Late yesterday, Don and I took a walk together around the complex. Even though it was cloudy, it was still very warm and humid with almost no wind blowing, which is unusual for here in Oklahoma. This is the western sky from in front of Mama's apartment.
Early this morning, Don got a call from the wife of his lifelong friend, Wayne. They visited us a few weeks back in Branson. She said Wayne has had a stroke and is in the ER at the VA hospital in OKC, waiting for a room. The VA health center is packed.
Don had planned to meet, for lunch, with the director of the local Southern Baptist Association. Instead, he call him on the phone and talked for a while and told him plans had changed as Don needed to go to the VA hospital to see Wayne before leaving for Branson today.
I finished laundering Don's clothes, we had our devotional/prayer time together, and he was all packed and ready to go about 9:45. Well, I will just tell you straight up... it was not easy to watch him drive off.
This is the first time since May 5, 2006, that we have been apart more than a few hours and never overnight. I cried. 
Not many minutes after Don left, my cousin, Frieda, called and consoled me. She's such a sweetie. We talked until Gillian, the therapist, got here about 10:30.
Therapy went great for Mama. She is really progressing well and is motivated to do so because she wants me to be with Don as soon as possible. Don is prepared to find a replacement for Branson and bring the 5'er back here, but I really don't think that is going to be necessary with the way Mama is progressing. It's hard for me not to want to wait on her hand and foot, but that's not what's best for her if she wants to get her independence back and she does. She can do everything she needs to do for herself. Besides wanting us to be able to continue in the RV ministry, she has plans to go to California before the end of the year to visit grand and great-grandkids. All this motivation is a good thing. When the time comes, we will arrange for meals-on-wheels to be brought to her apartment, a maid service to come once or twice a month to do the heavy cleaning, LaNae will take her to the grocery store, etc. when she needs to go, and wonderful friends from her church will stop by to pick her up on Sunday's when she feels like going to church. The next test will be to see how well she does riding in a car. Speaking of which, she is really not wanting to give up her driving privileges. We've discussed it and I've told her why I don't think it's best for her to drive, so now I'm giving her time to process that and hopefully get used to the idea.<--<--Prayer. Being able to drive is a very hard thing to relinquish, but it doesn't have to diminish her quality of life. And it won't. She's a survivor and she will make the best of the situation... that's just how my Mama is wired. But it doesn't mean that it's easy for her. Independence is so important to her because it means that she doesn't have to be a burden on others. Our prayer is that she will see this as a chance for others to be blessed while serving her needs... a chance for her to spend time with friends and family who desire greatly to bless her with their love, time and service.
It is such a blessing to know that our friends and family who read this blog are praying for us and sharing this time in our lives. Thank you for being patient with me while I get all my thoughts processed. Please, please leave a comment if you have experience in this area or suggestions. Knowing that you are praying for us gives us more peace than you will ever know.
Don called me a little after noon as he was leaving the VA hospital and OKC. Wayne has movement in all limbs, just a little sluggish on the left side and with some of his speech, but they're hopeful he will return to normal. Eye sight isn't affected, hopefully. They will do an MRI today to determine the cause of the stroke and the next steps to be taken... surgery or not. Don felt much better after he saw Wayne and was able to talk to him and Laura.
[Darling, thank you so much for leaving me the laptop. I'm praying that the desktop will work ok for you, otherwise, this "thank you" will not reach you.]
Don is really excited about sleeping in our king-size bed tonight. I wanted him to stop in Tulsa and spend tonight with Stephanie, but he said, laughing, "No, he can hear his bed calling him all the way from Branson and he's going straight to it and may not get up until 10:00 in the morning." (The air mattress we've been sleeping on is better than sleeping on the floor, but it's not our bed and Don's back is really letting him know it.)
I called Don and he was in Springfield. He called me back when he got "home" in Branson, about 6:30 P.M. Somehow he got the desktop to work and has sent me an email... (none of your business) Anyway, the You Lord for protection.
Cousin Frieda called today. Niece Tammy called today. Brother Jon called today... btw, my brother is coming for a 
visit in August. We're tickled about that. More motivation for Mama, too. She talked to Tammy for quite a while, even though Tammy's sweet little voice is hard for Mama to understand on the phone sometime.
Mama wanted me to take a picture of her with the unique album Tammy made her for her birthday. Each page is a letter spelling out the word FAMILY. On each page are pictures of Mama Trudy and Tammy's families... Mama, son Jon, grand daughter Tammy and Tammy's family.
Mama does all her therapy by herself, except the one where she has to stand with arms folded, turning her head side to side for a count of 10 with her feet close together, first with eyes open, then with eyes closed. I stand beside her with my arms in front and back of her, but not touching her, just in case she loses her balance. She does great! I should try these exercises, but I'm afraid she will show me up. Don says for sure that he can't do most of them without falling over. This one she is doing here is harder than it looks. She raises the object up and down, keeping her eyes on the object, but moving her head in the opposite direction from the object.
Tonight, Mama and I played Mexican Train dominoes. We have not played in so long, I had to go online to find the rules. Who won? Why do you want to know? ... it's really not important... It's just a silly domino game. I was distracted.
Snookie called today. If you've checked her blog, you already know that. I could hear the waterfall over the phone. They're in Yellowstone, you know. They got to see Old Faithful today. Can you imagine Snookie going a week without TV? All I can say is it's a good thing Survivor is not on.
It's 1:02 A.M., my eye lids are so heavy, but I don't want to go to bed.
I miss you, Don. Blessings to all.
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