Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A SPECIAL MOMENT

   Today Buddy was our family Santa. He wore the cap and carefully picked up each package, read the tag and passed it to the recipient.
He was most happy to be doing this. For days he's been telling me he feels like there's a spirit of Santa in him. He even described to me that he felt as though there was a hologram of Santa in his head. I asked him what he meant by that. 
He laughed,
 "Well, it's a 3D Santa. Don't you know about holograms? I learned about that at the Science Centre at the laser show and it was fun. I love my Santa in my head."
  It made me think back to my childhood. I recalled having my own images of a Santa. And I suppose those of us who have been a part of that culture with Santa in it, we have all had our own images and dreams over time. Recall all the drawings, stories and movie versions that we are surrounded with and that have sprung forth from creative imaginations.
  We hope you are having special times with your loved ones at this festive time too.
                           MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Faith in Magical Events

  It is a very magical time now! All around us people are decorating their homes with pretty lights and wreaths. And the malls are bursting with shoppers making it tough for us to find a parking spot. But Buddy loves to be out and about so when the weather is a bit too cool a mall is where he wants to be for our walks.
  We went the other day after our first snowfall because we wanted to buy a few gifts. As we strolled along we hit the spot where parents and little kids line up to visit with Santa who sat perched in a big chair for those photo ops. Buddy walked over to the fence that surrounded this area and pulled out his brand new iPone 5C that he had purchased two days earlier to capture his favourite friend of the season. As he did so something very special happened.
  I captured this by grabbing his iPhone from him. Seems this Santa was too special to overlook. As Santa saw Buddy's keen interest in his presence he must have noticed Buddy has a disability. Without warning this Santa decided to forget about all the lined up small kids and walked straight towards Buddy who exclaimed,
  'Wow Santa is so magical!"
Santa was soon at Buddy's side and said to him,
  "I think you have been very good."
 Then he handed us each a candy cane and assured Buddy this Christmas would be awesome again before he headed back to his big chair to greet the tots waiting in line. I wondered how the parents were feeling. I hope for their sake it was a positive moment because that's what makes this time of the year so magical and fills many of us with wonder and hope despite other sorrows we may have to deal with.
   That Santa has the true spirit of the joy for this festive time and Buddy more than ever loves his magical ways even though he knows we buy the gifts. 
  Buddy is so inspirtational. At 40 he gets it better than many folks I know! I get to share his amazing insightful comments. He's a very bright man. But he refuses to give up those things that made his youth very magical and happy.
  Do you have a special moment similar this to share? Buddy would be thrilled and so would I to hear from you.
  How do you like Buddy's hat? He's very fashion aware and knows hats are in.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

CLUTTER and WOES

  Doesn't she look like a happy great future chef? Adorable future housewife? Compassionate care giver? Currently she's an emerging super tattoo artist!

  After almost two years of independent living our daughter has decided it's not very cost effective to run a new business and a new household simultaneously. Somehow the cash flow out is just too high and it's eating away at her investments. So she gave her landlord notice to vacate and November 3rd her buddies assisted her with moving into our home. 
  Hubby is delighted to have her back though she's running her life parallel to her needs not his. He's okay with that. But I'm a bit more skeptical about my girl whose intentions of being organized and domesticated are like many artists,  not a priority. To have things ship shape as I would have them hardly matters to her unless someone special is coming around for a visit. 
  Check out my living room on the first day of her re-entry. She assumed no one was coming. Happily no one was.


After a couple of days the living room area was emptied and I could see my sofas and dining room table clearly. Several items still remain.  

   But as it happens her stuff was just shifted up to a second floor bedroom right at the top of the stairs. There her chaotic ways continue. However, she promises it will be dealt with soon. Perhaps even tomorrow? Her bed seems to be buried but that's no problem for her. She just goes over to her cousin's or a friend to hang out since they live in the city where all the action for artist tends to be. She may be home tonight but late. And then she may have to rest because Mondays are usually her day off unless an appointment was pre booked for some ink to skin. Her world is so different from one I am familiar with. I was a teacher and lived by the rules of my times. That's how it had to be. But it's different now.

