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Tuesday, September 13, 2005

THE END OF DECEMBER AND BEGINNING OF JANUARY....1997 

George arrived on the 23rd of December and we celebrated his birthday. The next day we made preparations for our Christmas gift opening. We had visitors all day long who took time out of their busy schedules to come by and wish us well. That night we heard on the weather report that we had a “blue moon” as it was the second full moon in the month. It was also at the highest point it would be until 2102. It was extremely bright and the night was crisp and cold……it made a beautiful picture.

On Christmas Day it was cold and we had a good hot breakfast. George and Becky ate with us and we had family on the phone most of the day. It was a quiet day with people dropping in and out. The next day Bear didn’t feel very peppy and was only up for breakfast. I bathed him but didn’t shave him as he wasn’t up to it. He asked for lunch and supper in bed and was quiet all day.

George left for home on the 27th and arrived safely. We were alone again so I did laundry and some cleaning after I bathed and shaved Bear. The last days of the month I could tell Bear was beginning to change. He didn’t have the strength that he used to have and it was getting harder for me to manage getting him in the wheelchair as well as repositioning him in bed. He was becoming more and more comfortable when in bed and didn’t care to be in his wheelchair as much. I stayed by his bedside a lot during every day. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him and oftentimes he would go to sleep while holding my hand. I would sit there watching him breath while memories flooded my mind. It was hard to believe this was real……….

Something was happening to his ability to speak. He would become confused and frustrated and not able to say what he wanted. Bear could speak and understand several languages and was a very intelligent man. He had excellent use of the English language but now he was having difficulty talking. He would motion with his hands and look at me to prompt him since I usually knew what he wanted to say. Because I knew him so well I became his voice…….when he couldn’t talk I would ask him if he wanted to say “so and so” and he would nod his head yes and motion for me to tell the guests what he wanted to say. We became very good at being able to express what he wanted. More and more he would shake his head “no” as far as getting in the wheelchair.

On the second of January we had a record breaking high of 71*……..I opened the house up and aired it real good. I knew we could not expect that kind of weather for very long. On the fourth of January he woke me at 4:00 am calling “Bear, Bear”……he had been switching things for quite a while. “No” meant yes and yes meant “No.” I had to learn this when I would react to his requests and he would shake his head. I soon found that it was the opposite thing he wanted. I was always his “Bunny” and he was the Bear. Now when he called me I had to answer to Bear…….somehow I always managed to know what was going on in his mind.

He had a very bad spell on that day. We almost lost him. He became very sick to his stomach due to some of his medication and vomited with such force it hit the living room window and ran down the wall. It was terrible in every way. I had a call in for the alternate nurse on duty for us…….she lived about 55 miles away and it took her quite a while to come. She needed to get some medication for him and our good druggist opened the store so Becky could go get it after hours. I shall never forget the many kindnesses of him and all the other people who continually went the second mile for us. The peace of mind it gave us was worth everything. Around 9:00 pm that evening he fell into a peaceful sleep and the erratic blood pressure highs and lows had returned to normal.

As soon as his vital signs were normal I made a bed on the couch so I could be near by in case he woke before morning again. The ticking of the coo-coo clocks put me to sleep quickly and we both slept soundly until morning. Bear had not moved since I checked him the night before…….another day was beginning. January 5th………..

Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther