Quiet House

It's been a rather sad day or two around the house. My daughter and her new husband left for their new home in Maryland. Only about a 12 hour drive. She even took her little dog, we are so attached to him. I miss him already. My little dog also misses his bestie.

While I am quite excited as they take on a new phase of their lives, a new school (grad school), a new job, new home, hopefully new friends and new place for ministry, I am really going to miss them. I want pictures of the new home, pictures of the place they will walk the dog, pictures of the campus. I need to picture what they tell me.

Erika moved home after college for 2 years to save for her wedding. And save she did. She was able to have the wedding of her dreams. Now having her home not as a child, but more like a friend, our relationship had changed, and now it will change even more. When in college she was only 1 1/2 hours away, big difference from 12 hours. My heart is sad. How long will I wait before going into the basement where she lived for the past 2 years. I thought I wanted to make some space for my hobbies, now I don't even want to go near the stairs.

I know my God, my father, my King will get me through this too. He always does. Imagine how he feels when we leave him. Though we never have too for a new job, school, etc. we leave him for the dumbest reasons. Yet he waits for us to return, as I will wait for my kids to visit, and I will visit them. I will anxiously await the phone calls and text messages. At least long distance phone rates aren't the same as they used to be.

Listen to Joyces Playlist

I am entering a new phase in life. My youngest is to be married in less than a month. Since college she has lived in our basement. I have really come to enjoy having her around, and will miss her greatly. Unfortunately when she went off to college, life was so hectic, John was just home from the hospital and required much care. I really didn't experience an empty nest syndrome. I think this time it will be very different. All though she has been completely independent, she has been around alot.

Not only is she getting married and moving out of our home, she is moving halfway across the country to Baltimore. I won't be able to invite them over for dinner or go to lunch with her like I would like.

How do you handle this without driving her crazy?

life as a caregiver

So far today is a good day. First I realized that oops, I forgot to change his pain patch last night. My husband of almost 8 years had a stroke 4 1/2 years ago. He is 51 and I am 45. He has regained about all that is expected of him at this point. He walks with a wide base quad cane and uses a wheel chair when out in public. He can only walk short distances, walks very slow, and has problems with his balance. I think one of the worst ails from the stroke is the central pain that is so hard to control. I found an article in the new Stroke Connection magazine that describes the pain almost perfectly. His pain is difficult to treat and difficult to describe. When I read the article I began to cry. Finally, a good description of what he trys so hard to describe.