Tuesday, October 18, 2022 7:30 PM

Hello, welcome!

  Today was a very lack luster day. Larry was very blah. He said, "Not now!" to me helping him do mouth care, which means getting rid of the accumulation of 'stuff' that coats everything. While breathing with his mouth opens, it hardens so that his tongue cannot freely move, impairing his speech. I told him to tell me what he wanted to do, as I wasn't going to stay if he didn't want to do anything but sleep. "Cards!" he said.  We played a game of rummy.

  The physios came & transferred him to his wheelchair. He doesn't open is eyes & generally only nods when they ask him something. The speech therapist was working on swallowing exercises with Larry. He stopped, as the film was coming loose from the roof of his mouth. She took a sponge on a stick & tried to help him, but he gagged, then threw up. That was the end of that, and actually the end of his day as far as any exercise went.

  Larry's desire to do anything but sleep was zip! I told him about the sign I saw outside the hospital. "If you don't leave the driveway, you won't learn to drive!" He agreed. Then he said he'd like to see a certain friend. We phoned his friend & they chatted for a bit & his friend will come visit soon. He also spoke to his aunt & cousin in Williams Lake. I know he was trying to go beyond the lack of enthusiasm he'd had all day.  As I was leaving, he said "I want you to help me do my mouth care tomorrow!"

  My tolerance today was pretty thin, when it came to Larry's lack of effort in every way. Yes, it's extremely unfortunate about the nausea, but not everything he turns down has been affected by that. I don't want to be Sargent Major, but I really need to find a way to support & encourage him, not giving in to his lethargy or whatever it is. We can't afford to both be discouraged on the same day!

 I stopped by the river on the way home. Of course, there's a heron in the photo above, can you see it? The sun is setting earlier each day, & I keep missing it. At 6:00 I saw in my rear-view mirror, the sun, so big & red, beautifully showing the silhouette of the skeleton structure of the new Royal Columbian tower.

 God bless you. I read a book "Peace begins with me!" I'll have to maintain that attitude for: "Enthusiasm - Hope -Perseverance - Optimism - Encouragement - Courage & Faith begins with me!" How about you? Not always easy, but someone has to do it! xoxo