Hugs & Giggles - Needed or Offered

[Alix]

I'm in the need category. I've had a hard week. I'm cleaning out Mom's house and moving her into assisted living. All the usual crap attendant with that. Sibling vultures, management snafus and paperwork hang ups. Mom is understandably anxious about the move too. Going through all the accumulated STUFF was hard, but I'm just starting to process it all right now and having a bit of a tough time.

So, as usual, I am coming here to get cheered up. Anyone got a giggle and a hug they could spare? I could really use a giggle about now.

 

[getoutamykitchen]

I currently care for my 83 yr. old mother with dementia. And I'm sure within the next 12 months I'm going to be going through the same thing.
So be well and hang in there. And this one's for you...

 

[kadesma]

Alix, I feel for you, I've been through this not so long ago and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. And then to lose my dad and watch dementia set in for my sweet mother. Alix, you're doing the best for her, just keep loving her and she will know this is the best.Now stop and think, when you were 5 what was you favorite thing to do with your mom? What about at 13? What about sometime when you both laughed so hard you cried? Remember those times? If you do they will make you smile and maybe even giggle...Never let them fad away, keep them close.they will always make you happy. I wish I could be there and make you laugh,remember your cyber family loves you and wants you to be happy.
cj

 

[Alix]

Thanks guys. Its been a LOOOONG week and it aint over yet.

kadesma, I can remember playing chinese checkers with Mom when I was little, and I remember being so tickled when I FINALLY won. The memories at 13 are not quite as pleasant. LOL! I was a typical snotty teen.

Thanks for the hug, and I'll be here to hug you back gomk.

 

[LPBeier]

Alix, ignore the PM I sent you for a week or two. Instead have a cup of tea at about 9:00 your time tonight - I will be having one then two and will be toasting you with my little pinky in the air, drinking out of an old fashioned cup and saucer! {{{{{{{{Alix}}}}}}}}

 

[bethzaring]

well, I tried, but couldn't think of anything funny,

started to tell you about the 100 pairs of shoes I found in my Mom's closet.....100 pairs...I had no idea...or about the 4 cabinets that were stuffed full of plastic bags, or the closet that was full of broken appliances with their owners manuals or the 33 lp albums and 45 rpm records with nothing to play them on.... guess you had to have been there

hope things start to turn around for you!!

 

[babetoo]

could someone go through your stuff or mine and not find odd things. i know what you mean though, my dad had at least four partial dentures in his bathroom. no long used them for years. my moms stuff was a bit better, but still odd objects were there. odd only to my sister and i. i am so determined to stay on my own. 71 years now,then i will be gone when the kids say "what in the world did she save this for."

 

[LPBeier]

When we moved my great aunt into a home years ago my Mom, another aunt and I found some amazing things. Everything.....and I mean EVERYTHING was labeled - directions on the iron, vacuum, stove and many other appliances on how to use them; dates on foods when bought them (and even on some cans what they would go with or in). The funniest, or not so funniest, was the eggs. Each one was dated when it was bought. There were 10 of them and several were more than a year old! Then there was the attic which was stuffed so full the ceiling was bowing. She saved every box from everything she had purchased over about 40 years, all her clothes over the years, and so much more. We were so overwhelmed by it all we just sat and laughed.

I got the job of very carefully getting rid of the eggs!

The funniest note was on a can of creamed corn "serve with sausages and mashed potatoes, but never serve with fish".

 

[Alix]

Beth, we had bags upon bags of curtain hooks, and so many pounds of sugar (absolutely SOLID) you wouldn't believe it. Bags upon bags of bags! And probably 30 big burlap bags of pine cones, which crumbled to dust if you touched them. And we dealt with more mouse poo than I thought possible and STILL left some areas untouched and likely filthy.

Some beautiful treasures, but others are sadly missing. The larcenous bent of the "caregiver" Mom had is very visible. Some of her most treasured and precious things are gone, but still other treasures unearthed.

Scariest thing = Home canned mincemeat from 1988. Greenish black and shrunken and pulled away from the sides of the jar. EEK!

Sweetest thing = letter from Dad to Mom, still tear up when I think of it.

 

[kadesma]

Alix,
treasure what was in that letter. My mom and dad met when she was 15 and married when she was 18...I have never seen a couple as close as they were. My father thought the sun rose and set on my mother..As much as he loved us, my mom came first in all things. I can still see him washing windows,moping floors,dusting..Just to please her. Mom, who hated to cook would make what ever he wanted, when they would go to someones wedding, it brought tears to my eyes to watch them dance. They both adored dancing. Oh nuts, do I miss them. I have all those memories, not the same but comforting. Now it's your turn, remember!
cj

 

[licia]

I've really been thinking a lot about this lately. My mom is 92 and seems to be in good health, but seeing how some of the closets couldn't get a toothpick inside them has made me aware that my own children will be going thru my stuff one day and I want them to be pleasantly surprised - that the lady they thought they knew was a tidier person than they thought. Our son just went thru a divorce so we helped him with a lot of junk his ex left so we've had a taste already. I'm trying to do better.

 

[luvs]

there's the route of plain ol distraction, too- when i get sad i watch hilarious movies & giggle. or i google utube videos of kitties being goofs. watched a few last nite. my stomach ached from giggling so much!

 

[Alix]

I've really been thinking a lot about this lately. My mom is 92 and seems to be in good health, but seeing how some of the closets couldn't get a toothpick inside them has made me aware that my own children will be going thru my stuff one day and I want them to be pleasantly surprised - that the lady they thought they knew was a tidier person than they thought. Our son just went thru a divorce so we helped him with a lot of junk his ex left so we've had a taste already. I'm trying to do better.

licia, me too! I spring clean and if something hasn't been used in a year then off it goes. We either give it away, put it on kijiji, or just plain old toss it out. 40 years worth of packrat accumulation is just plain scary.