Parents ?????

I loved my parents and still do. They have both gone on to be with our Lord. My dad was 63 when he left this world. He had a hard last 6-7 years he had had 8 strokes and 3 heart attacks. His last year was spent in a nursing home. My mother tried to keep him at home but it got to be too much for her. Dad put up a good fight , but alas he passed away on Thanksgiving Day about 12 years ago. I have some good memories of him. Most of them revolve around us deep sea fishing each weekend or working with him (we both worked for the same man). But when I think about it, I wish I had had more time to help with his care than I did. At the time I lived in South Carolina and he was in Florida. My mother was 77 when she left this world. I believe she just gave up because she missed dad so much. My brother and I moved her to South Carolina about 3 years after dad died. She drew into a shell and a bottle. At the end she had fallen and broken her hip. The doctors told her she had to go to a nursing home for a while. When she heard this she just gave up and passed on. Again, I wish I have been around to take care of her, but again I was in Alabama and she was in South Carolina. This has been a source of hurt inside of me for a while now. BUT God is so wonderful, He is helping me get through this. Most of you know I am married to Karen (a.k.a. Karen's Korner, Stillmagnolias) and God has sent her parents into my life. Yes even though they get on my nerves. God is giving me the chance to help them through their time of need. I really needed this therapy. Doug (her Daddy) is a wonderful man I have alot of fun with him. He used to go with me and be my cheerleader every Thursday (bowling night). We would spend time talking about our times in the military and just life in general. Well Doug has been diagnosed with that "C" word. He also has no short term memory. I used to drive 40 miles one way to work.Every night when I would get home he would ask me how traffic was and I would tell him. Five minutes later he would ask again and I would tell him, five minutes later and I would respond as before. Every 5 or 6 minutes he would ask and I would tell. So I started to play a game with him rather than get upset about the same question over and over again. When he would ask the traffic would get worse and worse. No harm, no foul, he could not remember and it kept me from getting upset. Wilma (her mama) is the source of problem, that I am working on as you know from yesterday's blog. Anyway she hums all the time and I mean all the time. So one evening I told Karen I was going to get a portable CD player and put it on her mama so we can change the tune every now and then. Karen asked what song I was going to use . Ok ready.........imagine this..........a 79 year old white hair lady humming...................ready.............SMOKE ON THE WATER...............I am a sick person.....lol.

But God has given them to me to assist in their final years (how ever long that may be) and this gift has started to fill that void I have in my life. Thank God for Parents and In-Laws as they are gifts to us as we are gifts to them.