There's no place like home!
I've gone home, to my birth home, and returned to my home of choice and I can say there really is no place like home. Either home. My trip was most excellent. What made it so was a minimum of expectations and agenda. My guiding plan was to hold to my question of why I love my life so much and be as present to my dad and step mom as I could. I had no where else to be, nothing else to do. I did bring my photo album to share with my dad.
It is a good thing I am developing a sense of humor towards myself. Picture this. I was driving in the fog and feeling disoriented. I missed one of the turns to my sister's house and thought I would go around the block. Wrong. Street names are almost identical as in 160th sw place and 160th sw street. These are not the same and it is not good to get lost a few blocks from your destination when I really, really have to go to the bathroom because of diarrhea. I finally made my way, got to the door and said I love you and I need your bathroom. I few minutes later I was having another round of sitting on the toilet and then had to throw up. No stress going on for me!
Actually that was the only point of drama, the rest of the trip was good. I had remembered on the plane that I get a backache from the bed at my sister's and decided I could be OK. It was more than ok when she showed me to a different room and a different bed that suited me perfectly. Life is good!
My dad's condition stabilized and he had started doing better in therapy. I read him the letter that I had written a couple of weeks earlier and e-mailed to my sister to read to him in case I din't get there in time to do it myself. When I came to the part about asking for forgiveness for anything that I might have ever done that hurt him he grunted an affirming response. We looked at pictures but he said he couldn't really see them. He didn't recognize a photo of himsef with all of his brothers so I used the pictures to tell him stories. Sometimes he said things that told me he was remembering some things.
I noticed some interesting things about myself on this trip. I resort to old comfort foods and patterns when I go back to Seattle. After 8 months of not eating wheat or ice cream I started up again so as not to be a picky eater. Never mind that I had stopped those things because of their effects on my moods and thinking. I also realized I was not taking my supplements that I had determined really do make me feel better. Why would I stop the behaviors that work for me when I needed clearly of presence and mind the most? Just noticing.
The siblings have decided to hold a family reunion in early March so we can see everyone and do photos while we are all still here rather than meet at a funeral. As one sister observed, nobody knows whose funeral it would be. So we are all mobilizing for the great migration to Seatlle in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll sit next to you on SouthWest.
It is a good thing I am developing a sense of humor towards myself. Picture this. I was driving in the fog and feeling disoriented. I missed one of the turns to my sister's house and thought I would go around the block. Wrong. Street names are almost identical as in 160th sw place and 160th sw street. These are not the same and it is not good to get lost a few blocks from your destination when I really, really have to go to the bathroom because of diarrhea. I finally made my way, got to the door and said I love you and I need your bathroom. I few minutes later I was having another round of sitting on the toilet and then had to throw up. No stress going on for me!
Actually that was the only point of drama, the rest of the trip was good. I had remembered on the plane that I get a backache from the bed at my sister's and decided I could be OK. It was more than ok when she showed me to a different room and a different bed that suited me perfectly. Life is good!
My dad's condition stabilized and he had started doing better in therapy. I read him the letter that I had written a couple of weeks earlier and e-mailed to my sister to read to him in case I din't get there in time to do it myself. When I came to the part about asking for forgiveness for anything that I might have ever done that hurt him he grunted an affirming response. We looked at pictures but he said he couldn't really see them. He didn't recognize a photo of himsef with all of his brothers so I used the pictures to tell him stories. Sometimes he said things that told me he was remembering some things.
I noticed some interesting things about myself on this trip. I resort to old comfort foods and patterns when I go back to Seattle. After 8 months of not eating wheat or ice cream I started up again so as not to be a picky eater. Never mind that I had stopped those things because of their effects on my moods and thinking. I also realized I was not taking my supplements that I had determined really do make me feel better. Why would I stop the behaviors that work for me when I needed clearly of presence and mind the most? Just noticing.
The siblings have decided to hold a family reunion in early March so we can see everyone and do photos while we are all still here rather than meet at a funeral. As one sister observed, nobody knows whose funeral it would be. So we are all mobilizing for the great migration to Seatlle in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll sit next to you on SouthWest.
posted by Patricia @ 6:59 AM
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