Monday, September 8th
Mom started off suggesting American Gigolo because the fashion designer Armani had just passed away, and he apparently designed all the clothes in that movie. I believe M and I both had the same thought. We did not want to sit through a thoroughly average movie just to see the fashion. As we seem to have an 80s theme going, M suggested this movie as a better Richard Gere movie.
This 1982 film stars Gere, Deborah Winger, Louis Gosset Jr, and David Keith and is directed by Taylor Hackford. It's a fairly straightforward movie and a great example of classic movie tropes like the gruff, demanding sergeant, the recruit who won't give up, and the best friend who kills himself when his girl turns out to be much shallower than he realized. It was a well-done film that gave us that prom classic (for me, anyway) “Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong”. (You couldn't forget those sappy songs, and I ended up resenting the fact that I never went to prom with somebody I loved that much.)
Tuesday, September 9th
I have yet to update my calendar and remove R from her recurring Tuesday slot. It's easy to do, I just haven't done it yet. I spent the whole day playing games and watching shows.
Wednesday, September 10th
Mom came by earlier than usual, so she had to wait while I finished my shower. She had gotten a call from HMSA to remind me about getting a mammogram and a colon-rectal exam. Well, we have established that I am no longer able to get a regular mammogram, and I saw a doctor years ago on Maui, and they agreed that a ColoGuard test would replace a colonoscopy. I told Mom they were just making a standard reminder call like they do to everyone.
Then she gave me lunch and left. About 10 or 15 minutes later, Father Chris showed up! Wednesday is the day he visits people in the community, but I had not expected him to stop by. What a nice surprise! I really like him and we had a nice chat and then he gave me communion, which is always nice. When it was done we said the Lord's Prayer and I got emotional. He asked what that was about, and I said that it was probably a response to him showing up out of the blue. It made me feel special.
Father Chris did not hang around a long time because I told him that J was coming by at 2 o'clock. Just a few minutes after he left, J showed up with an order of spring rolls. There was a new restaurant that had opened across from his and Mom's building. If these were good, it would be easy to get more! I was hopeful. We worked on some computer things and then he left about 3 p.m..
What a parade of visitors! I settled down, and I did nothing for a while. Then a while later I had dinner and tried the spring rolls. There were four so I ate two for dinner and would have the other two tomorrow night. Yikes! I was not crazy about them at all, and the sauce was a bit too spicy hot. I was wondering what I would tell J about them.
Thursday, September 11th
It has been so long, I did not even register that today was the anniversary of 911. Now that I am writing this and I realize that, it seems somehow sacrilegious in a way. It was definitely a big deal for me, and I am not honoring the people lost if I don't remember.
I had asked my morning CNA if I could get in my chair, but she wasn't able to do it so here I am. Freddie was dropped off early and sat in his stroller at the end of my bed. Then 11 AM came and went and there was no Dr R. At 11:15, Freddie meowed quietly and I talked to him, also wondering where his mom was. After another 15 minutes, I heard some more quiet meows, and I talked to him again.
Then I got a text that solved the mystery. There are three elevators at the main building, and two of them have been having problems. The one remaining elevator stopped working so Dr R had to stay with her patient who uses a wheelchair and couldn't return to her room. I immediately told Freddie what was going on, and it took another 20 minutes to make it up to my room. We had a short session after that, which was fine because I don't remember having much to say.
I was slightly hesitant to eat the remaining two spring rolls, but as I hate wasting food someone has brought me, I decided to tough it out and eat them. To my pleasant surprise, they tasted much better the second day. Don't ask me why, but I'm glad they did. They still were my least favorite spring rolls I've tried so far, but they were better than they were yesterday.
Friday, September 12th
A came by and she worked on my hand while we talked. She has a group she works with who go to care facilities like mine and perform. I then told her how, since I have worked in theater so much, I'm really not into being an audience member, especially for the kind of theater that would be appropriate for this care facility. She understood that, and she will investigate coming to my hospital.
She also mentioned that I should think of things I'd like to do and she would love to see how she could make that happen. She has mentioned that she could take me to a theater show at the Diamond Head Playhouse, which is very close to my hospital. It took me a minute to really register what she was saying, as going out like that is very foreign to me. I told her that the scope of my life had narrowed so much, I couldn't even conceive of doing something like that. I will widen my lens and consider that possibility.
Saturday, September 13th
My sister told me she was really not feeling well and would not be able to visit today. I told my CNA my sister had the flu and they said that was going around. I had just joined my mom's Prime account and was enjoying watching the first season of Fallout.
I enjoyed that and when it was done I started watching The Girlfriend. I just started a new episode when my mom stopped by. In that moment, I just wanted to watch the show, but I stopped and visited with Mom. I knew when she found out my sister couldn't stop by, she wanted to fill that gap so I wasn't alone. I don't want to squelch that impulse, but I was just fine having the whole day to myself. It was also perfectly fine to have Mom visit. Yippee!
Sunday, September 14th
Mom stopped by at 11, and I helped her write an email to a relative who was a little bent out of shape. I have gotten really good at apologizing, even when you don't feel like you should have to, but the other person really needs that. I could tell this was that kind of situation. I hope what I wrote helped.
Mom couldn't stay, which was fine by me. See? I got more Mom than I wanted yesterday, but today was a regular day to visit, and if that had been cut short, she would have felt shortchanged. So it all evens out in the wash. I tried to write my blog, but I didn't get very far. Sometimes writing about the movie is not easy.
This coming Thursday will be the first anniversary of my wonderful Humphrey's passing. I think it's time to change the photo on my website because it seems like false advertising to me to show him next to me when he isn't there anymore. M took a good picture of me, and I made sure to have lots of Humphrey included. This is the raw photo, and I asked Brett to zoom in and clean up the photo. You can play spot the difference when the new site is unveiled on Thursday!
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