..up-date 2008** well I am the one now who had a stroke..mom is now 93 and has slowed down quite a bit..she has been in the hospital a few times...my brother finally had to move in with her..I just bought a cane again..mom does use her walker**
**added note**
**Two weeks after leaving New York three years ago mom suffered a stroke, she was in the hospital and re-hab for almost two months. She ended up back in the hospital. Mom was rather unhappy at being unable to go to work. Being unable to clean her house like she use to. The day after she comes home she is out on the porch hanging wash up. So pray for her and the rest of us.
Mom did not want to use a cane, regretfully I have to use one now. I still have not been able to get to New York.
It is a tribute to mom that some of the kids who use to live in the neighborhood still come to see her.
.....I am not my Mother...
I lay there this morning on the couch, when I wake up, I come downstairs, so, hopefully when my granddaughter arrives at 8am, I will hear her at the door. So far this has worked for two months.
I am lucky enough today to jump up at 7:30, take a shower and sit back down. Lying there I had asked myself why couldn't I be more like my mother? I laughed and said I'm Not my mother!! My daughter Wendy jokes a lot and has sworn she will write a book called I'm Becoming my Mother. For me this would be an impossible task.
My mother Gertrude Brucher Smith at 83 years old was still working a full time job. Not an easy one either. She works in a greenhouse. Planting, digging, re-potting. Real hard work. She claimed the other week she could not stand the heat in the greenhouse, it was only 102! I would have fainted when it hit 100.
Her baby sister age 82 drives them to work, winter or summer, spring or fall. They hardly ever stay home. One winter day they were sent back home, the roads were real bad, some were closed, they had to take some back roads. They did not know where they were, but mom knew they'd find their way out and get home sometime!
..Then I worry about her when they have a bad storm. Now, what does she do? She goes out trying to get snow off her roof. Hits herself in the eye with the shovel. I thought of trying to get her to carry a cordless phone, but this new fangled stuff baffles her. Try to get her to move, are you kidding?
A while back she made the statement that Aunt Beulah works and works all the time. They go to work, then go shopping, Beulah goes home and gets down on her hands and knees to scrub her floors. Mom says she is not going to do it! Heck, I am lucky if I get down to scrub mine once a year.
Mom has a nice big house too, with a cellar and garage. She does all of the work herself. She still gets out and rakes leaves. She does have someone mow her yard.
Luckily mom has never been sick much. She had low blood pressure once. She goes to the doctor once a year. It seems I always have something wrong. Even when I was a child, though it did not seem to slow me down much. I will say even now, no matter how bad I am, I keep trying. I say you will be surprised at what you can accomplish in five minutes, or during a commercial.
I called mom today, at 6:30pm to ask her a few things, she says I've been up since 5:30am, I just sat down. I had a mess from planting flowers, I had to get it up. Saturday she did three loads of wash and planted flowers, that did get her a bit. Mom rarely mentions being tired. Of course she probably forgot to tell me she cleaned the whole house too, and even washed the 100+ plates she has hanging up. So, she did rest Sunday! I rested Saturday, Sunday and Monday and I'm still tired.
I sure wish I was more like mom, had all that energy. We joke and say she has more energy than me, my sister and my daughter together. Way to go mom!!
..graphics by Shawna..
..up-date 2008** well I am the one now who had a stroke..mom is now 93 and has slowed down quite a bit..she has been in the hospital a few times...my brother finally had to move in with her..I just bought a cane again..mom does use her walker**
**added note**
**Two weeks after leaving New York three years ago mom suffered a stroke, she was in the hospital and re-hab for almost two months. She ended up back in the hospital. Mom was rather unhappy at being unable to go to work. Being unable to clean her house like she use to. The day after she comes home she is out on the porch hanging wash up. So pray for her and the rest of us.
Mom did not want to use a cane, regretfully I have to use one now. I still have not been able to get to New York.
It is a tribute to mom that some of the kids who use to live in the neighborhood still come to see her.
.....I am not my Mother...
I lay there this morning on the couch, when I wake up, I come downstairs, so, hopefully when my granddaughter arrives at 8am, I will hear her at the door. So far this has worked for two months.
I am lucky enough today to jump up at 7:30, take a shower and sit back down. Lying there I had asked myself why couldn't I be more like my mother? I laughed and said I'm Not my mother!! My daughter Wendy jokes a lot and has sworn she will write a book called I'm Becoming my Mother. For me this would be an impossible task.
My mother Gertrude Brucher Smith at 83 years old was still working a full time job. Not an easy one either. She works in a greenhouse. Planting, digging, re-potting. Real hard work. She claimed the other week she could not stand the heat in the greenhouse, it was only 102! I would have fainted when it hit 100.
Her baby sister age 82 drives them to work, winter or summer, spring or fall. They hardly ever stay home. One winter day they were sent back home, the roads were real bad, some were closed, they had to take some back roads. They did not know where they were, but mom knew they'd find their way out and get home sometime!
..Then I worry about her when they have a bad storm. Now, what does she do? She goes out trying to get snow off her roof. Hits herself in the eye with the shovel. I thought of trying to get her to carry a cordless phone, but this new fangled stuff baffles her. Try to get her to move, are you kidding?
A while back she made the statement that Aunt Beulah works and works all the time. They go to work, then go shopping, Beulah goes home and gets down on her hands and knees to scrub her floors. Mom says she is not going to do it! Heck, I am lucky if I get down to scrub mine once a year.
Mom has a nice big house too, with a cellar and garage. She does all of the work herself. She still gets out and rakes leaves. She does have someone mow her yard.
Luckily mom has never been sick much. She had low blood pressure once. She goes to the doctor once a year. It seems I always have something wrong. Even when I was a child, though it did not seem to slow me down much. I will say even now, no matter how bad I am, I keep trying. I say you will be surprised at what you can accomplish in five minutes, or during a commercial.
I called mom today, at 6:30pm to ask her a few things, she says I've been up since 5:30am, I just sat down. I had a mess from planting flowers, I had to get it up. Saturday she did three loads of wash and planted flowers, that did get her a bit. Mom rarely mentions being tired. Of course she probably forgot to tell me she cleaned the whole house too, and even washed the 100+ plates she has hanging up. So, she did rest Sunday! I rested Saturday, Sunday and Monday and I'm still tired.
I sure wish I was more like mom, had all that energy. We joke and say she has more energy than me, my sister and my daughter together. Way to go mom!!
..graphics by Shawna..