Here I am again.
May 2, 2024. It was 13 years ago this morning that Dad called me in a tizzy, stressed to the max, because Mom had kept him from sleeping all night. The symptoms of the disease, Alzheimer's, was making it impossible for him to feel rested, and he was truly burned out. That morning, the lovely Hospice nurse arrived, and after she evaluated the situation, she suggested that we transport Mom up to their Hospice House for a night or three, so that Dad could get a break. He agreed, and later that morning, an ambulance backed into the driveway, and they loaded her on to a stretcher and took her up to Auburn, an hour away. Dad and I followed in his car.
She never came back to her house, of course. She spent her last 10 days there, in a room in the Hospice House in Auburn, where so many others had lived their final days. She was well cared for, and they were incredibly empathetic and kind to us. She died there on May 12, 2011, just two days after her 79th birthday.
I sure do miss her, and I sure do miss him, too.
I've been kicking so much ass lately, I'm kind of shocked at myself, really. Signed up for health insurance plan through work, did the paperwork for a new carrier with home/auto insurance policies, played a gig last Saturday night, showed up to work on time and working my butt off there, keeping up with the bills, grocery shopping, meal plans, accepted a fill-in bass gig with a new band for the end of August, keeping the house clean.. and trying to get enough sleep. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.
Yesterday morning, I drove the Subaru over to Conway and dropped it off at the dealer for the big job I've been putting off for a year and a half - new timing belt, replace the head gaskets, new oil pan, plus a new heat thermometer, oil switch and probably one or two other things. It's going to end up costing us at least 3 or 4 months of my pay, but, I'm hoping, in the long run, it'll be worth it.
Our Jeep is toast, now, pretty much. It's just sitting in the driveway, rusting away, and we are hoping to pick up a second used car at some point in the next few months. So, I keep working as much as I can, in order to earn my measly paycheck, in order to keep living.
It's fun.
I'm hoping the Subaru, that I've decided to call Cynthia, in honor of my late mother, will keep running for a few more years. I love to drive it because I am reminded of my Dad driving it, as it was his car, and now mine.
And, today is Phyllis's birthday. If it wasn't for Mom dying, Dad would never have met Phyllis, and so we have Mom to thank for that, too. Phyllis is one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever had the privilege to have met. Happy Birthday, Phyllis. I hope you receive the gift I mailed to you on Monday.
So, later today, I hope to get the call that Cynthia will be done, and I will drive back to Conway in the dealership loaner car (a fabulous 2023 Subaru.. so nice!) and give them my debit card to pay the thousands of dollars I will owe for the services rendered, and drive home again. Tomorrow, back to work at 8 am sharp! Go go go, Kate!
As Dad used to say to me all the time, "Good Kate!"
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