From My Favorite Newspaper Columnist
Another way to relieve stress when you have to go to the mall because your wife said so is to go key-dangling.
That's when I tell my wife that I'm going for a walk. But I'm really going key-dangling, something I saw on TV years ago.
Just walk through a crowded mall parking lot, your keys dangling from your fingertips, and automobiles begin to follow you the way hungry hyenas follow a wart hog.
Keep walking up and down, turning this way and that, whistling happy tunes, smiling at everyone, and it begins.
One car will follow, hoping to grab your space. Then another car, then another, the driver of the last car probably thinking that the lead car will give up.
I've had as many as six cars follow me. This very well may be a record. See if you can beat it.
Is it cruel?
No.
It's merely some innocent key-dangling, for amusement purposes only.
source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-18/news/ct-kass-met-1218-20131218_1_holiday-stress-shopping-mall-poacher
December 24
Merry Christmas!
December 23
O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations
and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
December 22
O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom you formed out of clay.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Lemons to Lemonaide
Every so often, our kids do something that could make me very depressed. I've learned instead to look for the opportunities in these situations.
For example, finding porn on my computer means that sharing my laptop with the kids is now out of the question. And that eliminates a lot of problems for me and Jonathan.
December 21--The Winter Solstice
O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting:
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
December 20
O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open:
Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.
Come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to the, O Israel!
Concussion Yesterday
As my stretcher rolled through the hallways of the emergency room, I shielded my eyes with my hand to block the brightness of the ceiling lights. When the movement stopped and the nurse transferred me into a bed, the whole room spun from vertigo. A bad headache had started, but the nausea was under control from some medication I received in the ambulance.
Out of sight, I heard a voice ask, "Is this the 57-year-old woman?"
I answered, "No, I'm 52, not 57."
The voice explained, "We have three women in their 50s in the ER right now--all slipped on the ice within the last 30 minutes."
So . . . 50s must be the age. Those younger are more agile and avoid falling. Those older are smart enough to stay home during an ice storm.
December 19
O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage:
Come quickly to deliver us.
O come, O come, Thou Branch of Jesse's tree,
Free them from Satan's tyranny
That trust Thy mighty pow'r to save,
And give them vict'ry o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
December 18
O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai:
Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.
O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
December 17
Antiphon:
O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Hymn:
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Winter Wonderland
Finishing up a 12-hour snowfall, with about four inches on the ground in Forest Park. The trees and bushes are coated in powdery white--beautiful! And because Chicago is accustomed to these events, the roads are in very drivable shape. Saw lots of kids on a local sledding hill, and Paul has earned money by shoveling. All in all, a good day!
Ingenuity
In the last few days and through December 18, Jonathan is spending hours grading papers and tests. He took a break last Wednesday to meet me for coffee at our favorite bakery (called "Sugar Fixe"!). He described an assignment for his freshman arts class where the students visited the Art Institute downtwown. To prove that they actually made the trip, the paper had to include a photo of the student standing next to a piece of art at the museum.
One of the better students accidently erased the photo that he had planned to include in his paper. Rather than make another trip downtown, which wasn't possible in the mad rush of final exams, he came up with another solution. His paper contained a photo of a painting, with the unmistakeable silhouette of the student reflected in the protective glass that covers the artwork!
Say What?
Every winter in northern Sweden, a company cuts blocks of ice and builds a hotel. It's one of the top tourist sites in the country, since you can spend the night there, sleeping on an ice bed, ordering drinks at the ice bar, drinking them in ice cups, etc., etc.
The local government recently cited the hotel for a lack of smoke alarms. Seems that the building is considered "new construction" since it gets rebuilt every winter, and new buildings are required to have smoke alarms.
The hotel responded by saying that there ARE some items in the building that can burn, like the reindeer skins that are spread on the ice beds to keep the customers warm.
For information about the ice hotel, and some great photos, see the following article:
http://www.thelocal.se/20131114/swedens-ice-hotel-in-jukkasjarvi-kiruna-told-to-get-fire-alarms
For Dad
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Blessings Among the Struggles
Yesterday, the ice storm closed in on the east coast, with forecasts of slick roads, downed trees, and power outages. My mother told the health care aides to stay at their own homes, since driving would be so dangerous. My sister's entire family--Anne, her husband Andrew, and her children Ben (10) and Annika (9) came to my parents' house to spend the night.
