunteer to help. Dad grimmaces and walks out of the room.

"I want to work on the office, but I find I can't stop and bend or I'll lose breath," Mom says. She wants to get all the junk out of there so she can enjoy it again. "We need a garage sale," she admits.

Calling all Wilder teachers

Mom phoned me earlier this morning with a specific request for the blog. Actually two requests.

1) "I want everyone to know that I never refused to see anyone. Somewhere along the way, a rumor emmerged that Maryann didn't want to see anyone!" Mom said with a startle... (I begin to think the effects of the drugs might be altering her mind, since she starts to go third person on me. I quickly think of Ricky Henderson, the newly enshrined baseball Hall of Famer, who often referred to himself as 'Ricky' when he gave an interview. I liked it so much, I started talking that way each softball season. "Ricky knows he has to pick up the pace," I'd say rounding second. "Ricky needs to find his bat," I'd say as I began warmups."Ricky's tired and need's to get a pizza for Rick'y stomach." Enough about me...)

...She was talking about all her old friends at Wilder Elementary or even at Huber Ridge, where Mom first started teaching when she arrived to Westerville. "I would love to personally call everyone to let them know that a) I'm still here and b) I've not been hinding under a rock, but I can't because I don't have everyone's phone number. So I hope that my old friends from school will be able to find me and COME VISIT!" If you are a friend of Mom's from the teaching days, please share Mom's progress and this blogsite to others so they can be brought up to speed.

2) "I've heard on many occaisions that people want to come see me, but they don't know what to say and are afraid to see me," Mom says. "I tell them, 'just say that you don't know what to say.' I'm great with that. Some friends have come and asked me about teaching advice for their grandkids. I love that! Others have told me about their families. That's great, too. The important thing is that all my friends, past and present, know that I am here and would love to see them."

Ricky's hungry and needs to make some lunch for Ricky's ever-expanding tummy and Ricky's kids.