My mom

The whole purpose of this blog (in my mind, at least) is to record for future generations (haha) my life-changing move to Pennsylvania. One of the hardest wrenches was leaving mom and dad behind as they are 89 and 87. My brothers and I planned a surprise for their sixtieth wedding anniversary this coming week. The parents were going on a cruise so we surprised them a week early. It was going to be a cool surprise with all three of us showing up together until mom went into the hospital. One brother had to come early, the other brother came a little early and I finally got picked up at the airport. My arrival and the second brother's arrival were good surprises. But not as cool as the original plan. But then the morning of my flight back to PA, mom got sick again and I'm still here. I didn't want to blog about it until I had good news but I think she's finally around the bend. I don't know when she's coming home but the extensive surgery that was threatened hasn't happened and looks like it's not going to happen at this point. It's been a long week for the whole family.

What I feared when I moved up to PA was that my parents would need me and I would have trouble getting back home. In fact, I've just happened to be here when first dad then mom had a problem and I stayed to help. I have told mom and dad that I won't be flying down any more because every time I do, one of them goes into the hospital. Maybe I'll drive but flying to S'port seems to be bad karma. Just kidding of course. I'm very glad that I'm here but I have fretted some about the things left undone in PA. This will be a test of my faith that all will work out for the best.

So many things about the move that I dreaded have turned out really well in spite of my worries. But my parents' need for me to be close has turned out to be a real problem. On the literally bright side, the weather has been so beautiful here with temps in the 70s and 80s and lots and lots of sunshine, that it's been hard to be too depressed about the situation. The camellias are blooming at the hospital garden and I've soaked up as many rays as I could. I wish I could take it home in a bottle the way Hermione Granger carries around her bluebell flames.