Hanging in There

I can hardly believe that we are almost halfway through April already! Even with being trapped at home, time rushes by.


I was able to get a little CASA work done last week…via Zoom, video chats and texts. I also made good progress on my dishrag knitting. I have to kind of space that out, because my hands go numb if I do too much at a time. So I knit 2-3 rows, then take a break. I mostly work on them in the evening while I’m watching tv.


I made a new sourdough starter last week. My old one had been neglected a few months back, so I threw it out. I baked a loaf of bread Wednesday. It sure was good! We love fresh bread, but we really don’t need to be eating much of it! I just made a small loaf. It was perfect for supper, then I sliced the leftovers the next day to make grilled cheese sandwiches. I figure having it once a week won’t hurt us too much.


Last week was the roughest week that I’ve had since Daddy died. I started noticing about midweek that I felt numb. I would try to get busy with something, but my heart just wasn’t in it. Then Thursday, I cried off and on all day. I couldn’t really say why I was crying, I’d just burst into tears for no reason. I guess it is just part of the grief process. The social isolation was probably working on me, too. We usually order takeout on Fridays, so I told Dennis that I wanted to take our burgers to the park to get out of the house awhile. It was such a beautiful day. It was sunny, but there was a nice cool breeze blowing. We weren’t ready to go back home afterwards, so we headed west of town and drove around for a bit. I had been seeing pictures posted on Facebook of the flowers at the Indian Creek cemetery, so we headed out there to see them for ourselves. The Indian paintbrushes are at their peak right now…just gorgeous! I’ve really felt much better since our outing. Then last night, Stephen set up a Zoom visit. Usually when we do them, Gracie is already in bed. But we did it early enough last night that we got to visit with her. She is changing SO much! She just chatters up a storm. (I can’t understand most of what she says, but that’s ok!) She also sang for us. Loved it!


I’m still trying to get all of Daddy’s final business taken care of. It has been challenging with the way things are right now. I FINALLY got his bank account closed and received the check yesterday. I worked on that for almost two weeks via phone calls. I still haven’t been able to get through to Social Security. I’m going to try again first thing in the morning. I’ve distributed all of the death certificates that I needed to (I think!). Stephen is still working on closing out his investment account and distributing the assets to the various beneficiaries. Kathy sent me Daddy’s tax return yesterday with a payment voucher. I had forgotten all about the taxes that he would owe! Thankfully I still have enough that was left in his bank account to pay it. I still should be getting a couple more refunds…from the nursing home and his last retirement check. (It had actually already been deposited in his account, but the bank returned it…even after I had told them that TRS said it was for us to keep.) Even though we had greatly simplified things for him when we put them in Brookdale, it is surprising how much still had to be done after his death.


We are thankful to be able to have small assemblies on Sunday mornings. Our congregation broke up into 4-5 small groups that meet in different houses. We have 7 that meet in our house. That has really helped, too! Kirk was our speaker this morning and gave a wonderful lesson on “What is Truth?” After our worship, we all sat around and discussed the lesson, what’s going on around the world, and how each of us are doing. This was our 4^th Sunday to meet this way, and Dennis commented on the fact that we’ve had 100% attendance every time! I think we are all enjoying our time together. Even though we purposely try to limit our time together, for safety reasons, we have a hard time breaking up and going our separate ways.


Dora contacted our whole congregation yesterday and suggested that we do a drive-by parade for Gayland and Judy tonight. Being our oldest members and both being in “reduced health”, we figured that our current world situation is probably harder on them than the rest of us. We plan to meet after supper tonight and surprise them. I think almost all of our congregation is planning to participate. I hope that it is effective at cheering them up. Plus it will be really nice to see everyone again…even if it is from the “safety” of our vehicles. I love all of the ways that people are finding to stay connected and help each other out during these trying times!


Before our forced isolation, I had planned to take a trip (probably to Big Bend) after Daddy died to have some quiet time to decompress. After having an abundance of quiet time, I think I’m going to change my mind. When we finally are set free, I still want to take a trip, but I want to go where I can be with people! I still like to vacation in sparsely populated areas, but a side trip or two to visit loved ones will definitely be on our itinerary!


Enjoy the beauty where you are and stay safe!