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| MY LADY |
April 26, 2008 from my care givers log,
"She has made her way gallantly through the halls and gym at St. Josephs and Burbank Health Care Center after fracturing a hip for the second time.
She was lovingly referred to as "Mother Mary" as well as "Sleeping Beauty" for those many untimely naps taken when visitors appeared with flowers and card, candy or other goodies.
Those last few weeks the lines in her lightly creased face reflected the frustration of being held hostage. During one short prayer time, with a childlike voice, I heard, "...and will you please speak to those in authority about me getting to go home". On another occasion she shared that there were many negative thoughts and words she could say but chose not to.
In her early AD days, I found My Lady's faith amazing, her unwavering belief that no matter how bad things were, God would take care of everything. She graciously displayed the fact that God was in control. The fact that "I'm here but I'm not in charge." "God is!" gave her a peaceful resignation and relief from anxiety.
I felt both humbled and privileged to serve this wonderful woman who survived so many challenging difficulties. What surprised and touched me most was that she was so resilient, yet always, I was awake to the possibility that the next time she would not be with us.
Her mental acuteness at that time was a continual source of frustration to her and challenging for those of us who cared for her, a delicate balance of maintaining our sanity and allowing her as much independence as possible.
She continued to walk slowly and deliberately with her walker but made great progress in distance. The day after her surgery she was encouraged to get up and with obvious difficulty and pain walked around her bed and then requested pain med. after declining it at first. She had home visits from the physical and occupational therapist.
We still nick named her Sleeping Beauty and worked on trying to keep her occupied during the day to minimize or eliminate middle of night sleep walking and talking and wheel chair joy rides to the front door in the middle of the night.
What a precious treasure we had in My Lady, a wonderful demonstration of an un-programed adventure to pull me out of my COMFORT ZONE, unseen events silently forming in opposition to "our plans", to remind us of Ps.37:23 "The steps of a man are established by the Lord" and Prov. 16:9 "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps"
I hope that sharing this experience will encourage others to pray more proactively for those who are care giving.
MORE ON MY LADY CLICK HERE
I passed this post on to my daughters, because My Lady reminds me of Gary, in their level of trust in God. Very encouraging.
ReplyDeleteNext month, on Mexican Mothers Day, My Lady, will have been celebrating a year in Heaven. When, I wrote and re read the article I wrote above, my eyes tear up at the memories and lessons I learned from this dear lady. I wish, I could post her photo. The family has requested that they remain anonamous at present and that I not mention her name, hence, I refer to her as My Lady.
ReplyDeleteThe picture has been added now that years separate the reason why.
ReplyDelete