tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33729534082991726332012-02-06T10:50:18.414-10:00TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.comBlogger2051100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-27329631422477160012012-01-22T22:33:00.000-10:002012-01-22T22:33:21.028-10:00

Have I written about the new computer?   I was going to buy myself something with a 21-23" monitor, preferably one of the new all-in-one units so I wouldn't have to figure out a place for the tower.    Then my brother offered me an Apple laptop.  I countered with the 21" iMac.  With a TB of memory.  With all the software to allow it to do everything I need.  And a maintenance contract.  And

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-20904928078516051192011-12-24T16:20:00.000-10:002011-12-25T16:40:17.217-10:00

If you've been following this blog, or following my posts on Facebook, you don't need another summary of the year.  You know it has been long, and busy, with some highs and some lows.  You know that I sometimes struggle to focus on the positives.    Most of the time I am successful. Some of you have had more than your share of difficulties this year.   Several of you have lost a  beloved life

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-82023673411200507812011-12-21T12:00:00.000-10:002011-12-21T12:00:01.172-10:00

When the current version of the Episcopal hymnal was about to be published, our Bishop called all lay leaders to his annual Labor Day Weekend conference -- Friday dinner through Sunday lunch.  We moaned every year about giving up the entire holiday weekend, but always came away enriched with lessons that would stick in our minds and hearts.  That year the workshop leader was a member of the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-22784760842773072852011-12-17T21:18:00.000-10:002011-12-18T11:35:56.066-10:00

No, my world is not falling apart, although for the past 2 weeks I haven't been very confident of that. My mother caught a bug, then had the audacity to share it.  SHE went immediately onto an antibiotic and promptly recovered.  Not being 97 years old or sharing her risk factors, I didn't get the antibiotic.  Short version:  5 days into the second week of near-immobility, I picked up remaining

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-38417510658943091412011-11-05T22:18:00.000-10:002011-11-05T22:18:32.492-10:00

November. Clocks change.  Except in Arizona and Hawaii. In those parts of the world where there is real winter, leaves are changing -- or have changed and fallen. In Honolulu, the solar clothes dryer is once more unpredictable, with rains lurking in the valleys.  It's important to get the laundry in as soon as it is dry rather than when it is convenient. Writing and research are taking a

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-87104970203054008762011-10-05T16:46:00.000-10:002011-10-05T16:46:23.497-10:00

The new world is the California State Prison System.  I've learned a lot about it in the last 24 hours.  A lot more than I ever thought I would need to know. I finally tracked down a long-time friend whom I lost track of when I moved to Hawaii, she changed jobs, and then moved.  Now I find her a widow (younger than I was when Ray passed) and a guest of the State of California in one of their

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-8914440798038605582011-09-08T22:34:00.000-10:002011-09-08T22:34:21.619-10:00

   Another aunt passed away this week.  Janet Lind Reese was my father's youngest sister.  I haven't seen her in years, only once since my grandmother -- her mother -- passed in 1982.  But we have corresponded, and she shared some of her family memories with me.  With her passing, a whole generation in that family is gone.  With the exception of my mother, all the spouses are gone as well. They

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-7615000606048022952011-08-27T21:41:00.000-10:002011-08-27T21:41:00.089-10:00

Five days after my last post, my aunt D passed away.  She was a breast cancer survivor, but succumbed to colon cancer.  It would  be interesting to know if the cancer in her colon was metastatic breast cancer that settled in her colon, or if it was a true colon cancer.  I didn't realize that cancer could metastasize that way until a friend was told that the tumor in his liver was lung cancer, not

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-69368964626033437782011-08-18T13:22:00.000-10:002011-08-18T13:22:50.214-10:00

Two friends have had surgery this summer because of practically non-existent circulation into their legs and feet. I've written about R before.  He is 80, had surgery in early summer involving a variety of magical things that medicine can go these days to correct circulation blockages in the extremities.  Now he is learning to live with a built-in defibrillator.  He has other heart issues, but

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-15321301125522977652011-08-06T08:16:00.000-10:002011-08-06T08:16:48.374-10:00

My church partners with an organization called the Institute for Human Services, commonly known as IHS.  If you know it was started by an Episcopal priest, and know a little of Christian symbols, you will recognize the significance of the name. On the first Friday of each month, a few of our faithful gather to produce enough Shepherd's Pie to serve 200-250 people.  It's always the same menu.  