   From several documentaries and first hand experience I know that some of our generation's children are coming back to parental homes and it is quite a trend due to the shift in the current economic job situation. Their age group is highly impacted by our generation's assumptions that good education leads to job opportunities and job security. What we all came to expect from our own paths and achievements is no longer the pattern nor the norm. It is far from the truth now! With modern mass production lines where machines do assembly work we have reduced chunks in the job force. And we even have over production a times. Careers we once held are being phased out. Even school classrooms as we know them will have a new look by 2030 because the curriculum is now being tailored to individuals working on tablets and will do much of it from remote locations rather than at desks in a school building. Only group activities would be the exception.
   Though she runs her own shop she finds it is not easy to promote her type of skills for a quick profit. She loves tattooing and has become more skilled over the past 5 years but she could use a good marketeer to launch her into a larger client base. That costs money. So for now she's back with us. Her goal is to save on her cost of living and to afford ways to promote her craft. We are fortunate to be able to extend her that time for now. We've been partially assisting all along as an investment into her future business. In fact this reduces our financial gain a bit.
  But seeing all her clutter makes me think back to days when we did without so many frills. Shopping was different. Spending ideas were different. Advertising has had a huge affect on that. Today our middle class kids have come to expect more because of us. We have managed to show them that way. Clutter is so common as over purchased bargains pile up. We parens also fail to part with our things and they see that too. Clutter woes are an issue, one that's growing fast.
  Could daughter use some serious additional lessons on how go live with less? Probably. Would less clutter be the outcome? Or would less spending cause a negative downslide perhaps in our economy, the same one our generation put into place so that the kids of middle class could thrive?
  Woes to ponder. 
  Older kids moving back home?
  Perhaps family life is being reshaped so that some members will have to remain home in order for the job market to be balanced? 

P.S.  Our Ellie gained a feline rival / companion. Daughter brought along her one year old kitty, Chilli, to join our menagerie. And we also gained an aquarium full of fish that she inherited from a friend who returned to the parental home a bit earlier.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

CHESS

There are many games to be played and one that I was lucky to learn at an early age was chess. It's amazing over the years how the moves of the game have become almost life itself for me. Often I have found myself in the check position but then somehow I have always manage to regroup and figure a path away from the final blow!
We just returned from a week at a resort in Cayo Coco where we soaked up the sun, walked, danced, played and met up with some lovely people who were also taking a break. It's so rewarding to see Buddy love the attention he gets because of his abilities and good nature. He seems to be able to break down some barriers people had until they met up with him! 

I have not taken the usual time to blog because it's been harder on my eyes now. And I know now that I shall have to use every minute of daylight to its max because once it get dimmer I see very little. I am slated for eye surgery on December 2 to remove the right vitreous and to replace an implanted lens with a stronger one. It is my better eye so if this surgery fails then I guess I feel like I'm another step closer to that dreaded checkmate? Perhaps I'll learn to play by touch? Or sound? The game still has possibilities right?

I continue to read your posts and leave my comments as often as I dare. If my vision improves then I'll have much more to share and enjoy along with you.
Buddy is missing sharing with you too.


