Time with Mom....

Time is a precious thing.

Mom and I have had some special times while she stayed with me and Steve in Clarksville for almost two weeks. I wondered if I would be able to keep her with me that long. She is very much a home body, but she stayed with me for 12 days. We had it timed out that I would bring her home the day before her next doctor appointment, which is also the day before Steve and I leave for our New York City trip.

Angela came home the first weekend she was with us and Ben came home on Monday. It was precious to see them share a sweet time with their grandmother. She would tell them how much she loved them and how proud she was of them. They in turn shared with her about the activities in their lives.

We had a good time while she was with us. She loved looking out our big picture window. She was able to see deer, turkeys, birds, butterflies, squirrels, rabbits and the beautiful view of trees. She would sit there for hours just admiring the beauty of God's creation. She mentioned several times that she was so thankful that she was His child and thanking Him for that and the beauty of nature.

We watched the Cubs play baseball. (She is a die hard Cubs fan, she can tell you their win-loss record, the names of the players, the school they played for, etc.) She has always enjoyed watching her Cubs. We watched the Braves too but she didn't get nearly so excited to see them!

We had lots of good food and I was able to cook extra so I could fix her some plates that we would freeze and then take home with her. I think we ended up with enough for fourteen meals that all she would have to do is warm up in the microwave. We even had deer steak twice! She loves that so much, it is one of her very favorite meals. Steve was wonderful to cook this and other things for her too.

We went to town and ran errands, she stayed in the car while I shopped at Wal-Mart but we parked in the shade and she was fine reading while I quickly stocked up on supplies. She also got to meet all the repairmen that I had to call while she was there. The air conditioner, the clothes dryer and my Internet service all went out with in a 24 hour period. We also had to have a window replaced and that was done while she was there too!

The weather was pretty while she was there and again, one of her favorite things to do was to just look out the window. She continued to talk about the peacefulness and tranquility she felt at our house. I guess I had begun to take it for granted so I am thankful to her for reminding me how blessed I am living in the country.

One afternoon Steve took mom for a ride in Little Red. Little Red is our convertable that we bought last year. We have so much fun going for rides in our little car. I thought I would have to talk mom into going but when Steve asked, she got right up and got ready to go. They were gone about thirty minutes and she had a great time. I started calling her "Hot Rod Momma".
When I call her this, she just smiles.

I think one of my favorite days with mom during this time was the day we looked at old pictures. We had found a box of pictures a while back and I had them at my house so I asked her if she wanted to look at them and I would write on the back of the pictures who the people were. (with an acid free pen of course!) This project took us almost all day and we felt very successful with our accomplishment. There were sad moments but most of the day was spent reminiscing over sweet memories of her past, most I had heard about before but some were new and I am glad to have these new insights on mom. We came across several pictures of my grandmother of when she was a little girl and the house where she lived in up in Milwaukee.
We also found some of my uncle and his family as well as friends and places she had traveled.
It was a fun day.

We had several sweet talks and a few little squabbles, (too much togetherness!!!). I will never forget this visit. Time is precious and I am learning how important it is say what you need to say and do what you need to do for those special people in your life. You never know when it could be the last time.