Tag: "grandma"

A House With Two And A Half What?

bedroom windows

My house is 40 years old. We’ve live here for about 15 years now. The house originally belonged to my grandparents. My grandma had some strange thoughts in her head when they had this house built. As much as I love this house, it is a little odd. Take the bedrooms, for instance.

I have two and a half bedrooms. Yes that’s bedrooms, not bathrooms. Grandma only wanted two bedrooms but my Mom somehow managed to get her to add a third. Problem is, Grandma chopped a huge laundry room in half to do it. My bedroom is about 12×15. CJ’s bedroom is about 12×12. TJ’s room is about 10×8 - only big enough to fit his bed and entertainment center. (Check out my Walmart Your Zone Teen Bedroom Makeover video and you’ll see how small it is, which is why I call it a half bedroom.) The boy can’t even keep his clothes in his bedroom, they’re on shelves in the hall.

When the builder built this house he used odd sized windows. Guess who has to deal with that now? That’s right, we do. When we had to replace a wall in my bedroom due to termite damage we learned that we needed custom replacement windows - the standard size replacement windows didn’t fit in the hole. Thankfully I had a very capable person doing the work that was able to take care of that problem.

Indoor work is unavoidable at times but I don’t like it - it’s noisy and dusty. Thankfully, our next project, hopefully in the spring if RB finds work by then, won’t be an indoor one. We’ll be getting some home remodeling estimates because we desperately need gutters. Why do we desperately need them? Because we don’t have any. (That’s another story.)

Dec 04, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

Life Fone For The Holidays

The holidays are upon us. Things seem busier everywhere, at home, out in public and even at work. For those of you that don’t know, I work in the medical field. I can’t tell you how many times emergency services are called to check on people. Relatives of the elderly worry when they haven’t heard from their loved ones and often contact the police or fire to check on them simply because they’re closer. I remember when my Grandma was alive. We hated leaving her alone but it just wasn’t possible to be with her every minute of every day. Today there’s a medical alert system called Life Fone that can help minimize those calls, leaving those folks free to respond to other matters.

Life Fone clients wear a medical alert bracelet that is connected to an emergency response center. If a client is in distress all they need to do is touch their waterproof bracelet or pendant and they’ll activate a medical alarm. That alarm is relayed to a base station located in the home. The folks monitoring assess the situation and stay on the line with the client. They also contact the necessary emergency services agencies and notify any designated contacts including family and doctors.

If you have a loved one that you worry about, or know someone that does, consider looking into Life Fone. It might help ease your mind. The monthly monitoring fee is only $29 - less than $1 a day. This is about as close as you can get to being there yourself. Something to think about as the holidays close in. To learn more or to sign up visit lifefone.com.

Nov 25, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

Remembering My Grandparents On Grandparents Day

3 generations on my wedding day

That’s a picture of my Grandma (on the left, my Mom’s Mom), me (in the middle) and my Mom (on the right) on my wedding day.

I was fortunate as a child in that I lived near my grandparents and got to see them often. They cared for me often, just as my parents care for my children now.

Grandpa loved to fish. He had a small fish pond in the back of their house. He smoked Belairs and collected Green Stamps. He snored. Grandpa died while I was about 12. I wish I remembered more of him. One thing I do remember is how much he loved his little girl (me).

Grandma always kept Lorna Doones and Chock Full O Nuts pound cake in the house and always gave me some when I came over. She made the best potato balls EVER. Even though she often called my Grandpa “you old windbag” she was never the same after he died. She lived alone for a while, until she got so sick she had to go live at my Mom’s house. She was a diabetic and lost her leg. I think CJ and I inherited her love for carbs.

I had moved away for a little while. In 1986 I got married and at Christmas time I moved home again with my husband. I got to see my Grandma every day again. She used to tell anyone that came to the house that my parents were starving her and always asked them for bread. By then my younger brothers were old enough to be getting around on their own steam and getting underfoot. Literally. Sometimes they took her artificial leg under the table, making her chase them around. She’d occasionally curse at people in Polish, including a couple of family members, but never me.

I saw my Grandma on the morning of the day she died. I never considered that she wouldn’t be alive to hug and kiss me and ask how my day went when I got home from work. I miss her terribly even now.

We often remind our son TJ that my parents are the only grandparents he has and that he ought to treat them right. Several years ago when my Mom was sick he couldn’t even sleep at night without speaking with her. He’s got a good relationship with my parents but sometimes forgets his place. I love that he can go to my Mom if he needs to talk or has a problem. I love that he can have open conversations with her. They may fight but they love each other very much.

