Mine was peaceful and nice. We went to my daughters for early supper and exchanged gifts, I spent lots of time with my grandson who has ADD, (my DH does too) and researched appropriate toys for him and he liked them. Praise God. Took a lot of cajoling and threatening to get my DH to go but after all was said and done, he was glad he did and it made my daughter glad to have him care enough to come. Please share your experiences , we all care and want to know. Christmas is usually a depressing time for me but not this one and I'll treasure it forever.
My husband is fairly tuned out. Our 4 young adult children (17-23) are all home for break. He knows it's Xmas morning, but we pretty much have to direct him to sit down and take things out of his stocking. Mostly he wanders around, watches us, eats. Went to my mom's with other extended family there. Apart from helping him fill his plate since we usually serve buffet style, and find his seat, he is no trouble.
A quiet day, just the two of us. Had breakfast, opened gifts - he was fine. Had planned to go to our church Christmas Eve early service at 5 p.m. At 4:30 I asked if he was ready to go. He said "No, I'm not going". Since the church is only 5 min. away, I told him I was going and left. About 30 min. into the service, my cell phone vibrated, so had to leave. It was Dh and he didn't know where I was and was all upset. Came home. Ate our Christmas dinner, he took the dog for a walk, came back in about 7 and asked what time we were going to church! I just told him it was too late to go. He was in bed by 8 p.m.
So...an up/down day, but nothing drastic, thank goodness!
We had a busy time. Christmas Eve we went to church and to our son's. Next day we had everyone here, our four kids, their spouses and 9 grandchildren. Lots of work and very hectic, exhausting. Clean up took 2 days. We have our out of town daughter, son in law and grandkids here for another week. DH has started something new. I have to sit next where ever we go, church, son's house, here. Last night an alarm went off. DH told me I was beeping. It was the carbon monoxide monitor. Daughter got up, said it was the battery. We put it in the garage, as it kept beeping. I went back to be afraid we would all die from carbon monoxide poisoning. We survived. Today, I figured out how to replace the battery.
The day itself was calm and peaceful. I'd told my daughter to have a good Christmas day in her house at her tree and she did. She and her family came the next morning and we had a nice lunch and two wonderful Dinners the next couple of days. They left today right after we did an early Dinner. By then my husband was getting agitated. He is almost back to his normal now, which I'm really grateful about.
My sons and their families arrived on Christmas Eve Day (one got in the night before) and my daughter came from England on December 16th. I had arranged for all dogs to be boarded as our house is too small for 9 grown people and one child and three huge dogs! I had also arranged for one son, his wife and two children (one 16 year old teenager and a 5 year old granddaughter) to stay at a nearby hotel. After they all arrived, hugs and kisses all around, the grandchildren requested that they stay with me and would sleep on the air mattresses. I couldn't say no....
We had a quick dinner and got into two cars and drove around town, looking at the decorated houses, and went to the state capitol and went in and saw the beautifully decorated interior. After driving through two parks (which have miles of lights along the route) while listening to Christmas carols, we came home and ate fudge, peanut brittle, Christmas cookies, pumpkin bread, etc. and visited until time for bed.
Christmas morning Santa had come and brought wonderful toys, including a new laptop for Drew (my caregiver for my husband and going to college at night - and his computer had broken); then the grandkids passed out presents that we each took turns opening, so everyone could see what others got and see their expressions when they opened one from them. It took two hours for 10 people to open all of their gifts! Everyone was very happy with their gifts. (while opening presents, I served the petite quiches and sausage balls my daughter had made.)
The Christmas dinner was in the evening, with most adults preparing their specialty. With turkey, spiral cut honey ham, dressing, string bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, etc. - with pumpkin pie and pecan pie for desert. By the time bedtime came around, everyone was ready!!
The next day the ladies (except me) went shopping. After lunch, we all went to see "Sherlock Holmes" except my daughter, who didn't want to see it and said she would keep my husband with her. The only problem was that once I got comfortable in the theater, without having to keep an eye on my husband, even though the movie was very good, I dozed off!!!!!! I must not have snored, because no one nudged me!
