Monday, May 02, 2005
JANUARY....1991
The first of the year came in on a Tuesday. We watched college football, went to see mom, had Becky and Jennifer for lunch and supper…….talked to several family members on the phone and had a nice unscheduled day. The weather was cold and the snow from Christmas still made the streets slick. Bear kept busy feeding the birds during the day and making sure he didn’t fall on the ice. We were iced in over the next weekend when another snow and ice storm hit out of Canada.
On Monday our crew attempted getting to our ‘station of the day’ but the roads were too dangerous to travel. I was dropped off at home before noon. Snow days are as much fun for DE’s as it is for the school kids….an unexpected free day. The next day we did work and I talked with Barbara to see how her mother was doing in Houston at the Cancer Hospital. She related that her cancer had spread all over and it was just a matter of time now. Of course Barbara was pretty broken up. Her mother was only 53 which is to be considered young in this day and age of miracle drugs, better food and health practices. We were affected because we loved Mary too.
Jennifer had to leave on the 13th to go back to college. I had the girls over for dinner and we went to see mom so Jennifer could tell her goodbye. She left early the next morning. On the 15th it was the last deadline for Iraq to get out of Kuwait. The world was waiting to see what was going to happen. John called to tell us Barbara’s parents were back home in Vicksburg and things were about the same with Mary.
The next day while we were eating supper a breaking news report announced allied planes were bombing Baghdad. Our American newsmen were telling the story from their hotel room while the planes made their passes and bombs were falling around them. They were, of course, met with two great desires. To be on top of the news just happening but to be safe. Their voices were highly excited and riveting. We sat in the living room and watched the beginning of a war before our very eyes. Modern technology is amazing. As a girl, the news from WWII was old by the time it hit the papers or the news clip between shows at the neighborhood movies. Many times my folks went to the show purposely to see the news spun from a camera reel.
We watched until sleep drove us to bed. I watched before work time and as soon as I got home. Some of our offices had a television so we were able to keep up with a lot of it while we were away from home. Bear informed me of the major events that I missed out on…..it was the number one topic everywhere. Most of the news was favorable but eventually the inevitable happened. They captured a couple of our pilots from a downed plane and had them on TV…..they looked like they’d been beaten. It was hard to take.
About the third week of the month, mom came down with some kind of a bug. She was feverish and weak….wasn’t eating and not drinking. We coaxed her as best we could and talked her into bed. She wanted to stay in her wheel chair but she finally let us put her to bed. I think she was afraid she’d go to sleep and we would slip out while she slept. I didn’t blame her for wanting us to come often and stay a long time. A nursing home at best is not “home” like we are all used to….and seeing the family on a ‘visit only’ basis is not good, either. I hated having her there as much as she hated being there. It is a situation that never has a happy ending.
Thankfully she began to turn the corner in a few days and enjoyed watching Becky and me as we cut quilt blocks. It was very calming for her as we worked and it gave us something to do the many hours we were away from home to visit her. I was feeling guilty because I went off every evening to visit mom and left Bear at home. We had very little time together even on weekends….there was just no way to make more time in a given day. I could not bear her disappointment if we didn’t come so on days when it wasn’t possible, Bear or Becky would fill in for me. Somehow we kept it all going…..those were very busy times, indeed…………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
On Monday our crew attempted getting to our ‘station of the day’ but the roads were too dangerous to travel. I was dropped off at home before noon. Snow days are as much fun for DE’s as it is for the school kids….an unexpected free day. The next day we did work and I talked with Barbara to see how her mother was doing in Houston at the Cancer Hospital. She related that her cancer had spread all over and it was just a matter of time now. Of course Barbara was pretty broken up. Her mother was only 53 which is to be considered young in this day and age of miracle drugs, better food and health practices. We were affected because we loved Mary too.
Jennifer had to leave on the 13th to go back to college. I had the girls over for dinner and we went to see mom so Jennifer could tell her goodbye. She left early the next morning. On the 15th it was the last deadline for Iraq to get out of Kuwait. The world was waiting to see what was going to happen. John called to tell us Barbara’s parents were back home in Vicksburg and things were about the same with Mary.
The next day while we were eating supper a breaking news report announced allied planes were bombing Baghdad. Our American newsmen were telling the story from their hotel room while the planes made their passes and bombs were falling around them. They were, of course, met with two great desires. To be on top of the news just happening but to be safe. Their voices were highly excited and riveting. We sat in the living room and watched the beginning of a war before our very eyes. Modern technology is amazing. As a girl, the news from WWII was old by the time it hit the papers or the news clip between shows at the neighborhood movies. Many times my folks went to the show purposely to see the news spun from a camera reel.
We watched until sleep drove us to bed. I watched before work time and as soon as I got home. Some of our offices had a television so we were able to keep up with a lot of it while we were away from home. Bear informed me of the major events that I missed out on…..it was the number one topic everywhere. Most of the news was favorable but eventually the inevitable happened. They captured a couple of our pilots from a downed plane and had them on TV…..they looked like they’d been beaten. It was hard to take.
About the third week of the month, mom came down with some kind of a bug. She was feverish and weak….wasn’t eating and not drinking. We coaxed her as best we could and talked her into bed. She wanted to stay in her wheel chair but she finally let us put her to bed. I think she was afraid she’d go to sleep and we would slip out while she slept. I didn’t blame her for wanting us to come often and stay a long time. A nursing home at best is not “home” like we are all used to….and seeing the family on a ‘visit only’ basis is not good, either. I hated having her there as much as she hated being there. It is a situation that never has a happy ending.
Thankfully she began to turn the corner in a few days and enjoyed watching Becky and me as we cut quilt blocks. It was very calming for her as we worked and it gave us something to do the many hours we were away from home to visit her. I was feeling guilty because I went off every evening to visit mom and left Bear at home. We had very little time together even on weekends….there was just no way to make more time in a given day. I could not bear her disappointment if we didn’t come so on days when it wasn’t possible, Bear or Becky would fill in for me. Somehow we kept it all going…..those were very busy times, indeed…………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
