It's a Happy Day In Heaven

A mother's love is a blessing
No matter where you roam.
Keep her while you have her,
You'll miss her when she's gone.

Baltimore bound

FYI, I'll be flying to Baltimore on Monday to see Mom. I'll only be in town until Saturday morning and I expect I'll spend a lot of time at Arden Courts. Melanie isn't coming on this trip. She's holding down the fort in Singapore. I'll try to call Paul to let him know but if someone could call him during his awake time, I'd appreciate it.

some not so good news...

Quinn was on her way to visit mom today when Arden Courts called her. It seems that Mom has been choking on any solid foods that they can feed her and she has not been taking in much fluids either (not swallowing). They called in Hospice and have ordered her a hospital bed. Without solids or liquids, she will become very weak, very quickly. The hospital bed will be more comfortable and allow her head to be raised should she be able to sip from a cup. Quinn arrived soon after and found Mom to be very tired and difficult to rouse. She "entertained" Mom in the living room while they set up the bed in Mom's room. She then worked with Hospice nurse to get Mom into bed.

My non-medical question to Quinn was, "are they talking hours, days, weeks?" She said that they didn't know, but that once a person stops taking in fluids, they become dehydrated and organs begin to shut down.

If you want to reach Quinn, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way since her computer is dead. Give her a call if you have any questions or need better info.

Love to all and prayers for Mom - Levelle

Happy Birthday Mom!

I saw mom on Saturday. She doesn't look great, but at least was happy to see Megan and me. As the visit progressed she seemed to be in some pain. It was hard to understand the source of the pain, but we got the aide to give her some Tylenol. She didn't perk up until Quinn came and fixed her up.

Hope she has a peaceful birthday today!

See you all soon,
Lel

Any Update on weekend activities?

I am flexible for whatever we want to do, whether this weekend or next. Stuart - have you made final plans?

So Obama is trying to encourage research on Alzhiemer's...

I had lunch yesterday with the Archbishop of Singapore. The guy who runs our soup kitchen wanted some of the Catholics from our group to attend the typical Chinese banquet meal and a pale-face probably counted as double. The purpose of the meeting was to show the Archbishop that Catholics help in the kitchen as well as are recipients of the food. In addition, he also wanted to gain the Archbishop's support.

So the ten of us meet, greet and introduce ourselves outside the door to the restaurant then get shown into a private room inside. The Archbishop keys in on Melanie and me right away, across the round table, as we are the only non-Chinese in the group. He asks where we are from. Melanie says "Siglap" which draws laughter. (most Singaporeans would say "Singapore" but Melanie is proud of her small village and she mimics Americans who say "well originally, I was from Baltimore but I grew up in... and then moved to...").

His Grace turns to me and I say I am from the US. He frowns and asks "You are fighting Obama?" I figure he mis-spoke and I corrected him with a little too much emphasis: "I am fighting FOR Obama". He frowns even deeper. "Aiyoh! That guy wants all Americans to pay for abortions." I am just about to lecture the ignorant git when I remember the purpose of our visit which is not yet 2 minutes old so I bite my tongue. That was about all I could eat that meal because of the rage of wanting to have a discussion with him about realpolitiks and his narrow viewpoint.

There is a cloud over the room by now as people can sense the tension but His Grace was kind enough to move on by telling everyone that he was born in the USA. Shocked looks were changed after a perfect comedic pause when he added "yeah, the Upper Serangoon area" (a traditional Catholic / Eurasian area of Singapore).

Next time that I meet with him, I hope it's in a dark alley.

....and now back to Mom....