[goob07]

Grits - It's funny that you say "it could be me one day". When my grandfather's health started failing him and he was in New York without family close by was right after DH and I had started really TTC. It really hit home for me that having children was so very important to me. If not for the joy of raising my own family, but for the needs we'll definitely have as elderly folks. I suddenly realized that I didn't want to be alone and didn't want to think of DH alone when we got old. I know it's a morbid thought but my grandfather's situation just made it all so much clearer for me.

In July of '06 grandfather fell and broke his hip and ended up in a hospital in New York for a couple of months. Prior to that, he was getting around on his own, had his own apartment, was driving, had a "steady" girlfriend, etc. My mom went up several times to see how he was in the hospital and I finally went to see how things were for myself. It was awful. The hospital was in a bad part of town and the conditions were just miserable. I cried for 3 straight days while I was there trying to figure out what we could do for him. It was heartbreaking to do, but we had to have him closer to us. He had lived in New York all his life and didn't want to leave his girlfriend but her health was failing too and she couldn't care for him. We got him into a good nursing home down here but he's still confused about how this all happened to him. Dimentia is definitely setting in and he still asks where his car is all the time. BUT - like I said earlier - he always smiles while we're with him and his conditions here are so much better. He never got on his feet again after the broken hip but we know he's safe and loved and being well cared for. Pretty much all you can ask for at 90+.

You're doing a great thing - keep it up!

I love the fact that your neighbor has made up her mind about how she wants to live. And, if I had deer, elk, moose, etc. in my backyard - they'd have to drag me out of there! I'm a sucker for the cottontail rabbits we get in our suburban yard. We've had a couple babies born under our shribs and I've got a few of them eating carrots out of my hand. I'm also an avid bird feeder. Nothing makes me happier than watching the barn swallows come back every year to raise new babies over my front porch and seeing the goldfinches come back each winter to eat outside my bathroom window. Guess I'm an old lady at heart, huh?