The other day at work, I was trying to get Jane (names have been changed to protect the innocent) to eat her dinner (I have never seen her eat... I don't know how she survives). Jane is ancient and with alzeheimer's. I also believe she is near death based on various things she does (I read tons of books on this sort of thing after Paul died). While I was coaxing her to eat, she had her face very close to mine and was saying various nonsense, but cute, things... like, she asked me to tell Pete that she liked him (I have no idea who Pete is). All of a sudden her eyes very quickly shifted from mine to somewhere over my shoulder. She pulled her face back from mine, still staring over my shoulder and said, "Who's that there?"
I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing but the elevator. I said, "Who?"
"That man there."
"What man?
"That nice man standing behind you."
"Is it anyone you know?"
"No, I've never seen him before." She then began reaching just beyond me, her hand grazing my shoulder.
"What does he look like, Jane?"
"He looks like a nice man. He's kinda tall, and he's smiling, and he looks almost like an angel. Yes, that's it, he looks like an angel standing there. What a nice looking angel!"
Sadly, we were then interrupted by one of the nurses. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck and I was covered in goosebumps. It felt like all the blood had drained from my face.
In many of the books I read, they talked about how when a person is dieing slowly (e.g. old age, disease) they are often inbetween worlds... this one that we know, and the world beyond (in my belief, heaven). Often times they see things that are definetely very real to them but we are unable to see them because they are not of this world. All of the books said that the best thing to do is not tell the person that it is in their imagination (I sure wish I knew this before Paul died!), but to ask them as many questions as you can. Some books argue with this, saying that it is simply hallucinations... the mind playing tricks on them. I like to think the former train of thought is true.
I consider it a true gift that I was able to share this experience with Jane.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
My Weekend
This weekend FLEW by!
Friday I took Brandon to meet up with his Gparents in Banning Jct. Then I did a couple of errands for Jeff (BTW... you owe me $.70!) and a little shopping at the mall. Old Navy seemed to be the store of choice this shopping trip.
Saturday Jeff and I ate bkfst at the Rustic Inn in Castle Danger. He bought me this really cool chunky silver necklace with a pale green stone (what is this called??!!) in their neat gift shop. Love it! Then we headed north to the Silver Bay Golf course where we played eighteen in gale-force winds. At about the 11th hole I finally figured out how to keep my ball from heading to the right... I'm thrilled! It's only taken like 5 years to figure it out...
If you're a golfer and you haven't tried the Silver Bay course, I highly recommend it. ESPECIALLY, over the Two Harbors course. It is clean and really well-maintained. It's only a 9-hole course, but that makes it all the more fun since you can compare how you did the first time around.
Later we met Jennifer, Perry and Dasia for dinner (which ended up being just appetizers.... how did this happen) and drinks. I'm really glad Perry brought Dasia... I hadn't really had a chance to get to know here when I worked there and this gave me an opportunity. She seems really, really nice and I think she's really good for Perry.
It was especially nice to see Jenn! We laughed the entire night at things no one else found funny. I really need to be better at organizing get-togethers with her.
Sunday Jeff and I headed to the cities for the Twins game. He won tickets... and wow! were they great tickets! 4 rows directly behind home plate! We ate incredibly expensive hot dogs (with proceeds going to Concordia Academy... imagine that!) and did a lot of people watching and I kept the stats in the scorecard (what a geek I can be!). We had a fantastic time!
That night we stayed at the Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington. Got a great price -- $65! -- not bad for a 4-star hotel. It was really, really nice. Done European style, which of course I loved being the European-traveling snob that Jeff claims I am.
We ate steaks at the Wildfire (?) followed by Creme Brulee. Nummy!
The next day we did some shopping at Dick's and the MOA. I got another pair of Crocs for work.... only $29 at Nordstroms... in Fuschia. These are great! And if they get messed at work, I can just hose them off! And they are super comfy! I also got a really cool hat.
