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In May of 2005 my Dad went to a nursing home. He had been suffering with Parkinson's disease and Dementia with Lewey Bodies for at least a year at that point and the drs. beleived that putting him in a nursing home would be the best course of action for all concerned. That fall, Mom moved into Pelican Rapids to a senior housing apartment building. It was nicer for her so she could get to visit Dad more easily and I didn't worry about her as much being out in the country by herself. In February of 2006 my Mom put their house on the market which made it necessary for our family to go out there and pack, move, and clean out the contents of the house so that prospective buyers could look at the house. My sister Brenda, sister-in-law Kelly and Jay and I met at Mom's for a whirlwind weekend of work. Brenda brought her 11 m
onth old twins and I had Hannah (5 mo.) with me so we required some childcare help. Mom could handle 2, but probably not all 3 little ones at once. Kelly brought her daughter Sarah along to help with the babies while the rest of us went out to the house to get to work. My friend Maija and her son Shane came from Fergus Falls to help and some of the members of Mom and Dad's church in Fergus came to help too. One of their neighbors came later in the day with his truck to help haul things to the storage unit that I had rented previously that week. So, with everyone in place, we got to work. It was a lot of work, but I will treasure many of those hours of work and the time spent with my family and friends. I had the pleasure of boxing up all of Dad's books. I found myself having tears come to my eyes as I found notes in the margins of books and references to other books, etc. inside the books and realized that Dad's mind was so much different than it had been. He had been a scholar and now he would never again be the same (until heaven anyway). At the end of the day after we had emptied the house of it's contents and new that we still had to go back and clean...we felt even more tired! That's when I suggested we hire a cleaning service to go in and do the cleaning. We all then relaxed for what was left of our evening before taking off the next morning for our prospective homes.
After this trip, I started talking to Jay about moving Mom and Dad out here so we could be of more help to them. I wasn't sure Mom would go for it, but when I asked her, she said..."Let's do it!" I was very excited and started making arrangements to move Dad to a nursing home out here and Mom into a senior housing apt. The end of June, Dad was transported by medi-van to the Colonial Village nursing home in Colby, WI and on June 3rd we brought Mom and all her belongings to her apt. in Abbotsford, WI. Once again during her packing and moving, Maija and her son Shane came to help us! They are truly great friends. We also had a wonderful turn out here in Abbotsford to help unload. Jay's Dad came with 3 Amish boys and their Father to help unload the U-Haul. God provides! It's wonderful having Mom and Dad nearby again.
onth old twins and I had Hannah (5 mo.) with me so we required some childcare help. Mom could handle 2, but probably not all 3 little ones at once. Kelly brought her daughter Sarah along to help with the babies while the rest of us went out to the house to get to work. My friend Maija and her son Shane came from Fergus Falls to help and some of the members of Mom and Dad's church in Fergus came to help too. One of their neighbors came later in the day with his truck to help haul things to the storage unit that I had rented previously that week. So, with everyone in place, we got to work. It was a lot of work, but I will treasure many of those hours of work and the time spent with my family and friends. I had the pleasure of boxing up all of Dad's books. I found myself having tears come to my eyes as I found notes in the margins of books and references to other books, etc. inside the books and realized that Dad's mind was so much different than it had been. He had been a scholar and now he would never again be the same (until heaven anyway). At the end of the day after we had emptied the house of it's contents and new that we still had to go back and clean...we felt even more tired! That's when I suggested we hire a cleaning service to go in and do the cleaning. We all then relaxed for what was left of our evening before taking off the next morning for our prospective homes.
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