We've played card games, and Scene It (Star Trek version). We're all Trekkers (or Trekkies), and it is a fun game for us all.
I have just made two lasagnas for dinner tonight (my daughter said one wouldn't be enough for 4 hungry males) and my husband has been talked to, his hands held, handed his toys, and helped with eating when needed. All done as a matter of course, and not paid notice by each other...I'm very proud of my children and how they are reacting to my husband's declining condition.
We've all told how Diane would have insisted that we do this, and she would have loved that ----and Diane had done most of her Christmas shopping while in Hawaii, so my daughter wrapped the presents and Diane's gifts were handed out on Christmas morning. Diane had gotten me three wooden trivets that I will always treasure.
This has been a very good Christmas for us all....filled with love and wonderful memories of our cherished one who is watching over us.
Mary you sooo deserve this wonderful time with your family. I am quite sure that Diane your special Christmas Angel is smiling down on you all. Merry Christmas.
Christmas with Charlie in the nursing home was certainly different but not really as BAD as I expected. I think the fact that it was on Friday helped. Instead of everyone trying to visit him at the same time it was broken up throughout the weekend with the youngest daughter visiting today. It went smoothly for the most part and he was as attentive as he is able to be and seemed pleased with his gifts. I had lots of extended family around off and on and did not get too lonely.
We had a very nice Christmas. I picked Jim up at the NH at Noon on Christmas Eve. By the time I got home my two sons had arrived and were able to help get him into the house. We all sat around chatting, Jim did really well, and snacking and enjoying each others company. We needed two cars to all get to church. I sat between Jim and my youngest son Jeff, home from college. Holding their hands, was so emotional, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I was so happy to look down the entire length of the pew and see it filled with my family. I was missing my daughter, so, but so greatful, to have Jim by my side. We arrived home to a big family dinner of anti pasto, lasagna and good Chianti.then gathered to watch A Christmas Story. The silly movie is a tradition that Jim started with us a few years ago. I love it. We got the boys to bed and Mom, Jeff and I sat up talking until midnight! We drank two bottles of champagne! Jeff started this new traditon last year when Jim was in the hospital.
The boys had to be wakened at 7, as we adults couldn't wait any longer. Proud Papa Jim was up at 4:45 anxious for the festivities to begin I think :o) We all gathered and took turns opening our gifts, with the boys getting 3 to our 1, lol. We munched on hot biscuits, bagels, jam and coffee laced with Bailey Irish Cream, another Christmas morning traditon. Every cup of coffee should taste that good :o) (Oh my, it does sound like we all did quite a bit of drinking, it really wasn't so much, lol!
We all relaxed and played with the boys and their toys, napped and had a wonderful roast beef dinner followed by a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, ice cream and Christmas cookies. We watched another movie, All About Steve, silly, but these days I prefer silly. It was early to bed.
The day after, I got Jim ready to return Jim to the NH. On my ride home, Autumn and I "talked" about the holiday and listened to my Kenny Chesney CD, and I played, "I'm Alive" several times over :o)
Today was spent cleaning and napping. All in all, a very nice Christmas.
I really enjoyed reading your postings about your Christmas. This is the same as it used to be for me and I am thankful for the memories. However, it was just the opposite this year. In fact, I am almost hesitant to post this because it seems like throwing cold water on your beautiful experiences and I don't want to do that. Suffice it to say that there was just the two of us and DW didn't realize it was Christmas. Spent a great deal of the day in bed. Lots of other problems too, but, I read Joan's blog before posting this and decided to try to let them go by the wayside.