It now takes two people to change my father, since his body is so stiff, and movement like rolling him on his side is painful due to his weakened heart. The faster the change can take place, the better, so Dad is uncomfortable as short a time as possible. Changes must also take place often, every two hours, to prevent painful rashes from strong uric acid due to decreased fluid intake. But that's better than catheterization. My mother is too disabled with back trouble to help with the changing, but with Anne and Andrew both in the house last night, they could together take care of Dad's needs. Dad is also having trouble swallowing ice cream, and his cough is worsening. It seems that his time with us is very short now, and his journey to heaven is imminent.
In the midst of these difficulties, my family set up computers to watch Concordia's service of Lessons and Carols. This is the first year for Concordia to stream this event live, and I'm sure it took a great deal of work to set everything up. But it was well worth it. The big TV in my father's room was filled with the sights and sounds of gorgeous Christmas music last night. My mother sat with my father for the entire performance, enjoying every moment. And when it was time for the men's choir to sing, Ben and Anni were summoned from their playtime to watch Uncle Jon conduct.
In the midst of much hardship, the Christmas message came again to my family through the gift of beautiful music. Many thanks to those at Concordia who made this possible.
More Comfortable
Yesterday was a hard day for Dad, but today has been more peaceful. Mom and Anne told me that the morphine is allowing him to sleep peacefully. Jackie, his daytime aide, is feeding him soft foods like rice pudding and apple sauce, which he's able to get down despite his sleepy state. The main goal is to keep him comfortable.
The news of Nelson Mandela's passing makes me think of my father. Both men have faced long illnesses and time in bed. The retrospectives on Mandela's life that flood the press today remind me to think not only about my father's current illness but also about his long, rich, and interesting life.
Eating
Disclaimer: Much of this information about my father is being written for extended family, so if you don't know us well, please bear with me on the details.
Received news by email from my sister that Dad DID eat during the last few days. I had misunderstood this, and told several people that he had stopped eating. He's having difficulty swallowing today, and has sores on the inside of his lips, which makes eating hard. The hospice nurse who is coming today should be able to recommend a medication to help the mouth sores.
Anne also told us that, as hard as it is to see Dad in this condition, she feels that he's receiving excellent care from the aides and hospice team. In the nursing homes that Dad lived in during rehab, the staff was often very good, but they were stretched with far too many patients. Mom's decision to bring Dad home means that his care has been top-notch.
Besides caring for Dad, there are also many administrative issues facing Mom and Anne that Jonathan described as "dizzying" when he read Anne's email: insurance, ordering prescriptions, financial questions, equipment failures. Please continue to keep my family in your prayers.
Update
During the last week, my father has been sleeping around the clock, waking for only a short time each day. It's difficult to know if his sleeping comes from the morphine or his physical condition. It's probably both. Yesterday, he spoke a lot more, for the first time in days, although my mother and sister couldn't understand his words very well. When I sang to him by telephone, told him I loved him, and said goodbye, I know he heard me because he said "bye" back to me.
One of the sources of his pain is stiffening of the muscles. We received an email today from his doctor at Johns Hopkins, who recommended a drug that will hopefully give some relief for the stiffness. The hospice nurse comes tomorrow, and my mother and sister will ask her about it. The doctor at Hopkins has been a wonderful resource, since my father's illness is not well-known even in the medical field, and the doctor is a specialist, running a memory study for which my Dad is a participant. Hopefully, the Hopkins doctor will be able to use my father's experience to learn more about this condition and find better treatments for future patients.
The Diaper Bag
One challenge from our kids that Jonathan and I often face is, politely stated, hoarding. Certain things in our house will disappear if not watched. For convenience, safety, and financial reasons, there are entire categories of things that we don't leave at home when we're gone.
So . . . anytime we leave the house, along comes the checkbook, my makeup, all our prescription medications, and a bucket of cherry tomatoes. You may wonder, why the tomatoes? They are green ones from our garden, and if left at home, Jonathan and I will never get to eat them. This year, I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
When Jonathan described our "bag lady" habits to a colleague, she immediately commented that these items are our "diaper bag," where you carry around contingencies for almost any emergency. Jonathan and I never went through that stage, since our youngest child was over five years old upon arrival. Good to hear that we're still getting our version of the "diaper bag" experience--wouldn't want to miss anything!
