Connecting

Well my cold is just about gone, even the cough isn't too scary sounding, so I've actually been going out in public. Well actually mostly just to the hospital, my Dad is still at the UofA hospital and tomorrow is his surgery date. After finally agreeing to do an MRI they discovered he had torn 3 of the 4 muscles in his shoulder. This solved the "mystery" of why he couldn't move his arm side to side. From the date of surgery it's six weeks before he's supposed to put any weight on it. We're not sure what that means but it most likely means he'll be in the hospital for those 6 weeks since he won't be able to preform his transfers (moving from his chair to bed) so he'll need assistance although he's surprised everyone the last 3 weeks with how much he's been able to do through sheer willpower and adjustments.

I'm choosing to be optimistic about this and in some ways it's easier for me than the rest of my family. He's alive and this is a relatively minor hiccup and they've said it's a full recovery type thing so once he's recovered he can go on with life. To me right now it feels trivial but I know it isn't to him. It's inconvenient that he's stuck in the hospital, it sucks that he and mom had to cancel their holidays, the reminder that he's getting older wasn't really needed but I know he'll recover so I can be positive. I just wish I could share that with the rest of the family who after so many hits this last year and a half are reeling a bit and are very emotional. I don't want to trivialize their feelings because what they feel is important. I think I've hit the dead zone aka my emotional limit because this isn't phasing me too much or maybe I've finally learned to just roll with the punches. I do know that I'm sure it's the fault of someone in the hospital that I caught this cold (boo) but even a cold couldn't stop me.

My next post will have some craft photos I promise since I'm taking some online craft classes and I'm learning some new skills which are just feeding my need to create, but it may be a few days since I'll be at the hospital with mom tomorrow when Dad gets out of surgery and I've promised to take Grandma to visit Dad the next day so she can make sure her "baby" is fine. It's fun watching my Dad get parented.

I received the best inheritance you can ever get, a disk of 400+ pictures from my Grandfather Ginther's side of the family. These negatives were found in a shoe box in the back of a closet in my great aunt's house and one of my cousins took the time to scan them all into the computer and now we're sharing them amongst the whole family. These pictures go back to include baby pictures of my Grandfather, my great Grandparents as a young couple and even a few shots of my previously unknown Great Great Grandparents. It's strange to look through these photos and see people and places I know so well and to notice the things that tie us together. Several shots of the family surrounded by books gave me a thrill, there was proof I'd inherited my love of reading. A shot of my Grandma as a teen laughing with her peers, showed me the vivacious beauty my Grandpa first met. A shot of my grandpa on the tractor as a teen followed by a shot of his desk at home crowded with books reminded me of the things I loved best about him and want included in my life. Looking into the eyes of the Great Grandmother I only knew as an old woman trapped silent by Parkinson's disease and seeing her as a young wife and mother made her even more real to me. So many glimpses into life back then and being able to draw connections to my life now is an amazing gift. Scripture says the fruit of the fathers will be their children and their children's children, I realize that this is true I'm the fruit of all these people I carry bits of them in me. That's amazing to think of I'm sure my ancestors weren't fretting about what I'd turn out to be but I am the person I am today because of the choices they made. Someday I'll get to meet them in Heaven and truly know them but this small glimpse into their lives assures me we'll get along just fine because we're related you know :D