CJ is so fortunate to have my parents as grandparents. On many occasions they have stood by my side and fought for CJ’s rights and well being. CJ loves his “nana” and “ampa”. They are supportive and understanding, and most importantly loving.

Grandparents. Our lives would not be the same without them.

Happy Grandparents Day.

Sep 13, 2009 | 3 comments | View Post

The Alzheimer’s Project on HBO

Last Thursday I was privileged to have the honor to be one of the members of The Silicon Valley Moms Blog group to take part in a private conference call with Maria Shriver. Yep, Maria Shriver. For those of you that don’t know who she is, she’s kind of a big deal. A really big deal. She’s an award winning journalist. She’s an author. She’s a member of the Kennedy family. She’s married to ~~the Terminator~~ the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. She’s heavily involved with the Special Olympics (her Mom helped found it). She’s an Alzheimer’s advocate. She’s a beautiful woman. She’s a Mom. See what I mean by big deal? (Hmmm. I guess I do have a girl crush.)

My Grandma suffered from Alzheimer’s back when they didn’t call it Alzheimer’s. At first we thought she was just a little loopy. We even giggled a couple of times. We were ignorant kids that learned quickly that what Grandma was going through was no joke.

The conference call with Maria was about her work on the HBO documentary The Alzheimer’s Project. The documentary consists of four parts, the first premiering last night. Maria’s father had Alzheimer’s and she wrote a book about it entitled “What’s Happening To Grandpa?”. She is featured in the second segment in the series, “Grandpa Do You Know Who I Am?”, which airs tonight. HBO has made this documentary available to everyone, subscribers and non-subscribers, by streaming it online as well as airing it on television.

Some of the things I learned on the conference call with Maria Shriver are that

every 70 seconds someone new deals with Alzheimer’s
70% of Alzheimer’s patients live at home
76% of the unpaid caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients are women

Our call touched on a number of other points as well. The reason we’re seeing more instances of Alzheimer’s is because people are living longer. The financial toll that Alzheimer’s is staggering and it has the capability to bankrupt not only the families and caregivers but the healthcare industry as well. The emotional, mental and physical impact of Alzheimer’s is deep. There are no survivors of Alzheimer’s - not the people suffering with it and not the families that love and care for them. As Maria pointed out, “Alzheimer’s is an old person’s disease but a young person’s burden”. Sad but true. We have the power to help find a cure for this disease. You can get involved in many ways including participation in an Alzheimer’s Walk and by asking your legislators to vote on the Alzheimer’s Study.

My interest in Alzheimer’s remains very strong, even though my Grandma passed away years ago. My youngest son, CJ, has Down Syndrome, which means he has a disposition to early onset Alzheimer’s. The documentary doesn’t touch on that specific aspect of the disease but I am hopeful that we will find a cure during my lifetime and the cure will help all of those suffering from this dreadful disease.

If you’d like to learn more about Alzheimer’s contact one of the following organizations.
NIA/Alzheimer’s Info, 1-800-438-4380
Alzheimer’s Association, 1-800-272-3900

A number of us Tweeted during the call, you can check out our Tweets by searching #mariashriver.

A big thanks to Maria Shriver for taking the time to speak with us. Another big thanks to Jill, founder of Silicon Valley Moms, for connecting us (literally) with Maria.

May 11, 2009 | 3 comments | View Post

Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk

I’ve written previously about Alzheimer’s and how it relates to my family. My grandma almost certainly had it before she passed, but back in those days we knew so much less about it. Odds are higher that my youngest son may develop Alzheimer’s because of it’s association with Down Syndrome. I pray every day a cure is found, not just for my son but also for the countless families that Alzheimer’s touches in so many ways. Someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s every 71 seconds and it is the sixth leading cause of death in the US.

The Alzheimer’s Association holds the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk every year in order to increase public awareness and to raise funds for Alzheimer research, as well as care and support for Alzheimer’s patients and their families. People of all ages can participate by walking a couple of miles for a walk held in their area.

There are walks in more than 600 communities across the United States. This year is also the first year there will be an overseas walk, formed by members of US troops. Organizing walks in support of the largest fund raising event in the states for Alzheimer’s is no easy task. Team Captains are always needed to help recruit, promote, fund raise and keep things running smoothly so please consider signing up to be one.

I’ve always been a believer that together, as a society, we CAN all make a difference. Don’t let an opportunity to impact thousands walk on by.