85th Birthday!

(From left to right clock-wise,

my husband, my daughter, my son, my son's girlfriend, mom and me.)

"Birthdays are good for you.

Statistics show that the people who have the most

live the longest."

Larry Lorenzoni

This month my mom celebrated her 85th birthday! This year also marks her 5th year of living with us. Here she is with us enjoying brunch at a local restaurant. She said she really enjoyed herself. I am sure this was a treat because she can seldom go to restaurants now. She can't walk too far and in typically noisy environments she has difficulty hearing. But this restaurant, Michael's Pub, is not so crowded and is not as noisy as some. It was a fun brunch for all of us.

I have received a number of private messages asking how she is doing since the double hospitalizations and the 8 days in rehab in December. It has been an effort, but she is doing much better. She is back to doing all her own activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing independently, coming down for all meals, making her bed, clearing her dishes, and getting ready for bed.

She does her exercises everyday and takes walks - sometimes outside, but mostly in the house. Each week we extend her walk by a minute. She is up to 10 minutes of continuous walking. She complains a lot about it, but that is mostly because I am constantly reminding her to not stop to look out the windows and to walk faster. She grumbles and I nag, but she has increased from 4 minutes of walking to 10 minutes. She practices climbing stairs as well. To my current title of Caregiver, I sometimes describe myself as Drill Sargent! But it is a title that I accept. It would be far easier to just let her sit in a chair and not fight back to gain strength. When I see her doing better even minimally, I am happy to be the Drill Sargent. Of course, each hospitalization has taken something out of her, something that cannot be gained back through our efforts. Avoiding the hospital continues to be our primary goal.

This month she is well, and we celebrate her 85 years of living!

Happy Birthday, Mom!