Yes, again...

.. the cardinal. I know I know.. I keep posting the same old birds, but he was the highlight of the day as he has returned! I was beginning to wonder if he and his mate would come ever back after encountering my empty feeders for so long, but they did!  Today was the day,

I spent part of the morning at my neighbour' Diane's house as she had to go out and needed someone to stay with her husband who has Alzheimer's. It sure was an eye opener for me as to what it means to be a caregiver. I did not have to do anything difficult as he slept in and then a PSW came to attend to his morning rituals. His breakfast and medications were all laid out on the table for him. By the time Diane returned, it was lunch time, at which point, she pulled out from the fridge an already prepared lunch for the three of us. I could see how complicated everything is for her now. So much preparation, organization and planning is required just to go out for a couple of hours and then when she is home, constant monitoring, helping, cajoling.. so much "caring". It reminded me what it was like when I was a single working mom, but I was so much younger then! One would think she would be absolutely exhausted but she carries on. She is older than I am, but much stronger than I would be to keep up that pace at this age. I am in awe. '

I didn't mention yesterday that we had bad news about Gary, a former neighbour who had grown up on our little street. In fact his mom had looked after my daughter at lunchtime and after school when I was teaching. It was a tightly knit community back then. Gary of course grew up, got married, as all the "kids" did, and bought a house in a suburb nearby. Those old neighbourhood ties are strong and last long after a family moves away, so he has still been part of our little community ever since. When Georgie, one of the other young fellows who grew up here on our street died, Gary and his wife organized an annual road hockey game  in his honour; every year in the fall, they closed off our block and all those kids - grown up men now - would come back and play as they used to when they were teenagers to honour their friend. For years, as we older ladies on the street grew older, Gary has cut our grass and shovelled our snow. He only retired from doing that a year ago. Gary was only 69 and died Sunday of a suspected heart attack, so it has been real shock to those of us still here. He will be so missed! 

So it has been a somewhat contemplative day....