| I dunno if I've mentioned that I am very very blue and depressed of late or not, but I am. Methinks is started around my birthday, having some impact regarding Mom not being there to that "extra special" things that only she does to make a celebration feel personal and special. I have a lovely time, but that "twinkle" of her's was missing. Of course along with that, I missed my nephew's marriage on the 28th, and I wasn't feeling well, and all sorts of other pieces parts too, but it was bitter-sweet. I know that there will be no more "extra special, high octane joyful Gerry celebrations" in my life. And, surprisingly enough, living on an Island doesn't preclude, or create a double-negative re: the feeling that "no [wo]man's an Island...I'm sad and feeling alone and heavy hearted. But, today something unexpected and delightful came via a phone call. I had written to the folks at WSH and asked about having a wedding [small] at WSH, E-8 area, so Mom could be there. It's not pretty there, so I would not have anyone have to go there, but dear Robby, had said he would get his Reverend certs from ULC, and he'd marry us. So, I asked if there was a way, a room, a place there that we could do a teeny tiny ceremony with just Robby [as JP /Rev], Mom, a care-giver, Gordy and Me [of course Miz Hannah might come too, it all depended on how she felt about being "there" at WSH]. Today Dr Tino phoned me. After the initial intro and heart attack at my end, later to find it was not about Mom, but the request, I started to breathe again , and he said he was phoning about my request. There is a chapel in the East Wing, 2nd floor [where Mom is] and given the EXTREME circumstances, such as Mom's age, and my bringing my own "JP" /"Rev", that it could be done, BUT, he offered a more exciting idea. Lakewood *just* opened a City Hall, and it's 2 miles away from WSH, and he said we could get married there, and that someone from the ward could accompany us [when I offered to pay, he said no need - WOW] and that Mom might like an outing, etc. Holy crap! You KNOW she would!!! I can see getting her all dressed up in her nice clothes, nay, better still, her OWN clothes, and putting her beloved jewelry on, and then going out to City Hall, and have a "ceremony", just 2 witnesses is all we need, and then exchange vows, and then maybe celebrate with a DQ soft cone [ooooh that's such a treat for her that she hasn't been able to indulge in since she was at HP] and maybe a stroll? OMG, I can't tell you the spirit lift it gave me. I've been feeling so overwhelmed by responsibility, and my inability to do the right thing, or nice thing for Mom, to make her being on this planet more palatable for her. I even started thinking about how I've hurt my cats, and how Cassie was exposed to a horrible death by coyote, and her suffering, and Yoko's being in pain from her heart and inability to breathe, and that I thought dropping her off at the vet would be a get better thing, instead, on Saturday, when I phoned to see her, as we planned, she had a coronary with Kitty CPR etc. and she was gone. And then Daphne flying 3k miles with me to WA, and she was old, and deaf and I put her through that, especially when I tried to pamper her w/milk on the flight, and instead, she got the runs, and being in that damn cat caddy [I bought her a seat on the plane, we both went 1st class, our first and last time ] got all messy when we landed, and I took her to the hotel and tried to clean her, and it was so nasty, but no matter how much I love these people and animals, I am not a "good enough" mother of provider...so I am "blue and dragon", but this call, this one call, gave me hope on steroids. I love the thought of Mom being out and about and safe and looking all pretty and her face delighted and roses and blue twinkles for eyes..sigh. Methinks that Gordy would be willing to marry me just to accomplish this for Mom. He truly cares for her, nay loves her. We'd both do whatever we could to make her days better. So, thank you Western State Hospital for caring, yet again, and going the extra extra mile. You have to love them. Were it not for the grandkids, and the cat /pet special trust I'm gonna have, I'd leave my $, life insurance - 100k, to them so these kind folk could make a nicer looking environment to work in, and the residents could live in. I'll prolly leave some, or allocate some from my life insurance, maybe that will give the E-8 folk a nice coffee machine or something? We'll see.
WSH Campus From the Air
But, it can't be said enough that these folks really really really are above and beyond in caring.
Thank you again.
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