Our day began with me cooking. My dh was present in body but out of it in mind. He forgot it was Christmas and had to be reminded thru out the day. He had good spirits and all went well. After the lunch with one of his brothers and our youngest son, we went to my sisters for her oldest son's birthday party. Other than the fact that it was a very long day it all went well. Of course if you ask my dh what was going on, he would not know. He just knows that he goes with me and I will tell you what is going on...... Not that he has totally lost all recognition of what is happening, just that he just goes with the flow not really knowing what the flow is. He does know that I will keep him safe and that is all he knows. He is a sweetheart and tries really hard to help but can't much anymore. His mind is not registering what is being said and we all know how hard that makes things. I am blessed this year just knowing he is here and so loving. As the day went on into evening he did get overwhelmed with the activity around him. By the time we got home he was depressed because he was in such a fog. He went to bed and cried. Our youngest son who is disabled really had an eye opening experience when seeing his father like that. Over all it was as good as it could be. It is a blessing full of beautiful memories I will carry with me forever. My dh tried so hard to understand and be part of what was going on but really had no clue unless I clued him in.
Ours was OK. Kind of nice feelings, and sad feelings all rolled into one melancholy day. The two teens and I. One said they were pleased with the day as they were anticipating it being depressing since their Dad was not here with us. They have many very happy Christmas day memories as their Dad was always Mr. Christmas, wrapping fancy packages, outdoing everyone esle. Kelley (19 yrs) said she was very afraid it would be a depressing day, and all it would take would be for one of us to break down and cry and it would be a snow ball effect for the rest of us. We kept Christmas small, and we all got only a couple things for each other. Then my older son and his family decided to come the 26th instead of the 25th so it actually took a little pressure off of the day. I did a rather simple early supper for the kids and I (Turkey breast in the crock pot, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls, and some pumpkin pie). I saved the ham for the next day when sons family came knowing they like ham more than turkey. A few times we would glance over at DH's urn, and some times we even mentioned his name and a story. But nobody fell apart.......at least if anyone did it was in private. We, I believe all made an effort to be cautious about "how" we spoke of Paul. We shared things that brought a smile to us, and therefore we could feel fairly certain that it would make others smile too.
OUr day was fairly typical of times past..son and DIL way late to arrive (sons fault), and then they brought remote control vehicles for the young guys (grandkids..his nephews) so we had race cars going every where while I was trying to get dinner going..our son always has a big spoon to stir up any situation..frankly could have shot him, but the young guys loved it, of course. Other than that..dinner was very late, broken oven..raw potatoes...that ridiculous drill..but it all worked out. G was very good during all the upheaval and noise which was a welcome surprise. Our wonderful SIL took over the kitchen clean up totally..wouldn't let me do one thing and even hand washed left over wine glasses etc.so i wouldn't need to do a second dishwasher load. He is such a love. Count thy blessings.
dean, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. One of the reasons my daughter's family didn't come to visit until the day after Christmas was that my husband can no longer handle that much fuss. And we are only talking about 3 additional people.
So I arranged lots of quiet for him, and he still was agitated when they left around 1pm on Sunday after only 24 hours with us.
Two years ago we were still doing a huge Christmas with my daughter's family here for 3 or 4 days, a huge tree, and enough presents that we couldn't put them under the tree and needed to make piles next to each person. Huge meals every day, and breakfast stratas too. It is amazing how fast it all ended.
all the children were here on Christmas eve, they all had to visit in-laws for Christmas day, we made it just fine, had finger foods ,none of us wanted to cook, we talked about dh once in awhile, i noticed they all took turns looking at the picture I put up on the wall, it was on my dresser but bought a new frame and hung it, he deserves a spot in the living room.I was so proud of myself, didn`t lose it once, woke up on Christmas day, felt fine all of a sudden I cried for over an hour, I had dinner at one of the daughters along with her in-laws and all her mother in law did was complain about her self and her husband, I wanted to explain enjoy each other time is to short, I kept my mouth shut.I must say though it went much better than I thought it would, now to get through the New YEAR. Gail
My Christmas was absolutely horrific. My daughter went out of town with the grandkids to visit the in-laws. My dw wanted a prime rib from Outback and so my son and I ordered takeout from Outback (yes prime rib to go). Unfortunately, they packed the wrong salad and my dw got very agitated and angry. We arrived at 4pm, spent an hour calming her down,ran back to the Outback to pick up the correct salad. and ate our cold meal together. Then my son decided to watch a movie with her, but she got agitated again, and wanted to be alone. We left at 6:15, heartbroken and sad because we could not even get to the presents. We will try to celebrate the holiday this week when my daughter returns.
