Bumble Bee
I’m back in Kansas again and realize that getting the wording right about what to call home has been an awkward redefinition for me. “The House” vs. “Home”. I’m staying in the somewhat old and empty “house” and it’s just five blocks away from where mom is living in her new “home”. She refers to “the old one” as “back at the house” and this is said without any lingering attachment. I worried that she might have regrets but so far she does not look back. That seems like a little miracle because it hasn’t even been three months since she moved. I would have to say that the two things mom misses are driving her car and doing laundry. I wonder if the time will come when she will call where she lives now “Home”. Mom has good days and she has difficult days but I don’t think she ever feels like she shouldn’t have made the move. Meanwhile I try to ground myself somewhere in between the two places but am grateful she has made such a beautiful transition.
This visit I will have more of an opportunity to see what “A day in the life ” actually looks like for mom. She’s definitely got the logistics of Garden Villas down and gets around on her own a lot of the time. Lucy and her crew are always hovering somewhere so I never have to feel like she will get stuck somewhere.
There is a nice sense of community and that is something she was missing living on her own Back at the House. Yes, she had fabulous neighbors but fortunately she still has them all in her life. Her old neighborhood is just minutes away and friendly visits are frequent appreciated.
Dean(Stained Glass) and Martha (Quilting) surrounded by their creative expression.
Dean and Martha continue to go out of this world for her and I often wonder if she would have managed her life in the past few years so well if they would not have been so involved in her livelihood. Dean continues to bring her the paper every night. And, now she also has new neighbors and is getting acquainted with new faces and activities. She is surrounded with people who are kind of like her and I can already see how that is a comfort to her.
Guy and Frine were here for several days and the Oktoberfest was taking place at Villa Gardens. It was fun for them to have an opportunity to join in on some of the social aspects of mom’s new surroundings. It meant a lot to mom to have a chance to spend time with them both. I also feel like it gave Guy a much more realistic idea of how mom is getting along and adjusting not only to her new home but also facing and expressing her aging issues
Dean & Martha, Guy & Frine with mom at the Oktoberfest.
Guy at the entrance to Garden Villas