ISN'T THAT JUST WHAT I SAID?!

My brother is still in a nursing home.

Like he has been for the last nine months.

And he's decided he is tired of it, and wants to move out.

Like TODAY.

And he thought that if he can get himself up into the wheelchair, and then into my truck, then I can drive him cheerfully and happy and drop him off at his new home with his niece and nephew (i.e. my daughter and son) for a carefree rest of his existence.

I can appreciate how weary he must be of the facility.

But this is the same man who refused any type of inpatient involvement for months.

This is the same man who used to curse out the staff when they couldn't get to his needs immediately.

And most importantly, this is a man who needs probably about an additional six months of physical and occupational therapy before he is in any manner ready to face the outside world.

So he asks me, this morning, what he needs to do to get out the nursing facility, "for real."

And I told him:


- Begin to participate fully in all physical and occupational therapy.

- Get out of bed, into his wheelchair, and get involved in activities.



- Show a willingness to jump through the hoops at the facility.

- And then get discharged.


He didn't want to hear ANY of this from me.

And he TOLD me this, in no uncertain terms (and a few terms that I would not repeat in polite company).

I suggested that he ask a staff person, then, and see what they said.

He called a nurse in, and guess what she told him?

Exactly what I had said.

And I mean, EXACTLY.

She also added one thing I hadn't been quite brave enough to mention:

Have a better attitude.

We'll have to see if that is possible.

FEELING OLD SUDDENLY

Some things I knew to expect as I got older.

I anticipated the aches and pains.

I honestly did expect more grey hairs to be on my head by now.

And I am completely surprised that more of me hasn't fallen completely apart by now.

But I am still amazed how much credibility I suddenly have.

See, when you get to a certain age, people sort of assume you know what you're talking about.

I've never been that quiet retiring sort; I've always been more than a little vocal.

But as I've gotten older, my opinions seem to suddenly hold much more weight with people.

I think I could get used to this.

OKAY PEOPLE LET'S JUST ACT LIKE ADULTS FOR A CHANGE

This is getting ridiculous, U.S. public.

No one is trying to destroy the freedom of the American public.

No one is trying to set up an insidious plan that somehow will overthrow the entire government.

We do have not criminals running this country into the ground.

States seceding from the U.S.A. will not accomplish anything.

Come on, let's get back to normal work here.

I'm becoming very tired of all of this.

CHRIST-LIKE OR ACCEPTING ABUSE?

I know I've raised this question before, but it came up again yesterday.

Someone wants something.

I'm not willing to immediately give this person what they want.

This someone then erupts into a temper tantrum, lashing out with angry words and threats.

(Sounds like our government right now, doesn't it?)

I then end up retreating and giving the someone what they wanted in the first place.


Problems?

Number one; I've reward bad behavior.

Number two; I've now in a bad and depressed mood.


This would all be much simpler if I was dealing with a five-year old.

However, I am taking about my sixty-two year old brother.


And since I am striving to become more Christ-like, I wonder if this is abuse or simply to be tolerated as Christ tolerated and forgave the people who worked against him.

Should I be working on walking out the door once the abusive behavior begins? Or should I focus on forgiving him while still now bowing to his whims?

When is it service and when is it abuse?

Or am I supposed to teach a 62 year old some manners?

Any thoughts?

OHIO

A friend on Facebook was just at Kent State, on "an unexpected stop... 43 1/2 years later", and posted some photos that are on the right - the "now":

On the left are the images that have been burned into my memory.

  And the song "Ohio" , which was released four days after the shooting, made a huge impact on me.

CHURCH IN PAJAMAS

Twice a year, my church broadcasts a general conference.

And instead of having to get up, get dressed, and drive to church, I can sit and watch it at home in my p.j.s.

And as one with limited hearing, I especially appreciate the subtitles.

When at church, although I sit in the very front pew, it's difficult to hear everything that is said.

I watch the lips of the person speaking, but all the other noise of a normal LDS church meeting often drowns out any chance of actually hearing what they are saying.



And I have often wished for some way to project subtitling directly under the speaker.

General Conference does that for me, and I appreciate it.

DADDY'S IN THE KITCHEN

While the government shutdown is playing havoc with our nation, it at least has brought about one positive thing.

My husband has taken over my kitchen.

He has three new books of recipes, one of bread-making, and three brand-new differing-sizes crock-pots sitting on the kitchen island.

He has made stuffed apples, to be served later with ice cream.

If this shut-down goes on for any length of time, I'm going to get fat.