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January 18, 2008

Just a regular update

Just a little update on what I have been up to. I took a little while off from the center and the church library. What with mom and the holidays I had a lot of things to take of.

I started by calling her oxygen people to cancel the service. It didn't take them long to come and get her oxygen tanks, concentrator, and C-pap. Then I cleaned out all of mom medicines and tubing left over from her oxygen concentrator. I had no idea how many she had. Every time they came to check it, they left tubing. Since she hadn't used her oxygen much in the last year it was hidden everywhere. I mean like 2 garbage bags full! Then I went through the drawer where she kept her bills and cards. It was good for me. It was a time of remembering. As I go through things, I am going to set aside things that can be used as keepsakes. I already have some things set aside.

We called General Motors, Her insurance policies, and got death certificates. Today I paid what was left of her funeral expenses with her insurance policies paid benefits. We paid for having the date put on the headstone before we left the funeral home, so all of that is done. Since GM had deposited her January pension I wrote a check today to pay them back. Fortunately Social Security didn't direct deposit her January, so I don't have to send anything back for that.

We are turning her room into a library. We are bringing our books down from the attic. I have given away some purses and hats to some of the ladies in her Sunday School class. We haven't brought everything down from the attic yet.

Buttons

A little break from the hospital, My brother's blog has his memories of buttons. http://schoolGuy@blogspot.com He once had a family, but that was long gone for him. He was a gentle man, loved the children at the day care. He got saved the summer I worked downtown Detroit. I worked at the Cass Park day care, while living in Priscilla Hall, which housed Southern Baptist State Association offices on the main floor and residents on the three upper floors. Buttons was old enough for social security and had a little room where he stayed. He would spend his money on buttons and little moving toys that he knew the children would love to see. He came by often to see the children. After he got saved, he came to church at the Baptist Center where the day care was. I can still close my eyes and see him all covered with his buttons, his smile and delight when he came to share his toys with the children. Buttons, I look forward to seeing you in heaven one day. I wonder if you might be sharing some of this story with my mom and dad?

There are many memories of Priscilla Hall Days, but I will save them for another day

Childhood Memories # 7 Herman Keefer Hospital (part six)

I remember the day when my back brace came in. I was in the eating room. They came in and made a big announcement that my “corset” was in and I needed to go try it on. I was so embarrassed. Oh, well. I was easily embarrassed. My grandfather on my mother’s side gave me the nickname “poopy-Jane” (I have since learned, I wasn’t the only one he called that.) Anyway, I revealed my secret to Kathy, the other white girl. Big mistake. It became a big deal, On my window, they wrote guess her nick name. People kept coming by my room for days it seemed, guessing or trying to guess. Of course I wouldn’t tell, but eventually, Kathy did. I was sooooo embarrassed. )Moral: be careful who you trust a secret with.)
I remember one day in physical therapy Mrs. Breck was working on a baby. They only way to get the baby to exercise his limbs was to make him mad so he would try to move his arms and legs. It sounded so cruel, but necessary.

I remember when mom and dad brought my siblings and a few friends to see me.(I don’t remember who exactly) They couldn’t come up to see me so I waved to them from a window looking down.