At Donna's House

Donna is one of the ladies in my artist book club. She lives in a wonderful house right at the edge of Mud Bay. When the tide is out, the bay lives up to its name. When it is in, like today, it presents a wonderful view of a large bay of reflective water, especially when the sun shines. Donna is a fabulous decorator and has all kinds of neat stuff in her house. My friend Helen has painted several paintings of Donna's living room. I haven't yet but may some day soon. (Helen and I will be having an Allied Arts show together this fall called "From Where I Sit" featuring interiors and chairs.) This photo is just one side table next to one of Donna's couches. The wonderful little clay character was made by another of my artist friends, Kathleen. 

Today was the first day I really felt like going out and spending time with my buddies. We had our usually yummy salad lunch and discussed the book I didn't read, Hamilton. We also talked about the Women's March and how similar some of the politics of today are to the era when Hamilton lived. I never realized what an interesting fellow he was. As always we had a great time together.

After the group broke up I did some needed shopping and then went to Silverado to see Arvin and Helena who was visiting him there. I have been feeling uncomfortable and a bit guilty about his being there. Today's visit cleared much of that away. There are things that I need to do to make his life there better, but generally I feel much better about his being there. And especially about Helena sharing caregiving with me. She is so wonderful with him, and with other people there as well. 

We kind of adopted a lady named Helen who came with us to dinner and sat at our table. Where we went, she went and it was fine with us all. She said many times how much there was to absorb now and each time we agreed.

It felt great to be with Arvin again. We cuddled and I skritched his hair and beard and smoothed his face and snuggled close to his neck. He enjoyed every minute. And so did I. Helena and I made plans for him to come out with us to the Whatcom Symphony on Sunday and the Music Club on Wednesday. I can't overemphasize how great it is to have Helena sharing the caring for him right now. She has stepped up and become his advocate and soon I will take a letter to Silverado authorizing her to be officially involved in his care. What a relief for me not to be solely responsible and to have a place for him that clearly has his best interest at heart. There are a few things to clear up but they are right on target to work on those, missing glasses, only one hearing aid. Etc, etc. I will play my part as care giver and they will do their part as a care provider. With Helena there to help. Perfect. I feel so much better about the whole deal. And Arvin did not ask to come home. He knows that he is now where he will stay. I never said that before but tonight it was clear he knew. That is a relief too.

I am so glad I took the two weeks off and went to Belize and Guatemala. And even with my own health issues, I feel like this is the right direction for us to be going. And with his obvious decline too. My being back made a big difference. And now I feel rested and ready to step back into the role of loving wife and caregiver. 

One more thing: thank you all for hanging in when I was pretty much absent. And for all the hearts and comments on my osprey photo. I must admit that I was pretty thrilled to be so close to that bird, and to her fluffy kid. When I finally get time I'll be posting more of my trip photos on Blip and Flickr. I'll let you know so you can check them out if you want to. thanks for sticking with me!