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-88779654567401299292011-07-24T22:34:00.000-10:002011-07-24T22:34:18.398-10:00

Once upon a time, when you spent $70 on a piece of something that plugs into the wall (like a lamp or a radio or an electric blanket), you expected it to last for a day or two.  More literally, more than just a day or two.  Even more than just a year or two. Yes, Technies in the readership, you may now laugh.  ROFLYAO.  But one among you might have suggested a possible solution to my

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-51013684181939701742011-07-23T08:47:00.000-10:002011-07-23T08:47:16.687-10:00

I'd been wishing for a walking partner to be my motivation to actually get out the door and walk.  So I was thrilled when R called and asked, "Want to walk?" R prefers to walk indoors.  It's flat.  It's air conditioned.  You don't need an umbrella.  She suggested we walk at the local mall. I'd heard about how lots of seniors all over the country get their exercise by walking in a nearby mall.

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-6197848204702341332011-06-12T13:12:00.003-10:002011-06-13T17:47:43.667-10:00

After months planning my own 50th-year-from-graduation reunion, and our celebratory weekend last month, this weekend it was my mother's turn. Mother graduated from Kamehameha School for Girls in Honolulu in 1931.  That's 80 years ago.  That's before the Kapalama campus was opened.  In her day, the Girls Campus took up most of the makai (towards the ocean) block of King Street between Kalihi St.

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-21624988933925826652011-06-07T20:59:00.000-10:002011-06-07T20:59:34.776-10:00

Before sharing Sophie and her new skill, check out my brother's post for yesterday, June 6, 2011.  Read about the Waikiki Surf Club honoring our father with a Members Only commerative t-shirt.  That's ilind.net! Meanwhile ... yesterday was a busy day.  It needed to be.  It was Ray's birthday.  There were lots of ways to remember him.... One was a picnic at the neighborhood beach park with a

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-40545696976146180822011-06-05T23:09:00.000-10:002011-06-05T23:09:56.787-10:00

Despite the weekend thunder storms and rain, a group from Daughters of Hawaii visited the Manoa Heritage Center on Saturday.   As its name implies, the Heritage Center preserves the history of Manoa Valley.   The site is on property belonging to members of the Cooke family.  The first Cookes in Hawaii were missionaries and educators.  Later generations went into banking, business, education and

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-20111983035616459922011-06-02T19:19:00.000-10:002011-06-02T19:19:56.157-10:00

Bobbie is one of those high school classmates I re-connected with at our recent reunion. We were not particularly close in high school, but I wasn't particularly close to most of my classmates while in high school.  My social life, such as it was, seemed to center on church activities and with the few classmates who lived at this end of the island. Maybe we're both just a little shy about

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-43935440188822113152011-05-23T22:05:00.001-10:002011-05-23T22:13:40.671-10:00

Fifty years and a couple of weeks ago, 50+ seniors from University High School, Honolulu, Hawaii walked into Andrews Amphitheater at the University of Hawaii.   We left as graduates, the newest members of the then very small group of alumni.   Fifty of us survive.  Thirty something of us gathered this weekend in Honolulu. For some of us, it was the first time in 50 years we had seen most of

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-88796823364286512422011-05-22T15:42:00.000-10:002011-05-22T15:42:26.565-10:00

What would you think, seeing this guy trundling unattended downs a sidewalk in your town at the beginning of the business day? Would you feel differently if the sidewalk was alongside the police station? Yup, trundling along, totally unattended, this little guy took up about half the sidewalk, and stood perhaps 2-2.5' tall.  The sidewalk next to police headquarters in Honolulu.  That "head"

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-8619971401523284272011-05-06T21:11:00.001-10:002011-05-06T21:11:59.137-10:00

My friend decided he wasn't ready to die.  Again. The vascular surgery, difficult though it was, apparently met its goal.  There is feeling where there was none only 2 weeks ago. He has successfully transition from IV to oral medications.  That pleased his doctors, who were not sure the transition would be easy. He has resumed physical and occupational therapy -- at the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-80888438101904847982011-05-01T09:23:00.000-10:002011-05-01T09:23:03.255-10:00

About a week after Ray's passing, I called a relative in another state, someone I barely knew.  He had been widowed just days over a year previously.  "How do I do this?" I asked him. He took it upon himself to help me through, calling me every evening and talking ... and talking ... and talking, sometimes for hours.  It was as therapeutic for him as it was for me.  We have spoken almost daily

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-17304178322643680812011-04-24T11:35:00.000-10:002011-04-24T11:35:52.977-10:00

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-52588210634113014152011-04-20T21:54:00.000-10:002011-04-20T21:54:16.338-10:00

Our neighbor sends her Labradoodle (dog, poodle/labrador cross) to school.  Gracie is not a puppy. Gracie's teacher is loosing both her teaching venues this month.  She's looking for new ones.  Gracie's mom showed her our back yard.  Yard with enough room for a badminton court or a volleyball court.  We've had both out there at one time or another.  As well as an archery range Watch for puppy

