Thank you for asking, my Mom is in a Skilled Nursing Center and settling in….Well? She can walk a bit with a walker, uses a wheelchair most of the time and since the surgery she lost all her bathroom abilities. Which I think is pretty common, from the talk around the lunch table with her. She is in a wonderful place, LOVES playing bingo, going to drum line, and she has found the spa ! She is not far from me, which is good too.

Grandma Quilt she made for my Mom — Great Grandma’s Quilt for my Mom

LESSONS Learned

ALWAYS tell the TRUTH: health issues suck, I know you/they are sick and no one wants to be sick, but talk about it, get it figured out, fixed and move on.

LAUGH, out loud and strong: Yes, it’s all serious, but we all know going into live, we are going to die in the long run. LAUGH

ASK the VERY hard questions, of yourself, of others, of services. EVERY thing you can think of, ask the questions.

FIND someone who you can say WHAT ever you need to say and will not judge you. Who will listen, and let you talk.

I have heard SO much the past months about empathy, and I think sometimes I just don’t have ANY ! Or maybe I just can’t have any NOW !

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other being’s frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another’s position.

I do get it….but, moving through survival mode. My way is, look, learn and solve the problem. What is needed and what HAS to be done. I can’t seem to find empathy at those moments, but isn’t that empathy too, getting it done?