DH, my sister, and I went to church Christmas eve. We always have a catered dinner followed by a brief service of readings and carols. It was a good evening spent with lots of close friends. Christmas day, I cooked a big turkey dinner. I picked up my sister around noon. We opened presents and then were joined by another couple for dinner. After we ate, we played a new game I bought. It's called "Reminiscing." It has questions about events since the 1950s. I hoped it would be something DH could do since it relied on long-term and not short-term memory. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer any of the questions without a lot of prodding on my part. The rest of us enjoyed it. Everyone left around 5:00, and DH and I had a quiet evening.
The only sad part of the day was that neither of our sons was here. One isn't able to come on religious holidays because his wife is a minister. The other refuses to fly on holidays. I guess I really don't blame him. He's coming in a couple of weeks instead.
Dean and Starling, I'm chiming in with you. It wasn't a horrific day, but is wasn't a joyous day, either. Put on a brave face for my grandkids, and got through it. Christmas Eve I went to midnight Mass by myself, but I have lots of friends there so I wasn't alone. In my heart I know the holidays will never be the same, but it still makes me sad. I'm so glad to read the posts of friends who did have a joyous Christmas. Thank you for sharing with us.
My daughter sent me the best gift. She made a calendar (very professionally done) Each page had family pictures - my deceased parents, my childhood, my children as they grew up and Jean & me I'll treasure it forever.
Carolyn, My neice in Scotland made one for me a few years ago. I am the only one left in my family, parents and 7 of eight children have all passed. I still have it. The only picture I didn't like was the one of me about 7 - 8 years old holding a doll. If I remember correctly it was taken in the basement of Woolworths in Liverpool, England. I'm sure she could have found a better one. LOL
My holiday sucked. period. Visited my parents in Newport News, who were very generous...I'm blessed to have them, I know. Mom and I CAME DOWN WITH fLU SYMPTOMS. ICK...BARF. I know. So, I left a day early and tried to meet my youngest daughter in Richmond. Ended up spending an hour with her in a CVS parking lot because I got lost, lost in the pouring rain in twilight. Finally got home. Next two days, had daughters come to my house from Richmond ( BAGS of laundry in hand). They went to see their dad in the nursinghome. I wouldn't. I'm too much of a mess, emotionally, for so many reasons. Caught a lot of flack for it. Apparently, he didn't even notice I was missing from the picture. Th3re's still a lot of denial on th girl's part. Apparently, because he gobbled down a whopper Junior and a small chocolate shake, he's just fine. One daughter who had visited him with me the week before admonished me for checking to see if he were dry. He wasn't and I asked an aid to change him. Boy, did I catch hell from my daughter. She says I probably embarrass him in front of others and I should never do that again. Well, that's all the news that is news, as Paul Harvey would say. Oh, and happy New Year.
Seems like many of these posts are saying that it wasn't as bad a we "feared" it would be. With ALZ affecting my Mom and DH, I feared and anticipated many problems before the actual holiday. I tried to prepare as much as possible before hand and all went well, or as well as it goes for us! With the declines from ALZ I think we are all exhausted by the fear and planning for any special day or activity. Our LO's are changing constantly and we have to hurry up and adjust for every event. It's tiring and out of the norm. Bottom line, I am happy and grateful that things went well, which means fairly uneventfully. My teenage son has seen ALOT these past few years and I try to keep things as smooth as possible for him. I do not care at all about New Year's. DH cannot stay up past 9 pm and Mom will be in bed in NH by 7:30. Friend coming over for a short holiday drink and then it will be over. Now THAT's another feeling that I have regarding holidays and special events with ALZ, I am ALWAYS glad when they are over! No "afterglow" whatsoever,just relief......
