Gene's Journey: Friday

Friday morning brought a wonderful surprise--my cousin Lynne, who works for Delta airlines in TX, was able to hop on a standby flight and came out to see Mom! I returned her cell phone call mid-morning and said, "Where are you?" "I'm sitting here with your mom!", she replied. What?? Wow--I knew she was trying to come, and I was preparing to go get her at SFO airport! She is one amazing gal with her GPS. But, what else should we expect from the wife of an Air Force pilot? We are blessed with the most loving relatives and friends. Lynne was able to stay for a few hours and it was a good closure time for her with her Aunt Gene. Living so far away, she has not had the chance to learn Mom's "stroke language", so she communicated the best she could, with creativity and love.

Here is a picture of Lynne with Lizzie and Emma in the parking lot.

Mom was feeling strong enough to go outdoors, and it was a lovely sunny day. She always asks to go outside. She tries so hard. We took the lovely bouquet of garden flowers

that Nan had

brought, outdoors to grace our table. Friend Marge Perry came, and then Brad, Colleen and Hannah Mortensen. We got Mom's hymnal out of her room and had some hymn singing time around the table. Mom enjoyed listening, and nodded along to the old familiar words. She loves hymns. She has memorized probably a hundred, I imagine. I just wonder what is going on in her mind while she is alone. So many people are praying for Mom, and we know the Lord is caring for her. One friend wrote, "May she continually sense the precious companionship of the Holy Spirit, the comfort of the Lord's loving arms around her, and the nourishment He provides in her current limitations to take in what her body craves. May He feed her the manna, milk and meat of Heaven, and quench her thirst with His Springs of Living Water. What a feast she has to look forward to, in sitting down to truly dine with the Master when He invites her to eat at His table daily."

Mom wanted to eat while we were outdoors, so we tried the Ensure strawberry beverage, but that all dribbled out. So, we focused our attention on comforting Mom with singing and visiting. Mom asked to go lie down on her bed after a short while, so Colleen went in with her, and then Brad came in to pray with her.

Mom's nurse put the oxygen on her, and Mom began resting more peacefully, reclined on her bed. We all just went and visited her one or two at a time for the rest of the afternoon, sitting by her bedside while she closed her eyes with a slight smile on her face. When little Hannah came to say goodbye to "Gramma Gene", Mom had a cute little expression when she was gazing at sweet Hannah. The visits from little people and loving friends are REALLY encouraging to Mom.

We stayed until 5 PM and then prayed with Mom and bid her goodbye for the evening. I took several photos of her looking so sweet and peaceful in her bed. I told her that Keith has offered to bring in a headset with Scripture playing for her to listen, and she smiled with her sweet look and nodded that she would really like that.

The hospice nurses have asked the Physical Therapy dept. to do a swallowing evaluation on Mom to see if they can determine any more about why Mom cannot swallow. One theory I keep hearing is that Mom MAY have had another little stroke, which may have made it impossible for her to swallow. The lack of tongue movement may have even caused or worsened the thrush condition which is being treated, but without swallowing there can really be no more nourishment.

Kathy has been sitting with Mom in the evening times, and a few days ago when she worked with Mom for two hours, she was able to help Mom swallow little tiny sips and spoons of juice. Mom actually swallowed about a half of a little glass of juice that evening, sip by sip, with pauses in between. Yesterday we did not have as much success as Kathy did.

Here are some more photos from the day:

Mom with dear friend Marge as we sat outdoors visiting. Mom's smile is weak but she was so glad to be with friends and family.