My Beautiful Mother...and the various persona of Rusty

Life has a way of throwing curve balls at us.  Most recently my beautiful 88 year-old mother experienced a small stroke.  As my sister, Dar, was driving to Salt Lake City, UT to board a plane for Japan, and Rusty and I were driving on wintry, hazardous roads across Wyoming towards Twin Falls,  ID, Mom was admitted to St. Luke's Hospital in Twin Falls.

After many tests and 3 days of careful monitoring, Mom was released from the hospital, and admitted to the Inpatient Rehab Unit (IRU) in the St.Luke's Hospital Complex.  The IRU requires Mom to do occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy throughout the day.

Many of Mom's friends, including Father Mike, came to visit.

My brother, Larry, sent a gorgeous bouquet.

Rusty and I visited Mom several times a day and tried to facilitate her needs.  She said her fingernails needed trimming and polishing.  My wrist splints limit my fine motor skills, so Rusty volunteered for the job.  It doesn't show well in the picture, but Rusty drew a thin mustache on his upper lip and introduced himself to Mom as Sergio.

Trimming and filing the nails.

Sergio adds a coat of clear polish.

Mom belongs to a group of gals called The Corkers, who drink wine and go on interesting adventures.  Many of them came to visit and gave Mom a book of short stories written by Truman Capote.  Mom's vision was still too blurry to read on her own, so each evening I read a little of The Thanksgiving Visitor to her.

On Sunday morning we visited Mom and had a short prayer service with her.

Reverend Rusty read from the Bible and gave a short sermon. (His Dad and Grandpa would have been proud!)

There were some down times which made me very sad, but for the most part, Mom worked hard at therapy and continued to get stronger each day.

Ivan's daughter, Cathy, spent a couple of days with us and also brought food!

Following a yummy chicken dinner, Cathy whipped cream for the gingerbread.

Licking the beater.

Rusty and I are both people who need to stay busy.  When we were not with Mom, I took care of various paperwork that needed attention: getting doctor's reports and signatures, retrieving test results, exploring independent living situations, ordering a life-line alert, too many steps to get a Handicap placard,  answering phone calls, writing checks, etc.  Rusty packed up fifty pounds of tools in his toolbox, just in case something needed to be fixed.  He noticed that the stool in the main bathroom was leaking, so he tackled the job.

Plumber Pete goes to work.

This toilet is broken!

Never leave home without proper tools.

The right tool for the job.

Making final adjustments.

We made a few trips to Java, a local coffeehouse, so that I could satisfy my latte desires and get wifi.

Di with Jackie O. at Java.

Elvis looking over Rusty's shoulder at Java.

Bridgeview Estates is near the edge of the Snake River Canyon.

The best news of all is that Mom has progressed so well that she will be released from the IRU next Wednesday.  She will be living in her own apartment at Bridgeview Estates, at least for a while.  If you wish to send her a card or note, her address is:

BridgeView Estates

Pearl Skinner

Room 305

1828 Bridgeview Boulevard

Twin Falls, ID 83301

On Thanksgiving Day we had breakfast with Mom and then started the long drive home. We chose the northern route on Hwy 30, which I love.

The roads were clear and the scenery was beautiful!

Even Wyoming has beautiful spots.

We had some great beef sandwiches that we brought with us for lunch, but I couldn't help teasing Rusty about our other turkey dinner option.

Who wouldn't want roll-around-weinies for Thanksgiving dinner?

This Thanksgiving was far from traditional, but Rusty and I are thankful for MANY, MANY things. Not the least of which is that Mom is getting better every day and we can look forward to more years of her happiness and well-being!