Visiting Mom

I'm writing this from my mother's house. She lives in a tiny village in rural Kansas, which only has a population of about three hundred and sixty people. I grew up in this town (from three years of age through my graduation from high school at the age of eighteen), so for me--even after all these years--whenever I come here to visit, there is a definite feeling of homecoming.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Tonight is my second night here, and my daughter and I (as well as my mother and stepdad) have been thoroughly enjoying the visit. My daughter got to spend a lot of time playing with her grandmother(who she calls Mema), we got to visit a little, and since the weather was fairly nice we got to go outside quite a bit. My daughter not only played outdoors, but she also helped me do some yardwork, which my stepdad hasn't been able to do, since he had surgery for cancer recently and is on chemo therapy.

In the mid-afternoon, my mother, daughter, and I went to the park. My daughter rode her tricycle, and it was the first time she'd ever been allowed to ride it out of the yard. On the way to the park, as Meghan was pedalling excitedly down the sidewalk, I asked her, "Have you ever ridden a tricycle this far before?"

She replied, "No, I haven't, but it sure is fun!"

So cute.

In a conversation with my stepdad yesterday, he told me that since returning from the hospital he hasn't had enough energy or motivation to do anything but lie around and sleep. He told me that, until recently, he hasn't even felt the motivation to turn on the television, but that within the past two or three days, he's started to feel restless, and that he wants to start moving around again; to get out of the house.

This is a very good sign, because it means that his spirits are up and that he has a will and a desire to recover. I (and the rest of us) sincerely hope that he makes a full recovery very soon, and that he is able to get out and enjoy life again.

I hadn't seen my oldest sister online for several days, and my mother hadn't spoken to her on the phone. Nor had either of us seen my nephew online or heard from him, so we were both concerned. Mom tried calling my sister's overseas phone number, but got an error message, saying something like, "The country you are trying to dial cannot be reached at this time." This escalated our fears some, but when Mom tried to call again in a few minutes, she got through to my sister, who told us that her computer had crashed and that she will be trying to get it fixed soon.

For anyone who is interested, my sister has a blog, which you can read by clicking here. She writes poetry and short stories, many of which have to do with politics, but some of which are simply little "slice of life" anecdotes.

I think you'll enjoy them--I know I do.

Well, that's about enough for now. It's 4:30 in the morning, and I can't sleep. I'm not a fan of the boob tube, but I'll probably watch some television for a while.

Peace.