Thursday, September 5, 2013

AUGUST

   The first of this month of August came on a Thursday and Friday was the beginning of long holiday weekend. We are lucky to have this one. It's known as Civic Holiday.
    Our younger daughter had come from UK for a holiday. She booked it before we had our lives turned upside down with hubby's fall leading to his brain injury and she arrived June 27. Much of July was busy with visits first to the hospital and later to many follow up therapy appointments. This did not feel much like any July holiday.
    When August arrived it seemed like summer was just flying by. Daughter was scheduled to head back to her UK place on the 9th and it seemed as if such a brief visit had happened. Any spare time she had she spent catching up with in laws or friends. However on Saturday the third she made time to drive with me in the morning to see an old family friend who needed some hugs. Her hubby was in critical care for a bad case of pneumonia. She lived a 45 minute drive away and it was all country roads to get to her. That was a treat, a break from a constant flurry to serve our own patient. And it was just the two of us for a brief time in the car. Those moments can be special. She is a good driver.
    Then came the day for her to depart. She drove to the airport and I had to drive home. Hubby was along as a passenger and helped me navigate the exit from the airport onto the right path to our stretch of the highway heading to our house. He was patient with me. Each time she leaves it's hard. 
(She's coming back in November for a friend's wedding and I'm already excited.)
     On the 15th of August hubby's three nieces and their five children decided to spend a week with us. They took a Megabus from New York City. BRAVE!!
For me it meant setting up the bedrooms so we could all be comfortable and have personal space. I put a bed for Buddy in the Master bedroom with us and gave his room to one of the sisters and her teenage daughter. Her two sons got the bedroom that shared an adjoining washroom thus keeping them as one unit and to accommodate her two boys my older daughter brought a couple of thin mattresses from her place and we created a cosy king sized low bed for them in their room.
    The single bed that was originally in that room went across the hall into the second Master bedroom which already had a queen bed. The single was added to accommodate the single Auntie. And by putting two sisters and the little girls in a large bedroom with an ensuite washroom all would sleep in comfort. The little ones were to share the queen bed with their mom. It was set up so that they all had a space similar to their home arrangements. This way we could all cope under one roof in maximum comfort. And we did. The kids were very respectful of our need for rest and personal space.
   Being 11 people at meal times was very efficient with so many cooks and hands to clean up. The boys even chipped in to do daily vacuuming! They fixed a jogging machine and Buddy's bike too! For them the novelty of being with their grand uncle was a huge holiday treat. They were all such a happy fun group to entertain and to enjoy. It really helped hubby's mental wellness being so surrounded with such a loving caring group of younger people. 
   For one fun event we spent a day at the CNE, a huge show that comes to Toronto each August. We rode on many rides, ate loads of junk food and walked through exhibits until we were too tired to take another step. We took public transit for that trip. Even hat was an adventure for Buddy and myself. And on that day, August 16, we left hubby at home alone for the first time. He managed just fine.
   On August 19 we organized my daughter to join us with a her van. We drove in three cars to Niagara Falls. I drove hubby's car and my niece drove mine. It had an easier navigation system. Hubby who preferred to be a passenger in his own car was my guide.
    It was a trip to remember. Hubby did remarkably well on this huge all day outing. We strolled slowly and savoured the falls. We sent the group down under while we stretched out on the lawn under a shady bush. Then the two of us rode up the side of the cliff in a lift to the higher level where the cars were parked and we ate dinner together as the others did their walking about.     Around 8 pm we met up at the cars and set out to head for home. We left the parking lot with one of our nieces and her son in our car. Later we discovered that the rest were not behind us. We called them and learned they had decided at the last minute to stay a bit longer, to go on to rides and to see Niagara Falls light up at night!! Daughter was very thoughtful by letting them. 
    They didn't reach home till 3 am . We were asleep long before them. But sadly two missed out by travelling home with us.
   



When August 22 arrived we began to feel a bit sad. That was the day of their departure. Just before midnight they would board the Megabus back to New York City. 
   We packed as much as we could in the remaining day and it included some last minute shopping for gifts. One grand nephew got a macbook that he would use in his upcoming college years. Others got mini iPads so they could FaceTime with their Granduncle whom they chose to nickname Grandpa! And guess what nickname I was given? 
   Ah yes it was a very busy month, very much packed with emotions of every kind and mostly the best kind! It ended on a Saturday and again on a long but rainy and quiet weekend.
  AUGUST 2013 was gone in a flash!!!