Long Lost Summer (and overdue post)

All summer I have been wondering "where did my summer go?"  More of a rhetorical question than anything else.  I know where the summer went.  This was the summer of  Lee's dream and hope to improve his health by having a right hip replacement.  We knew there would be risks....but we also knew there was no choice as evidence by the first of three trips to the ER in early June after a fall.  The hip was making it too difficult for Lee to ambulate or safely transfer.  His biggest wish for the summer was to go see his sister on her 80th birthday in September and attend another grandson's wedding (Adrian).  Unfortunately after the first hospital stay for the hip surgery, then a nursing home stay followed by another trip to the ER, a second hospital stay, a second nursing home admission, then the last ER visit followed by a hospital stay; it all came to an end on August 3rd with his death (a blessing by that time).  I say it was a blessing because the dialysis was not working and it was becoming evident he would not be able to return to the home he share with my mom...which was his main motivation in life.  A peaceful death....all that we can hope for.

I know I would not have made it thru the summer without the help of my oldest sister Pam who put her life on hold to come for prolonged visits to Indiana to help care for our mother and visit with Lee.

So even though I did not accomplish any personal goals this summer....I made it thru.  And find I miss Lee more than I would have expected.  He was someone I could talk to about the life he shared with my Mom (34 years) and since that encompassed most of my adult life...he played a huge role.  Will miss him more than he will ever know.

I will be posting about the trip to Alaska (or the road to recovery as I think of it) later this week!!!!