A Time For Everything

Mark your calendars for a week from tomorrow--September 6th--and pick out a shiny new book. Or maybe you'd rather settle in with an old favorite.

Either way, spend the day, if you can, reading. If you can't take the whole day off--they should make this a mandatory event across the nation, don't you think??--they spend some time (thirty minutes, an hour) with your nose in a book.

Now, I read all the time. You all should know this by now. :0) In the morning, in the evening, sometimes during the day when I get my steps in (which is a thing I have gotten back to).

This year, after a long hiatus, I signed up for the Goodreads Challenge, which is nothing more than a pledge to read a certain number of books during the calendar year. I ended up at 72. I'd originally challenged myself to read 106 books, and if you're not a math wizard, that equates to two per week. But once things happened with Mom, I wasn't sure I'd make that particular goal, so I adjusted slightly lower.

As it stands, I'm seven books ahead of schedule. Here are a few of the books I've read so far:

As I mentioned a couple (a few?) months ago, we brought my mom to Texas due to health reasons. Unfortunately, that health reason is stage four lung cancer, which has metastasized to various places. She (and we) now seem to be in the final stages of life. The length of this journey depends on the one taking it--Mom, in this case, and not the ones living vicariously along with them--so there's no telling when we'll say the final good-bye.

I'm trying to line up topics and write up the blogs to be ready to go on Mondays, but should a Monday or three get skipped, you can probably infer we've reached a crisis point or she's passed and we're taking care of all the posthumous tasks...

I hope I don't sound as if I don't care...I do. It's my mom, you know? I've already shed some tears and I'm sure I'll shed some more, but Mom and I haven't been close in two+ decades, so in some ways it's a tad bit easier to walk this road. Also--something I haven't mentioned in a long while (lol)--my personality strengths probably have a lot to do with my journey through this.

Also, my husband has been a rock. He keeps asking what he can do for me, which is much appreciated, and it's really been a matter of taking things off my plate. Unload and re-load this dishwasher, for example.

I also know that being a care-giver requires me to take care of me...and mostly that means keeping as much normal as possible in a situation that's completely abnormal. Making dinner, doing laundry, and other random chores actually help me stay on an even keel... Also thinking about and writing and scheduling blog posts... :0)

If there's not a book, there needs to be one covering all the things to think about when a loved one is in the final stages of life. This has been a whirlwind journey for DH and I as we make sure all Mom's ducks are in a row so that there's not a huge mess left behind for anyone involved once the dust settles.

Luckily, her ducks weren't terribly complicated. Ours, on the other hand, definitely are, so we'll working on making sure we make as many arrangements in advance so that our kids won't be left scrambling, especially if we die unexpectedly.

As for the picture of Mt. Shasta at the top...even though Mt. Shasta in in Northern California, it's viewable not specifically from Mom's house, but as you drive from Klamath Falls to Keno where she lives. She wants to be cremated and her ashes sprinkled in the forests of Oregon, the home of her heart. I'm happy to make that happen. As a side note, I think we drove down that exact road on the first stage of our journey from Oregon to Texas.

I know death can be a bit of tetchy subject, but it's what's going on in my life at the moment, so here you go.

Hope you have a good week, no matter what mine brings.

When I saw this national day for middle children, it seemed like a good way to show her a little love that maybe she missed in the past.

So I'll try to have her favorite meal maybe and a few small treats.

Are you a middle child or is there as middle child in your life? I'd love to hear about you or them.

Have a great week.