August 09, 2007

Dealing with life

The past week and a half have been so crazy at our house. My brother's father in law passed away last week so I was elected to airport pick up duty Saturday night. So off to the airport I went at 10:00 pm to pick up my brother and his wife and take them to my parents' house in PA where they would be staying. We had some time to visit before going to bed and a little time on Sunday morning, but then it was time to leave to head back to NJ and my own family. I was planning on attending the funeral on Tuesday, but as often happens in life, the best laid plans often do not work out.

My father in law has been in failing health for the past few months. He has serious back issues that must have been laying dormant for years and have surfaced with a vengeance. He has a combination of scoliosis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and if that wasn't enough, he had a fall last Saturday and fractured his spine. So Monday was spent in North Jersey helping my husband with dealing with his dad's health and doing a few small things around their house to help my mother in law. The day ended with my father in law being admitted to the hospital and he will probably wind up in a nursing home as in addition to his back problems, he is losing his cognitive abilities (fancy speak for dementia/Alzheimer's) and will not be able to live at home with out considerable help. My biggest role in this has been to be supportive to my husband.

Our day did not end until 1:00 am Tuesday when we finally returned home. At that point, I was exhausted and had to cancel out of going to the funeral. And I was supposed to lead the Rosary at the funeral home before mass. But I was very tired and did not feel up to the hour ride to PA and back again at the end of the day. As the day progressed, my husband, who hadn't been feeling well, went to the doctor's office and found out that he has walking pneumonia. When it rains, it pours!

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, we are in the process of buying an investment property with some friends so that our good friends, two Franciscan sisters, will have a place to live when they move back to our town. The sisters lived for about 12 or 13 years in our parish convent until they were asked to serve elsewhere. Now they are returning "home" and need a place to live since our convent is now a parish meeting center. And the time frame for this project from looking for a house to settlement is about 2 1/2 weeks.

So my head is swirling and blogging has not been at the top of my list. Hopefully my next post will be about things more pleasant.

2 comments:

EC Gefroh said...

Oh my goodness Ellen! You are definitely in my prayers!

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

My goodness, you have a WHOLE lot on your plate all at once! I'm close by, you know. If you need help with "whatever" don't be afraid to shout. In the meantime, I'll be praying for you, your husband, your family in its time of mourning, your father-in-law, and for blessings on the Sisters in their new home.