Thank You

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture was taken at Big Brother’s who lives 7 km away from our childhood home. We had gone to spend the day with Big Bro’s family as it was their church feast.

 

 

This photograph was taken on Sunday, 26 January 2014. At the time, Mum was still using her walking cane.

 

Which means, she was still not completely independent at the time.  

 

Which also means, I was still fairly deep in caregiver mode.  

 

Which eventually means, I used the colours for your names – Chris, Elvie and MJ – with scant thought.

 

 

After I saw the finished product, I realised I could have chosen the colours differently; appropriately, if you will. 

 

 

To rectify that earlier lapse, when replying to the comments you left after my last post, I have accordingly colour coded your text below.  

 

 

Chris, the colour purple comes to mind when I think of you because of the banner on your blog.

 

 

Elvie, your blog is a riot of bright shades, so I’ve chosen the closest colour that my Yahoo Compose* palette offers me.

 

 

MJ, you of leprechaun descent, need I say more?! 🙂

 

 

*WordPress does not accept any formatting that I do in Word. I have to format my posts in the Compose section of my Yahoo mail. So I draft my posts in Word, format them in Yahoo Mail and then post into WordPress. Three step tedium. And despite that 1-2-3 tango, WordPress does not allow all of the formatting I carefully select. Well, I get what I pay for, si? 

 

 

Mum, and my family for that matter, is quite used to me scribbling shout-outs like this. My family knows all my friends, so they were all curious about you, Elvie, because they assumed Chris and MJ were my guy pals they have met. I muttered something about you being my Filipina colleague from my Saudi Aramco days. Ha ha!

 

 

Then they asked what I was thanking you all for and why just the three of you. Because they knew that when I had sent out the newsletters with the news of Mum’s fall and later, her progress, all my friends and relatives had responded via e-mail or with calls and/or visits. I remember responding a little red faced with embarrassment for nearly being busted, but cannot remember what my exact lame response was. I just remember I didn’t accidentally blurt out about this blog. Whew.

 

 

Onto your kind comments and my trademark long winding replies. 

 

 

Chris

Misslisted

Every single story has a beginning at its end.

http://misslisted.com/

 

 

>Oh dear! So sorry to see this!

– Yeah, I was very sad for Mum the first few seconds when I realised she had a fracture because she lived such a full life until her fall.

 

 

>But, looks like she’s doing well all things considered.

– She is, Chris! She had a beautiful (= no unexpected hitches) recovery and she’s definitely got her mojo back now. Here’s proof.

 

 

 

All set for the stage!

 

This was taken on Sunday 16 February 2014,

the day of our chapel feast.

Mum participated in the group that sang

(and danced to) folk songs.

After nearly two decades

(looking after Daddy who had a stroke for 17 years

and then, till I returned home),

Mum resumed some of her former activities.

One of them is singing.

 

 

When Mum first rejoined this group of parishioners three years ago, she was the oldest. One of Mum’s friends, a former alto, who at 83, is older than Mum by a year, was inspired to join this year.

So this year, Mum gladly gave away her ‘Oldest Participant’ tiara to her pal (not in picture).

 

 

Bottom lines:

We are never too old to do things – old or new

and

We’re never too old to be exemplary citizens.  

 

 

 

>And what a beautiful mommy she is too…

– *blush* Thank you. I think my mummy is very pretty, too. And I’m so glad I don’t look anything like her because I’d positively die with all the comments she gets about her looks! Oh, don’t get me wrong – I love attention!

 

 

When I was younger, I basked in praise over my academic and later, professional achievements. Today I want to be recognised for other traits of mine. I’d rather people comment on my kindness, my trustworthiness or my humour; not something as fleeting and superficial as skin deep traits. Fortunately, Mum’s a lovely person as well.

 

 

>xo

– I’m a bit shy hugging someone I don’t know well, but you come across as a good person, Chris. Oh, and you’re such a cool mummy to have, too. So here ((hug)).

 

 

Elvie

FLOWERSBLOOMS by “Elvie”

MY WORLD IS A KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOR! Paintings of my life’s journey, experiences, cherished memories, emotions, thought, ideas and other interesting stuffs.

http://flowersblooms-elvierose.blogspot.in/

 

 

>I hope Mumpty Dumpty recovers and back to normal soon.

