This past Sunday marked Mike's and my 35th wedding anniversary. Wow! We've made it half of the way to where my parents would have been if Dad had lived just 37 days more this past summer. What a wonderful heritage and example for us.
My friend, Nancy, was kind enough to drive me up to Appomattox on Sunday and help Mike and I celebrate. We stopped in Farmville to pick up lunch and arrived about 11:30. Mike was SOUND asleep in his chair and did not want to wake up at all! The CNA and I tried a couple of times to no avail and then the RN came and after a couple of attempts, we were able to get him up and moving. It was very slow at first, but we managed to make it down to the deck where Nancy was waiting for us with all our lunch goodies. There was a definite chill in the air, but it was sunny and bright so we were able to enjoy a delicious picnic in the sun.
Mike was calmer than I have seen him his entire time at AH&R and Mr. Omm only made a very small appearance the entire 3 hours we were there. That was wonderful. He still didn't really talk, but did answer a couple of yes/no questions. He also fed himself most of his lunch with only a few cues from me to slow down and take small bites.
After lunch, we walked down the road for a bit, crossed the street and then continued the entire length of the school parking lot before crossing back over and going inside. Mike did really well. We move slowly, but he does it all on his own power, with the walker for stability. Back inside, he was not ready to sit down yet, so we walked in the hallway for a bit also. Before we left, I read to him from the Bible app on my phone, as his Bible seems to have walked away. I hope someone else is reading it, and it didn't simply disappear like his shoes seem to have done. It's hard to keep up with everything, but his things do stay put better here than they did at The Harbor. Most people here are not prone to wandering from room to room and moving things about which is a plus.
It was quite a pleasant anniversary and I was so happy to see Mike more peaceful. When we left, I handed him a book and he started reading out loud and then to himself. What an extra blessing; it put the cherry on top of our visit!
Thank you, gracious Lord!
James 1:17 (NIV)
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.
*P.S. If you have been following us via Google+, I'm sure you have seen that it is going away completely as of April 1. I have changed my profile to Blogger, but honestly, I don't really know what all of this means. I'm not sure everyone is getting the post notifications and if not, I don't know what to do about it. I usually share the posts on Facebook, so hopefully you can follow us that way. Thank you for your continued interest and prayers!*