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-56653692697551936782011-04-07T05:00:00.004-10:002011-04-07T05:00:06.432-10:00

My friends M and S feed the birds.  Daily.  Their favorites are the pair of Kentucky cardinals who regularly visit in their yard.  Mr. Cardinal is particularly friendly. He knows when it is feeding time, and comes to the appropriate window to remind M or S when they are late.  "Appropriate" is a window where he can actually see one or another of them. If he cannot find them in a window, he

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-58363584291631714032011-04-06T09:12:00.000-10:002011-04-06T09:12:52.173-10:00

I am an addicted genealogist. I have lived for many years in a rural corner of central California.  A very small corner.   I was born and raised in Hawaii. While doing some genealogical research on a family that is unknown in our California community today, but which is represented by several graves in one of our two local cemeteries (not the family plot pictured here, but same cemetery)... then

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-14326894961708669472011-03-26T16:46:00.000-10:002011-03-26T16:46:46.935-10:00

My mother doesn't like machines.  Not a microwave.  Not a dishwasher.  Not a mechanical clothes drier.  I suspect that if mechanical washing machines had been invented post WWII, she would still be using a laundry tub and washboard.  At least once every 6 months she reminds me, "Using the clothesline saves electricity.  It is environmentally friendly." In California's Central Valley and the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-9952611816844344802011-03-15T23:04:00.000-10:002011-03-15T23:04:16.212-10:00

I'd forgotten about the USGS earthquake monitoring websites.  Used to check them daily.  Have gotten out of the habit while in Hawaii.  If the last Japanese earthquake piqued your curiosity, consider looking here and here.  Red lines are the fault zones.  Colored squares are measurable earth movement.  Mostly they are real earthquakes.  Occasionally they are construction blasting.  Geysers

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-48217734536118614692011-03-13T15:24:00.001-10:002011-03-14T12:15:54.819-10:00

My friend and former co-worker, D, visited the elephants who live one county north of her family's home near Jamestown, Tuolumne Co., California.  The preserve has been around for a number of years and has always been on my "Someday I'll get there" list.  Just haven't made it yet.   Here's the organization's website for an overview of their work. D spends half her life with her father and

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-65630997220910037702011-03-12T20:33:00.000-10:002011-03-12T20:33:31.781-10:00

I was waiting in the car for my mother.  A little gecko, not much more than an inch long, landed on the windshield.  I grabbed the camera.    Ooops!  Auto focus found the wrong target. Right subject, wrong focus. There he is!   Watching me....   Give thanks for small things. Don't forget to pray.  

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-38397073911266552682011-03-11T09:55:00.000-10:002011-03-11T09:55:13.464-10:00

The TV was off.  Mother was in bed.  I was working on a genealogy research project.  Sounded like the neighbors had turned on their heating/cooling system, with a higher-pitched whine behind it.  Took me a bit to figure out it was the civil defense sirens. On went the TV.  News of an 8.9 Mega earthquake in Japan generating a huge tidal wave.  These days we use the Japanese term, tsunami.  Video

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-45874272553649917162011-03-02T09:19:00.003-10:002011-03-02T09:37:46.019-10:00

Let it be clearly understood that I am an insatiable reader.  My best friends are books, or in books.  I will read almost anything.  These days, I multi-task, performing mindless chores like ironing or weeding or housekeeping while listening to an audio-book.   I have a friend who is not satisfied with simply telling me about books he's read. Every so often an unexpected box arrives from Amazon

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-64785963435969447472011-02-26T20:04:00.000-10:002011-02-26T20:04:11.147-10:00

It's been so long since I've posted here that some of you are beginning to worry, and I'm getting those , "Are you still alive?" emails and phone calls.   I appreciate your love and concern.  Here's the story. I am still a volunteer with the History Resource Center at the Groveland Museum, working with the genealogy database and writing articles for the (very) local newspaper and (less

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-29235222845359437732011-01-20T13:30:00.000-10:002011-01-20T13:30:32.668-10:00

As it turns out, my mother is not imagining her hearing loss.  There is a measurable loss in both ears since her last test.  As the technician pointed out, "When you are in the mid-to-profound loss range, any additional loss is significant." We came home with a new toy, a device called TV Ears.  It's earphones with a volume control, drawing its signal off a connected TV.  You can change the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-9734224523258984352011-01-18T22:52:00.000-10:002011-01-18T22:52:59.511-10:00