– Mum’s no longer cracked! *grin* Her X-ray a month after her surgery showed a very faint shadow at the fracture site.

 

 

>Praying for you mommy !

– Salamat po, Elvie! I believe in the power of prayer, so yours were among all those that put Mum on the smooth road to recovery. 

 

 

Oh, more thing, Elvie – Happy Birthday to you!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I went looking for an image to wish you,

as soon as I saw this pic, I thought,

“Elvie bakes, and her doggies take the cake!”

 

I know your day will be filled with

sweet people, sweet pets and sweet things to eat!

Have an extra slice for me! 🙂

 

 

 

MJ

MJ Monaghan

“It’s like taking a nap on that little rug when you were in kindergarten.”

http://www.mjmonaghan.com/

 

 

>Hey, my friend. It’s been too long since I’ve been commenting on blogs.

– I know! (Screeched like Monica in ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’)

 

 

I kid. Since you last stopped by, you and your family, have been through the geographical and emotional wringer.

 

 

>So very sorry to hear about your mum. Hope she mends quickly and remains in good spirits. May God be with her.

 – And He was! God, I mean. I genuinely believe He designed her complication free recovery and that’s why Mum mended quickly and remained in good spirits throughout. 🙂

 

 

>I also hope your life has been churning along nicely

– Churning. An appropriate word.

 

 

Renovations of the foyer, living and dining rooms began in September last year. (Preps for the same began a month earlier because we have a 189 year old home.)

 

 

Mum fell in November. With our interlude in hospital, work at home got interrupted and ended eventually on 16 December, a day before the first of family arrived for Christmas.

 

 

Having recovered from re-settling into those three front rooms, the master bedroom has begun being bludgeoned today. Estimated time to completion: nearly 2 months. Joy.

 

 

>and that you are well and healthy.

– Not surprisingly, I am! Not surprisingly because I’m very strict with my meal and rest times. And God has orchestrated the rest of my wellness.

 

 

>See you in February!!

– Well, you did see me in February, MJ. But not here; on my blog, I mean.  

 

 

I know I said this in my last post:

 

>Blogs, my own and yours that I read, will continue to sit on the back burner for the next three months i.e. until February 2014. That’s when Mum is expected to function absolutely normally on her awesome ownsome.  

 

 

I couldn’t post here on the 1^st of February because Mum stopped using the cane that day as per her surgeon’s advice. But I still had to shadow Mum everywhere for almost all of last month. (That’s why I pointed out my headless self in the second photograph above.)

 

 

The transition to hands free mobility was expectedly filled with trepidation and protests. So the first two weeks I followed Mum around the house because we have single and twin steps between almost all our rooms. Mum has an arthritic right knee and after three months of comparative inactivity of her right knee joint (Mum fractured her right femur), she’d forgotten how to bend her knee and lift her foot high enough to get onto or over a step. When she didn’t do that, she stumbled. So I have had to constantly remind her to lift her right foot when required.

 

 

I had warned Mum not to get used to me accompanying her everywhere outdoors and that I would tail her for one month only while she learned the ropes again. It took Mum nearly three weeks to remember “the rules” without being prompted by my growls. Now she’s truly flying free –  indoors and out – without me in her wake. 🙂  

 

 

Back to the three of you. In all likelihood, you could not read that sheet of paper clearly in the first photograph because I forgot to save a copy of the original, full resolution image for this post. So here’s a full res close-up that I had taken in case the text was too fine in the early photograph. Good move, Kate! Um, yes, I talk to myself sometimes. 😉

 

 

 

 

From my mummy’s heart and mine to yours –

Chris,

Elvie

and

MJ.

 

 

 

The ‘All of you’ at the bottom of the sheet are not, um, any of you who happen to read this post.

 

So who am I speaking to?

 

What kind of lame#ss jerk would I be if I didn’t keep you hanging until my next post by answering your question with one of my own?

 

 

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Thank you, Tanner Hawryluk , and DonCharisma.org, for signing up to follow my posts.

 

Thank you,  Misslisted, FLOWERSBLOOMS by “Elvie” and MJ Monaghan, for commenting on my last post.

 

Thank you, MJ Monaghan, for liking my last post.

 

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P.S.: Cheerful Monk adds a footnote to every post acknowledging those who comment on her previous post. She also links the commenters’ names back to their own blogs.

 

 

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