Hi everyone,
I'm dipping my toes into the boards again after a challenging year-plus away. In the spring of last year, my mother entered hospice. I, along with my siblings, were able to take care of her until she passed away in her home in January.
I have happier news about my son who, as those of you who have been on the boards awhile know, has some major special needs which necessitated him living at a residential school. (If you wish to know a bit more about the reason, then read my L&C story
Hitting Close to Home) as well as the feedback thread for it.) In the spring of last year, he "graduated" (read: aged out of) the residential school and moved into a group home only a few miles from where I live.
My mother was in New York State, the group home is in Delaware, and the residential school was in Pennsylvania. (My son's needs were so great that there were no schools in all of Delaware that would have been appropriate for him.) Last spring and summer I was splitting my time between being with my Mom (who, fortunately, was still well enough that she didn't yet need very intensive care), being with him (to get him used to my driving him places -- something I hadn't done since pre-COVID -- so that he would feel comfortable with me driving him to the group home and so he would be less likely to associate riding in my car with a major life change), and setting up his new bedroom in his group home (buying and assembling furniture, moving his personal items from his bedroom in my home to the group home, etc.) After the move, I visited him daily at first and then tapered off (sooner than I otherwise would have) when it seemed to me that he was established enough that my mother's needs outweighed his.
Forget the sandwich generation; I felt like a member of the panini generation -- pressed and grilled.
Once my mother no longer needed me, I returned to Delaware to stay, and have been busy trying to catch up on things that have been neglected for far too long -- everything from playing catch-up with overdue doctors' appointments to taking care of home maintenance that had been delayed for many years (first because of my son, then COVID, and finally the more recent events detailed above). I still have some more catch-up to go, but things are starting to slow down to the point where I can have a little free time for fun pursuits.
All of this is to say that I been too busy with family matters to partake in the boards for the past year-plus, but I am delighted to be back again. I know it will take me quite a while to catch up on everything I missed, but I am looking forward to doing so.
I missed you guys.
Joy,
Lynn
Michael