It's just after 10:00 p.m., the house is quiet, and I'm hearing the telltale sound of raindrops of the aluminum roof of the lanai.  For you non-Hawaiians, read "patio roof".   It sounds kinda' like lah-NIGH.   It has been threatening all day -- overcast skies, temperatures cool enough that long sleeves were comfortable today.   It's supposed to rain for the next several days. Last week brought

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-91012894583845267132011-01-03T16:00:00.001-10:002011-01-03T16:00:02.490-10:00

Mauna 'Ala is not just another cemetery.    It is not a part of the State of Hawai'i, nor is it part of the Untied States.  Here, one stands in the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Here many of our Ali'i, our royalty, are buried. Here members of the four Royal Societies and Daughters of Hawai'i (we are not a royal society, i.e., not founded by one of the ali'i) gather on specific days to honor one or more

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-12596421316891703212011-01-03T09:39:00.000-10:002011-01-03T09:39:03.107-10:00

Hawaii is one of those places where cultural diversity is -- and has been for a long time -- the rule rather than the exception.  Absence of diversity is one of the things local folks notice when we move away from Hawaii. These views, taken just inside the entrance of the neighborhood grocery store, are typical. Kadomatsu are a Japanese tradition.  They are displays of bamboo, evergreen and

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-58352610807762923062010-12-26T10:39:00.000-10:002010-12-26T10:39:59.441-10:00

It's not the Christmas of storybooks and the more northern climates. Christmas in Hawaii is warm -- high 70's, and this year it is very rainy.  I am reminded of the last major flood in northern California, right at this time of year in 1996, when warm rains at high elevations melted most of a significant snow pack in the space of just a few days.    Pineapple Express, they called it.  But

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-85887906815604727312010-12-11T07:01:00.000-10:002010-12-11T07:01:10.730-10:00

The Honolulu Academy of Arts is just wrapping up their annual buying spree -- just in time for Christmas. If I didn't go now, I'd miss it altogether.  So off I trudged, alone, since it was cold and rainy out and Mother didn't feel like fighting the weather.  My intention was Christmas shopping.  For other people.  Turned out to be self-gifting.  Found what is becoming an annual treat -- a lovely 

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-78189958615725040512010-12-09T22:21:00.000-10:002010-12-09T22:21:33.434-10:00

When something mechanical in my life doesn't function perfectly, I tend to assume it is my fault.  Something I did is causing the problem. Remember that new computer I waited half the summer to arrive?  When it finally did, I was immediately frustrated.  I've been complaining since that first week.  Sluggish.  Unresponsive.  Slower than its predecessor with less guts and gusto. I complained to

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-9783048705783752452010-11-23T21:52:00.000-10:002010-11-23T21:52:34.630-10:00

I'm getting tired of these cancer stories. Here's another one that, no matter how badly you feel life has treated you, will remind you that someone else has it worse.  Or at least a different variation of really bad. Max's mom was in treatment in Sonora at the same time Ray was receiving chemotherapy.  Max's dad used to come into the infusion center (where outpatient chemotherapy is given)

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-24961265060943910392010-11-18T09:43:00.000-10:002010-11-18T09:43:04.098-10:00

Al waited for over a year for a new liver.  Towards the end of the wait, his kidneys shut down.  He went on dialysis and was added to the list for a new kidney. An appropriate liver turned up early this week.  So did an appropriate kidney.  His family was told that his surgery was "textbook classic".   That's good news. Pray for Al's successful recovery.  Pray for his caretaker wife, Pat.  

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-62042643161566922472010-11-18T09:31:00.000-10:002010-11-18T09:31:53.002-10:00

I always assumed Hawaii was an environmentally friendly state.  After all, it's a miniscule land mass surrounded by a very large ocean.  Both land and water are to be respected, protected, honored.  That's the Hawaiian way.  It's apparently not the way of non-Hawaiian decision-makers who live in Hawaii. I worked in a position where I got up close and personal with sewage treatment facilities.  

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-72454103507856932372010-11-12T07:42:00.002-10:002010-11-12T15:34:22.989-10:00

I gulped as the canoes gathered. I knew the Malia was coming.  The Malia, 60+ year old koa canoe, the first Waikiki Surf Club canoe to make the annual 41-mile race across the Ka'iwi Channel between Moloka'i and Oahu, the club's pride, the beauty who seldom now is used because she so precious. Just having the Malia present was a special honor.  I didn't know that there would be four canoes,

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-73089377581654700152010-11-08T19:58:00.002-10:002010-11-08T19:58:55.221-10:00

