Yesterday I went to see my daughter - she lives in residential care about an hour away. My plan was to take her out for morning coffee and just spend some time with her after what had been a dreadful Easter. Why? I hear you ask...
...well, she caught a tummy bug, something she never really has and if she does, then it's normally in the form of diarrhoea (I know... I wasn't going to tell you all this, but you did ask). This time, however, her stomach became distended and very hard. And we all know what this could mean; with the lack of vomiting reflex, the stomach could burst and the results could be lethal. I didn't know what to do and, naturally enough, it was on the one day when everything was closed and we live way out in the country. It was very lucky that she vomited. Twice. Look, I'm not going to get into details, suffice to say that it took hours to clean up and both her father and I also got the bug. Happy Easter.
But I wanted to tell you about yesterday. I'd phoned to make sure she was ready (and hinted at the fact that last time I saw her house it was extremely untidy), and I arrived on time to be greeted with a very tidy house and my daughter with what can only be described as 'raspberry red' hair. She was wearing a very pink cardigan, so the red hair could not easily be dismissed. I did a double take - much to her amusement, of course. As we sat down in a lovely little cafe with the sunshine gleaming on the raspberry-red head of hair, I thought how pretty she looked and how happy she was, sitting there smiling at me. I asked her how things were going and she told me she'd got herself a new job (a paper run, which is such a great way to exercise, plus get a small financial reimbursement), then she said she'd stopped eating bread, and was really becoming a vegetarian and hadn't eaten meat for two weeks, plus had taken dairy out of her menu, replacing it with soy and other proteins like tofu. She said, with a big grin on her face, that her staff were really great about this and she was loving the change in menu.
I was really taken aback - on many levels. My skeptic self said, "wonder how long this will last", and, "bet she's really enjoying finding out what else she can eat..." while my proud-mother self said, "for heavens' sake, just enjoy the moment."
So I told her how proud I was of her decisions, how well she was looking, how much I loved the raspberry-red hair, and praised her for looking out for a new job, particularly one which meant more exercise. I told her how healthy she looked - and she certainly did. We often leave our small dog with her when we go away for a few days and there's nothing she loves more than to take small dog with her on the paper run, and there are several parks nearby where she can let small dog off the leash to roam (which means more walking for her, too).
I know that things will change and that there will be issues to deal with and all of that, and by writing this I'm probably tempting fate very seriously, but for once I thought - just seize the day! Enjoy the moment! Be proud and happy! Carpe Diem, indeed.
...well, she caught a tummy bug, something she never really has and if she does, then it's normally in the form of diarrhoea (I know... I wasn't going to tell you all this, but you did ask). This time, however, her stomach became distended and very hard. And we all know what this could mean; with the lack of vomiting reflex, the stomach could burst and the results could be lethal. I didn't know what to do and, naturally enough, it was on the one day when everything was closed and we live way out in the country. It was very lucky that she vomited. Twice. Look, I'm not going to get into details, suffice to say that it took hours to clean up and both her father and I also got the bug. Happy Easter.
But I wanted to tell you about yesterday. I'd phoned to make sure she was ready (and hinted at the fact that last time I saw her house it was extremely untidy), and I arrived on time to be greeted with a very tidy house and my daughter with what can only be described as 'raspberry red' hair. She was wearing a very pink cardigan, so the red hair could not easily be dismissed. I did a double take - much to her amusement, of course. As we sat down in a lovely little cafe with the sunshine gleaming on the raspberry-red head of hair, I thought how pretty she looked and how happy she was, sitting there smiling at me. I asked her how things were going and she told me she'd got herself a new job (a paper run, which is such a great way to exercise, plus get a small financial reimbursement), then she said she'd stopped eating bread, and was really becoming a vegetarian and hadn't eaten meat for two weeks, plus had taken dairy out of her menu, replacing it with soy and other proteins like tofu. She said, with a big grin on her face, that her staff were really great about this and she was loving the change in menu.
I was really taken aback - on many levels. My skeptic self said, "wonder how long this will last", and, "bet she's really enjoying finding out what else she can eat..." while my proud-mother self said, "for heavens' sake, just enjoy the moment."
So I told her how proud I was of her decisions, how well she was looking, how much I loved the raspberry-red hair, and praised her for looking out for a new job, particularly one which meant more exercise. I told her how healthy she looked - and she certainly did. We often leave our small dog with her when we go away for a few days and there's nothing she loves more than to take small dog with her on the paper run, and there are several parks nearby where she can let small dog off the leash to roam (which means more walking for her, too).I know that things will change and that there will be issues to deal with and all of that, and by writing this I'm probably tempting fate very seriously, but for once I thought - just seize the day! Enjoy the moment! Be proud and happy! Carpe Diem, indeed.
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