![\"ho_under_cover.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/archives\/image\/ho_under_cover.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last night wind rattled the blinds covering wide open windows, and then the sky lit and the thunder clapped and by gosh if we didn\u00c3\u00adt have an old- fashioned midwestern storm. However, it didn\u00c3\u00adt last long, not even waiting for me to fall asleep. This morning the air is damp and much cooler, but I still have plans to move Helen outside for a spell, as was suggested by her visiting physical therapist. <\/p>\n
I have been pretty darn helpful, if I don\u00c3\u00adt say so myself. So far I have helped my father fix the driver\u00c3\u00ads side window on my truck and I\u00c3\u00adve helped him change the front brake pads. I had to change the oil myself as my creaky body creaks less than his in the slide-under-the-truck way. <\/p>\n
Last night, armed with a box of Chicken Thyme Soup and directions from Diane, I proceeded to create this healthy and way-hearty soup Diane made here on our last visit. I started with one pot, began adding what the recipe called for, plus what Diane suggested I toss in – more chicken and more vegetables – but ran out of room. I grabbed a bigger pot, poured everything into it from the smaller one, added more of what I had cutup, but ran out of room again. If there were a bigger pot, I\u00c3\u00adda grabbed it, but there was not. For dinner we had delicious Chicken Thyme Stew, and afterwards Tupperwared about a week\u00c3\u00ads worth. That is, if we have it every day. <\/p>\n
I do miss Diane.<\/p>\n
Yesterday<\/p>\n
Helen leads off:<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acMy grandmother hung on so long because she was afraid to die. She was in the nursing home for ten years and the gals there knew her very well. Anyone else wouldn\u00c3\u00adt have lasted so long, but they said she was afraid to go. That\u00c3\u00ads the thing with Joan, she thinks I can move in with her; she doesn\u00c3\u00adt know how much is involved. My father\u00c3\u00ads sister had pernicious anemia, and his father died in our house. I know what it\u00c3\u00ads like to care for people, Joan doesn\u00c3\u00adt.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acHere is the way I see it. Joan doesn\u00c3\u00adt have a thing to worry about because I don\u00c3\u00adt see you hanging around.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acNeither do I.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acIt is so obvious. You\u00c3\u00adre just waiting for the opportunity to see what is next. You get this cold or whatever it was and it\u00c3\u00ads check out time. Your not eating is the same as packing your luggage.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
We are both laughing pretty hard at this. Helen thinks I\u00c3\u00adm funny or finds my laugher infectious, or she is laughing along with me and plotting ways to cut me out of her will. Could be any of the above. <\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acThis is why I\u00c3\u00adve put you in charge of me at the end.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acI\u00c3\u00adm your health care proxy?\u00c3\u00ad<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acYes. I know you\u00c3\u00adve worked with dying people before and I know you … .\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acYou mean you sat down and thought which one of my kids do I want to consign a lifetime of torment to? \u00c3\u00abGee, I really thought she was dead, but now that I said pull the plug, I do remember a twitch..oh, dear god, I killed my mother!\u00c3\u00ad <\/p>\n
**************
\nToday<\/p>\n
It is only noon and already we have had a full day. The cable guy installed broadband, the visiting nurse popped in to give Helen a quick checkup, and I called a plumber to fix the clogged sink drain. We are having lunch, right before departing to visit the dentist to have Helen\u00c3\u00ads crown re-glued. <\/p>\n
HO. \u00c3\u00acMy blood pressure is good today.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
Mack. \u00c3\u00acGood for what?\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
Me. \u00c3\u00acGood to keep her alive another day.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
HO. \u00c3\u00ac I won\u00c3\u00adt be joining Terri Schiavo today.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
Me. \u00c3\u00acIf my prayers are answered you\u00c3\u00adll die the same day as Paul Wolfowitz, and you\u00c3\u00adll ride his soul for all eternity.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
HO. \u00c3\u00acWho?\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acWolfowitz. Or Cheney or Pearl or Bush or Powell. Pick anyone of them. If you don\u00c3\u00adt go on the same day you might never find them.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00acOooo, I\u00c3\u00add love that. I\u00c3\u00add ride \u00c3\u00abem.\u00c3\u00ae<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night wind rattled the blinds covering wide open windows, and then the sky lit and the thunder clapped and by gosh if we didn\u00c3\u00adt have an old- fashioned midwestern storm. However, it didn\u00c3\u00adt last long, not even waiting for … Continue reading