When I took dh into the guest bedroom in Mom's house to get ready to go to church on Christmas eve he got undressed but instead of putting his nice clothes on he climbed in bed, said he wasn't going. I didn't dare leave him alone, so I got Mom (who was all dressed up and looking forward to the unusual evening service because she can't drive at night anymore) to start calling people who might be going to church (which is in a different town). I went back in to the bedroom, Siem wasn't sleeping yet and I said I would really enjoy it a lot more if he came with us (still pretending that I would leave him at home) and then he finally got up and got ready. We were still in plenty of time. A wonderful service especially because I get to see two cousins that I hardly ever see. Siem was amazed afterwards at all the people who had said hi to him, calling him by name. Mom is the oldest active church member and of course everybody knows we come home from Holland, he doesn't have a clue about who anybody is.
Christmas day I had to get up early with Mom to stuff the turkey and get it in the oven. My oldest brother and his wife joined us for the noon meal with all the trimmings. I couldn't keep Mom from doing the turkey but I did manage to arrange for easy veg and salads instead of the elaborate dishes she used to make. Well, not entirely we still did her cranberry salad. And dh peeled all the potatoes (I forgot to watch him and he peeled too many, but the leftovers were good too.)
Our family celebration was as always Dec 27-29 in a house that Mom rents at Lakeside. All three of my brothers and all their families were there. Four teenagers and too many little kids to count! We start with a choose-or-steal half-funny half-serious heirloom gift draw, which Mom started after Dad died, and which we spend a day preparing. Big hit this year were some Life Magazines from the 50s and 60s that she had saved (death of Kennedy etc). Lots of fun. Then the next day the big gift exchange with the littlest one opening all her gifts first, right on up to me and then Mom. Siem at first did not want to stay, wanted to go home, but was better after our son arrived from Allentown with the kids. he went to bed early both nights and slept fine, enjoyed the FOOD -- everybody brings stuff and we drowned in it -- and there was usually someone to take him aside to play Chinese checkers or do a simple puzzle. he also enjoyed coloring with the kids. Mom and I always have a jigsaw puzzle going.
I some respects our Christmas wasn't that much different from usual. One difference was that I could not put up the tree by myself, so had to wait for help. Our son arrived, from Santa Fe, late Christmas Eve. On Christmas day he put up the tree and he and I decorated it. Then he prepared the meal for Christmas night (he is a vegetarian). Our 2 girls and families arrived after dinner Christmas night. As usual we did our presents the next day, and then had our usual Christmas dinner - Turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberry sauce, and Chocolate steamed pudding with hard sauce for dessert. They all stayed for the week between Christmas and New Years, so we had plenty of time to visit. They got to see what I deal with, particularly when DW had a major #2 mess. One night we watched the movie "Up" (see separate post on that). On New Year's Eve we watched the new Star Trek movie (when everyone was much younger), then watched the ball fall in New York and toasted the New Year with champagne. DW did well and seemed to enjoy watching everyone, but did not interact. On New Year's day, the first day of the major snow storm, our son had to drive to Boston (5 hours in good conditions) to catch a plane to Santa Fe, and our younger daughter and family drove home to Massachusetts. The next day, the height of the storm, our older daughter and husband drove to Manchester, NH (4.5 hours) to get a plane to Chicago. When they all checked in our son said he had no problems and even arrived in Boston earlier than he planned. His flights were completely uneventful. Our daughter said the drive to Massachusetts was not bad. The next day our daughter said the drive to Manchester was OK, but their flight was delayed by 5 hours due to "mechanical problems". It had nothing to do with the weather.
