Visiting Oklahoma City

It's been much too long since I last blogged. Several reasons . . . one I thought I was too busy . . . two my computer was tooooooo slow and temperamental. Now, I have a new computer that's much faster! I still am quite busy, but I miss reading all the comments and I hope I haven't lost any of my readers. I could never catch up on all the events that have taken place since my last blog in September. But, I'm going to try and blog more regularly.

Bob and I took a quick trip to Oklahoma City right after Christmas to visit my mom. After her car accident last May she has been living with my brother but her health continues to deteriorate and he is no longer able to care for her. She is now living in a nursing home. When I spoke with one of the nurses prior to our visit, she told me that my mom was quite frail.

Madeline was with us when we went to Oklahoma and it was the first time she had met her great grandma Annie. Of course, grandma Annie was thrilled to meet her and quite surprised to see Bob and me too! Being in Michigan for Christmas made our trip to Oklahoma City only a long days drive. We stayed with my cousin, Francie and her husband Pat. We had a great time visiting with them. Francie's sister, Carla, and I were very close as little girls and both played the accordion. Carla died several years ago of brain cancer. Francie had been given Carla's accordion and she dug it out of the closet and I played several polkas, waltzes, and other favorites which brought back memories of all the fun we had doing programs for the patients at the mental hospital in Norman, Oklahoma. It was so much fun. Carla's accordion was blue and my was white. After I entertained Francie and Pat playing the accordion, Francie told me she wanted me to have Carla's accordion because she knew it meant a lot to me. So she took a picture of me playing the accordion and said she would remember the times Carla and I drove the whole family crazy with our practicing.

We spent two days in Oklahoma City most of each day we spent at the nursing home with mom. She is so frail. It's hard to believe that she has gone down so much. She was so happy to see us and meet Madeline. I played the accordion for her and I could she her tapping her toes on the floor - she even knew the title of several of the songs I played. The first day I played the accordion in her room with the door shut, but the second day I played in the main social hall and many of the residents gathered to listen.

We also were allowed to take mom out for a little drive which she thoroughly enjoyed! I'm so thankful that I took the time to visit mom. She's in a really nice nursing home and the nurses are very attentive and nice to her.

Here is mom showing her two new sweaters from Rachael, Derrick, and the kids.

Mom may be frail, but she can still "dish it out"! And, Bob didn't mind "dishing it right back"!

Mom and Madeline sharing cookies (from Lori and Todd) with the residents and nurses. She loved the icing covered sugar cookies so she saved those for herself.

Here I am playing the accordion that my cousin, Francie gave me. (that's Francie in the picture with me).