Stephen and I made it down to St. George by around 8:30. When we arrived Saturday night Francene was already in bed and was possibly asleep. She is in a semi-private room the bed next to the wall not the door and her roommate, Penny, likes to have the TV on most of the time. I was the first person by her bed and it was darker on her side of the room with the curtain pulled but she did not appear to recognize me at first when I said, "Hi". She did recognize Stephen right away and spoke to me as if I was a nurse and said, "that is my brother-in-law, Stephen." I said, "and I'm your sister, Kathleen." I asked how she was doing and she would answer in short sentences and sometimes fade to silence before she could get all of her thoughts out. Her hands were clinched into fists but she could open up the right hand and raise it a few inches to give me a "high five". We stayed for about 30 minutes and then spoke with her roommate who was more than willing to speak to us about Francene and how things are going.
Sunday we went to church with her. She appeared to sleep through most of the talk but she mouthed the songs and took the Sacrament. After I fed her lunch (which she cannot feed herself at all) I took her out to the courtyard for some privacy and quiet so we could talk. My desire was to find out what her thoughts and goals were at this time, since there had been a significant change from the last time I visited. I asked her some questions to make sure that she was oriented and alert. She knew her name and the day of the week but stated that it was 1917 for the year and that she was in the backyard in Seattle. I asked about her pain level and if she wanted more pain medication. She said "yes" and I talked about Hospice versus Palliative Care. I tried to keep it simple.
She does not remember things that have happened in the short term and yet she does remember somethings. Sarah said that this was typical of "right-sided" brain injury as well as not being able to process answer to questions, no social filter and communication difficulties. She sometimes says things that do not make sense or are embarrassing.
We returned to Provo Sunday night and stayed with Jessica and Juan. Jess had gone to bed early because she gets up early and goes to the gym. Juan goes after she comes home so they don't have to take the kids. Stephen had told me that President Morgan had called and asked if I wanted to teach Zero Hour Seminary with Becky LeDosquet. She wanted a partner and no one else was available. Since I was released 2 weeks ago but not publicly I wasn't sure I wanted to teach that early but I also knew that I would be blessed if this was what the Lord wanted me to do. I said that I would pray about it and I felt like I should accept the calling. It will actually be better since I can work on Fridays after Seminary. The Lord does bless us.
Monday started Education Week and I went to several classes that were really good. Since I decided to teach Seminary I looked for classes that would help me with my calling. Lots of New Testament classes were available. Unfortunately, I had to go be myself. Stephen had lots of work to do on the Duplex. He spent most of the week taking loads of wood, trash and junk to the dump and household items to Deseret Industries. He did make it to 5 classes during the week including a class by Kenneth L. Alford who was the son of Grandpa Ralph's best friend from his ward growing up and in high school and they served the same mission. In fact the "L" intial stands for Lowell. That was a cool thing to find out. The last day when I went to the BYU bookstore I saw a sign that was intriguing. I had to take a selfie of it....
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| Selfie with BYU Ballroom Dancers Poster. |
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| Guess who the dancer in the top middle is???? |
I had a great time. Wednesday I actually skipped some classes to go to the Provo Rec Center with Jessica, Sarah, Hadlie and Christian. By the time Stephen and Juan showed up it was too cold to stay outside anymore and they decided to go home. Thursday we were able to call Isaac and wish him a Happy Birthday. We had arranged for Rebekah to get a card and some money for his birthday. He seemed pleased with the day and all the celebration for his birthday.
I picked up some great information. I took lots of pix of slides that were so interesting. There was a new app from the Religion Dept that allows you to visit Old Jerusalem at the time of Christ in Virtual Reality. It was great. I learned more about the Sabbath and the importance of the Sacrament, How to save money for retirement, the importance of the JST and how to be a better Seminary teacher. There were so many classes to choose from. I even went to one on physics that was really interesting.
Stephen and I spent an evening with each of the couples in Provo. Monday evening was FHE at Jessica and Juan's place with everyone for dinner. She made a lovely Taco Salad and we all ate and talked and enjoyed the time together. Tuesday was with Sarah and Michael at their place. They fixed a lovely stir-fry over rice and garlic bread. We talked about their plans and concerns. Wednesday evening we went out with Jessica and Juan while Sarah babysat the sleeping babies. We stopped at Zuppas for salad since Jess and Juan are eating healthy and exercising. Next we drove to the Provo Temple grounds and had a good talk with both of them about their plans and goals. It was a beautiful, peaceful interlude. On Thursday we were with Ben and Carli and we went to Costa Vida and enjoyed Mexican cuisine. We then toured the home that is being built for Carli's employer and their landlord. It was a huge home that can be converted to a dance studio with 4 different dance floors. Very interesting. We talked with them about their plans for the future and had a nice time. Friday evening we celebrated Christian's birthday. It was a day early but we were leaving early the next day and we wanted to celebrate his 1st birthday. It wasn't so sure about the icing on the cupcake that he was given. He didn't seem to like the cake either but he enjoyed the toys and presents so all was not lost.
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| Happy Birthday cupcake. |
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| Tossing the ball that Aunt Lisa Leake gave Christian. |
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| Opening gifts is so much fun! |
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| Getting help with opening gifts is not as fun but Hadlie enjoyed it... :-0 |
We left early Saturday morning so that we could get home for the dance that night for Samuel. We were able to stop at Susan's house for an hour from 11 to 12 before they went on the boating trip with her boss and colleagues. It was nice to see them again.
Samuel made it to the dance that night and Stephen made it to his early Sunday meetings. All was well. Samuel was able to bless the Sacrament for the first time. He did a great job. Knowing the importance of the Sabbath and especially the covenants made during the Sacrament ordinance makes it so much for meaningful and to see Samuel participate in that sacred ordinance following his older brothers was heart-warming. What a blessed family we are!
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