The only down-side of the week was that our younger daughter's dog, a miniature schnauzer (sp?) was sick and ended up spending the weekend in the hospital, and then had to spend each day at the vet getting special treatment. Report now is that she is better.
I've enjoyed reading about your Christmases. Ours was ok. No major difficulties. Our family gathered at our son's home for Christmas Eve. Our clan has increased so that a group of 30 is too big for our home! Anyway, it was nice and DH did very well considering everything. He did want to come home early though, so we missed the fun.. We were assigned 'countries' to represent and bring foods particular to that country. "Mexico' was very well represented with a huge Pinata in the shape of a birthday cake! The adult kids and grands, had a great time with that thing! Daughter took pictures so I saw some of the funny doings that went on after we left..
I was able to go visit a couple of facilities the day after Christmas..and, since daughter had come for the weekend.. was able to get a hotel room and spend one night away in a town about an hour away from home.. I think these facilities are located too far from the mainstream of our family's work/shopping etc. Most of our travels are to College Station and Houston. Daughters each live in the Tomball/North Houston area. Anyway, the weather was beautiful and it was interesting to visit on a holiday when no smiling administrators etc. were around.
New Years activities went by the wayside a long time ago..but it was nice to see the RoseBowl parade. I've always been amazed at the beautiful and creative floats. Always loved to see the Palamino horses with the silver saddles etc.. Today, everyone is back to their regular routines and the new year is like a fresh new calendar, waiting to be filled in..and some resolutions to take effect... walk more, eat healthier, yada yada yada..
Christmas of 09?? Dec. 28th was my daughter's 40th birthday so we planned a surprise birthday party for her with my oldest daughter and her family coming in from out of state for Christmas Eve and staying until the 29th. How did it turn out? Out of state daughter went into the hospital on the 23rd and was there until the 28th. It wasn't until yesterday that the doctors told her that they think they can rule out pancreatic cancer. Not 100% sure until they can do further testing. This was our first Christmas without DH and then to add the worry about my daughter didn't make for a Merry Christmas. To top it off, the out of state daughter had shipped all of her kids presents to my house so Christmas morning they woke up to Mom in the hospital and no presents under the tree. I think that bothered me more than DH being gone. The one's in town went to Christmas Eve Mass and then I went home, by myself, and they went home to their company. Christmas morning I loaded the car with presents and went to my middle daughter's house for gifts and dinner. The day was good, especially watching the kids open presents. Out of state daughter called New Years Eve and said they were coming for New Years. It is a 5-6 hour drive and they got here at 11:50PM. We watched the ball fall and then sat down and opened Christmas presents that the kids had waited a week for. Daughter was very weak and tired and didn't do much more than sleep in the recliner only getting up long enough to come to the table when we ate. They stayed until the 2nd and those days were more like Christmas than Christmas was. All the kids at home made for a lot of enjoyment. Christmas activities: youngest granddaughter had outpatient surgery on the 23rd to remove a cyst from her thyroid, son-in-law had neck brace removed Christmas week after 6 week recovery from repairing two herniated discs in his neck, my youngest daughter still wearing a sling from rotator cuff surgery, middle grand daughter had MRI on her back, oldest granddaughter was wearing a 21 day monitor to check on what was going on with her heart, oldest daughter in hospital with pancreatitist and posible pancreatic cancer (this one we're still waiting to rule it out completly). SIL with the herniated discs was released from medical after six months only to find out that the company he worked for told him he no longer had a job. Sounds like fun doesn't it? To top it off SIL from out of state fell down the stairs after they got back home after New Years. Our luck might be changing because he wasn't hurt.
All I can say is I'm glad 2009 is over and pray that 2010 is a better year.
Oh, Joyce, I can't believe all that! How horrible for you. I do trust your daughter's test results will be good and that everyone else is recovering okay. We'll hope 2010 IS a better year.
Joyce, After readings your comments, I felt so bad for you. But, when I read your line about your SIL and said "your luck must be changing because he wasn't hurt", I'm afraid I laughed.... At least you have a sense of humor.