Then we picked up Brandon from his Gparents and took him to the Thai restaraunt across from the Farmer's Market in St Paul... it used to be the Sawatadee, but now it has a new name and I can't remember what it's called. Really Nummy!
Tuesday we golfed 9 holes at Lakeview in Two Harbors. This course sucks. There is more weeds than grass and if your ball goes in the rough you'll never see it again. But, we still managed to have a pretty good time.
The afternoon was spent watching the Pink Panther and grilling burgers. Later we went to the TH fireworks. We sat in front of the depot which was a perfect location. It was actually a really good show. Better than a lot of the ones I've seen in the cities.
Today I had lunch with the ladies at Nokomis. Nokomis is this really hip restaurant on the scenic hwy. http://www.nokomisonthelake.com/
I had my fav Basil, Tomato, Ricotta sammich. Nummy, Nummy, Nummy!
Then Brandon had a baseball game (lost 5-4). And then we met a group of friends in town for pizza at Do North.
Whew!
Friday I took Brandon to meet up with his Gparents in Banning Jct. Then I did a couple of errands for Jeff (BTW... you owe me $.70!) and a little shopping at the mall. Old Navy seemed to be the store of choice this shopping trip.
Saturday Jeff and I ate bkfst at the Rustic Inn in Castle Danger. He bought me this really cool chunky silver necklace with a pale green stone (what is this called??!!) in their neat gift shop. Love it! Then we headed north to the Silver Bay Golf course where we played eighteen in gale-force winds. At about the 11th hole I finally figured out how to keep my ball from heading to the right... I'm thrilled! It's only taken like 5 years to figure it out...
If you're a golfer and you haven't tried the Silver Bay course, I highly recommend it. ESPECIALLY, over the Two Harbors course. It is clean and really well-maintained. It's only a 9-hole course, but that makes it all the more fun since you can compare how you did the first time around.
Later we met Jennifer, Perry and Dasia for dinner (which ended up being just appetizers.... how did this happen) and drinks. I'm really glad Perry brought Dasia... I hadn't really had a chance to get to know here when I worked there and this gave me an opportunity. She seems really, really nice and I think she's really good for Perry.
It was especially nice to see Jenn! We laughed the entire night at things no one else found funny. I really need to be better at organizing get-togethers with her.
Sunday Jeff and I headed to the cities for the Twins game. He won tickets... and wow! were they great tickets! 4 rows directly behind home plate! We ate incredibly expensive hot dogs (with proceeds going to Concordia Academy... imagine that!) and did a lot of people watching and I kept the stats in the scorecard (what a geek I can be!). We had a fantastic time!
That night we stayed at the Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington. Got a great price -- $65! -- not bad for a 4-star hotel. It was really, really nice. Done European style, which of course I loved being the European-traveling snob that Jeff claims I am.
We ate steaks at the Wildfire (?) followed by Creme Brulee. Nummy!
The next day we did some shopping at Dick's and the MOA. I got another pair of Crocs for work.... only $29 at Nordstroms... in Fuschia. These are great! And if they get messed at work, I can just hose them off! And they are super comfy! I also got a really cool hat.
Then we picked up Brandon from his Gparents and took him to the Thai restaraunt across from the Farmer's Market in St Paul... it used to be the Sawatadee, but now it has a new name and I can't remember what it's called. Really Nummy!
Tuesday we golfed 9 holes at Lakeview in Two Harbors. This course sucks. There is more weeds than grass and if your ball goes in the rough you'll never see it again. But, we still managed to have a pretty good time.
The afternoon was spent watching the Pink Panther and grilling burgers. Later we went to the TH fireworks. We sat in front of the depot which was a perfect location. It was actually a really good show. Better than a lot of the ones I've seen in the cities.
Today I had lunch with the ladies at Nokomis. Nokomis is this really hip restaurant on the scenic hwy. http://www.nokomisonthelake.com/
I had my fav Basil, Tomato, Ricotta sammich. Nummy, Nummy, Nummy!
Then Brandon had a baseball game (lost 5-4). And then we met a group of friends in town for pizza at Do North.
Whew!
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