2026 Life Logs, Day 177: Happy 17th Birthday to Jonah plus Last Day of School
Date: Friday, June 26, 2026
Weather: Cloudy with Noon Time Down Pour; High Temp 73, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I haven’t written a log since Monday, so lots to catch up on. But the big news today is that it is Jonah’s 17th birthday, and he is spending it in Honolulu with his good friend Kaiden. They are visiting Kaiden’s grandfather and enjoying the Pacific Ocean. Heather sent me some photos, and they look like they are having a great time. Jonah loves the Pacific Ocean and I look forward to hearing his stories from the trip when he returns next week, just in time for the 4th of July. Happy Birthday to my very lucky grandson!
Today was the last day of school for Ollie, and the very last day that I will ever again pick up a Goldstone from Lawerence Middle School. Another milestone. It is hard for me to believe, but
Ollie is now off to Falmouth High School.
The last week has been one of the hardest weeks I have ever negotiated. I am still working almost full time dealing with my sister’s move. I made one trip to Bridges right after lunch to check on her and to deliver the new clothes I had purchased for her. Then I made a second trip to visit with her after dinner. The residents watch Britain’s Got Talent show after dinner, so I am being introduced to whole host of new experiences. And in between visits, I was downloading and filling out forms to get her medical records sent here, making arrangements for her first ‘wellness’ visit form the healthcare group that visits Bridges every Tuesday and arranging a time to meet with them, filling out paperwork to get her hair done, shopping for clothes for her, checking in with the nurse that comes from outside the memory care facility to check her blood sugar level twice and a day and give her the insulin injection in the evening, and most importantly, just spending time visiting with her. I have a lot to learn about dementia but one thing I know about my sister is that she does know who I am and she knows my name. Today she tried to tell me a story about Heather. I think she associates Heather with me. And today she asked me questions like, “Where do you sleep at night?” When I answered that I sleep at my house but that she sleeps at Bridges so people can take care of her, her response was, “You are so lucky to be able to sleep in your own home.” Then she changed the subject and went on to talk about things that made no sense to me at all. As I spend more time with her, maybe I will learn to understand her language. I have a feeling those stories she tells me that sound absolutely insane probably relate to reality in some way. I just don’t know how to understand her language yet.
Tomorrow morning, I hope to catch up on writing the logs from the past three days. But I want to add one more thing to this log. My nephew Rex and Patsy’s son-in-law Bill made it back to the Charlotte area in the early afternoon today. They spent four full days traveling in order to get Patsy here. Thank you, Rex and Bill, and Brenda who traveled with them to care for Patsy. Today Bridges posted a photo from their arrival in the RV on Wednesday saying, “Bridges or Bust! Our newest resident arrived in an RV from North Carolina this week and what a trooper! Close to two 12-hour days to arrive at Bridges Mashpee and our tender loving care!! Kudos to family members involved in the successful road trip! “