I'm really sorry Joyce. I didn't mean to make light of your situation. I just thought you had put a little levity in that last line. I'm sorry, apparently I was wrong. I'm a caregiver as well, who had a very bad year, as did most of the people on this site.
Bev, A little levity is exactly what I was after. Laughter never hurts. There just isn't much to laugh at as a caregiver so we have to find humor whereever we can. I think last year was just a bad year. As my mother always said "When it rains, it pours". Now I wish it would rain because I'm tired of snow. I'm ready for summer. Here's to a better 2010, OOPS wait a minute, I forgot my drink for a toast. OK "Here's to a better year for everyone"
On this christmas eve we have a Canadian astronaut on board the international space station and he has recorded the first original christmas song from outer space today. Not fabulous but if you think about him spinning around up there singing a christmas song to you maybe it will warm your heart for a moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YufsbE4-jmY
You are one of the first people to hear this. He just recorded it up there a few hours ago.
My Christmas Day-so far: No family here or even near, so we are/were alone. Christmas Eve afternoon, my handy-man, wife, two daughters and their boyfriends came by. Brought goodies for us and especially for DH. Had a lot of fun, laughter, visiting. Even the boyfriends joined in - and I didn't know them. Everyone was wonderful to DH.
Christmas morning, we opened our gifts - but he was so confused he had no idea what they were for, does not comprehend Christmas or the gifts. I took him for a little ride to look at the lights, but, again, no idea what the lights were for or why. So sad.
My handy-man called later, said for me not to cook today, they were bringing our Christmas dinner over this afternoon! She is a wonderful cook, and they are so kind - but I could not believe this - that they would take the time from their family Christmas to bring our dinner!
When we opened the gift from DH's son/wife, I was shocked! Gift certificate to a luxury hotel about 3 hours from us. Have planned to go before, but was always booked up. Maybe I can find an opening soon, just to get away for a couple of days. Have no idea how DH will do, but am going to try it. I NEED IT! It's at the Inn at Chritmas Place in Pigeon Forge TN. All rooms are decorated with trees, etc., adjoining restaurant called the Partridge & Pear - wonderful food.
He had no idea of our anniversary on Sat. and Sunday was the 2nd anniversary of the death of my son.
So...we have had the good and the bad all weekend. Or rather the good and the sad. But, you know, it is what it is, as we say. I'm just thankful each morning when I wake up and Dh is still with me.
I went to candlelight service last night at 11:00 with oldest daugther,when we walked in the pastor that had my LO's funeral came up to me an told me my tie which had the Grinch on it wasn't appropriate hmmmm kinda shocked me because I didn't expect it an didn't know if he was joking, I told him the Alzheimers Grinch stole my Christmas an we sat down,kinda ruined the whole service for me cause I couldn't stop thinking of his comment
We had a good Christmas. Our 19 year old daughter is determined to make it festive, and she gets me in the spirit. We had a delicious middle of the day dinner of goose and brocolli and red cabbage, and then both pumpkin pie and an apple dessert. My big present to my husband was an android tablet, which I'm hoping if he can learn to use will work for him for longer than his laptop. We put on an app called BIG Launcher that makes it much easier to use. He's wandering around the house now because our is watching Dr. Who on his computer.
"first Christmas" for me. Last night went to son and family for supper and exchange gifts with them Today I cooked and took meal to my sister in ALF. The rest of family came. I had asked to use a room there that has tables and a pool table. My sons and grandson were playing pool after our lunch when one of the men who lives there came in. He told them it was his favorite thing to do. So thereafter he joined in and seemed so happy. When we had to leave I told my sons that was the best thing they could have done for him. He asked my son to come again so they could play. It made for a happy ending to our day. As for me personally there is always that empty feeling - just alway feeling something is wrong and I know that empty feeling will always be there. At least that "first" for the holidays has past. They tell me it gets better. I''m waiting.