Aunt Ruth is Back on the Farm

The cousinly update on Mom: but first, thanks for all the cards, notes, letters, phone calls and good wishes. They got us through three difficult weeks. Carol, Cindy and Dad just returned from the annual Kentucky vacation, where they all did a lot of talking. And the result: Carol moved Mom back home today so that she can sit on her own couch and hold Dad's hand.

"Saint Betty," our in-home aide, is going to increase her hours to help Dad keep mom at home a while longer, and we'll just take it day to day from here on out.

Mom has good days. She has bad days. She still hears/talks to voices, but it's not all the time. But all she wanted at Celina Manor was for someone to pick her up and take her home (well, that and her neighbor's chocolate-covered graham cracker cookies!).

It's good that she's home, but overall, this is clearly a disease that sucks (Hey! I feel another book coming on!). If she can stay at home a while longer, that's nothing but good. And if it just doesn't work out, at least we know that the wonderful folks at Celina Manor will take care of her again.

In the meantime: if you send cards/notes, send them to Carol at 130 E. Wayne Street, Celina, OH, 45822. All of Mom and Dad's mail goes to her now, and if you send mail to the farm, it gets to them only if someone is astute enough at the post office to stick it in Carol's mailbox instead.

Thanks again for the love. Back atcha...

Cindy, Susie and Carol

Vinzenz' baby: Welcome cousin Julian!

Hey everyone! I finally figured out how to upload photos to blog entries (you can do it right at the blogger.com interface now). So without further ado, here are some fairly recent photos of Julian Luebben, Vinzenz and Elisabeth's three-month-old son (not four months as I originally reported...thanks Vinzenz, for the correction)! Cute kid!

Hope everyone's having a good summer. And thanks to all who've sent cards to Mom at Celina Manor. She seems to be settling in fairly well and on good days, is pretty sure she's either been there most of her life or has been there only part of a day and will be going home later that evening. I guess if there's any "advantage" to Alzheimer's, it's that the person who has it really doesn't remember how bizarre his/her own memory is!?!?