Not my granddaughter Meghan, who is a delightful and bright young woman in her own right.  As is her big sister Katie. This Megan is the daughter of one of Tuolumne County's judges.  I knew her parents "way back when" in another lifetime.  Visited with her dad occasionally when I was working in Sonora and in and out of the courthouse on a regular basis.  Haven't seen her mom in many years.  Both

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-23851834780120681312010-10-30T09:42:00.000-10:002010-10-30T09:42:53.876-10:00

A week?   Is that all?  It seems like forever since my dad passed.  Forever ago, yet not.  I can still stop in that awful parking lot at Oahu Care, trek up to the 3rd floor, clean laundry in a bag over my right shoulder.  ... No, we're beyond that now.   Dealt with the mortuary.  Cleared away his personal possessions from Oahu Care Facility.  Saw the trust attorney.  Received some cards.  Took

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-70400521636668791402010-10-23T20:35:00.001-10:002010-10-23T20:40:45.777-10:00

To all of you who are expressing your condolences either here or on Facebook in the aftermath of our father's passing, thank you.  It is immensely comforting to know that you are out there, reading and caring. When I came home from the hospital, picked up the laptop, and sat in the dark writing the post made this morning, I was writing for personal therapy.  It didn't occur to me that so many

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-82294398123617788862010-10-23T03:29:00.000-10:002010-10-23T03:29:54.204-10:00

My father, John Montgomery Lind, passed away just over an hour ago, at 1:50 a.m. HST on Saturday, 23 October, 2010.  He was only a few weeks from his 97th birthday.  His hair was still black, as it had been his entire life.   He didn't make it to December 6.  He clung tenaciously to life, difficult though this last month has been.   Good-bye, Daddy.  Be at peace. 

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-76695669996375219122010-10-10T10:57:00.000-10:002010-10-10T10:57:40.343-10:00

When Julie, the social worker from Hospice, visited my mom last week, she left a paper titled "Five Things". It is one of the few papers she has kept, not given to me to file away in the Hospice File. I went looking this morning on the Internet to learn more about The Five Things.  They come from a book by Dr. Ira Byock, Dying Well:  Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life and are described

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-60846438411425699732010-10-06T17:41:00.001-10:002010-10-06T17:41:22.848-10:00

The milestone is that I am out of the laundry business.  That is a good thing.  I hate having to do laundry on deadline when working around the whims of the weather. The reason is not particularly good.  My dad is no longer able to help dress himself.  He is permanently in a hospital gown. I don't have to launder hospital gowns. My mother surprised me.  I don't want her to ever say that we --

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-74409890043836718582010-10-06T08:59:00.001-10:002010-10-06T09:01:19.076-10:00

You need to read my brother's post at ilind.net to understand my mood this morning.  It's titled, "Still too Strong for his Own Good". Our dad is aware of what is happening in his body.  On the last two or three times I've seen him, he's said "I'm in bad shape."  He told me before the medical diagnosis was made that he had pneumonia.  He recognizes that coughing blood is not a good thing.  He

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-14905030455667467712010-10-04T10:59:00.000-10:002010-10-04T10:59:59.336-10:00

We put the new walker to the ultimate test on Saturday morning.  Can it do a craft fair?  Short answer:  YES! I took my mom to our annual Daughters of Hawaii fair, an indoor-outdoor event featuring food, music, and a good selection of mostly upscale artisans and craftspersons.  She loved it.  And could never have done it without the walker. To be fair, it would not be a good thing to turn her

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-11874138513743916132010-09-28T21:37:00.000-10:002010-09-28T21:37:08.682-10:00

It is official.   My father is officially a Hospice patient.  His diagnosis is "adullt failure to thrive".  He has lost 4.5 lbs, more or less, in the last 30 days.  Not good.  He is refusing most meals, except for his 3 bottles of Ensure daily, and some fruit.  He seldom gets out of bed, although he can still walk with his walker.  We are assured that he is getting plenty of fluid, although they

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-81508317748666103332010-09-26T20:11:00.000-10:002010-09-26T20:11:16.512-10:00

Ian and I are of one mind as to the care of our father.  That is a very good thing. The morphine, even at low dose, is easing his pain, allowing him to sleep, and keeping his oxygen connection in in place.  That's good.   A chest x-ray taken this morning shows that our dad has pneumonia.  His MD wants to try 3 doses of an antibiotic, to see what happens.  He also agrees that Hospice Care is

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-46553664123591944082010-09-25T19:56:00.001-10:002010-09-25T19:56:59.193-10:00

Yesterday when I went to visit my dad, he had to demonstrate that his nose was bleeding.  It wasn't free bleeding, like when you get smashed in the nose and require a small mountain of cold washcloths and some judicious pinching to staunch the blood flow.  Instead, he blew into a paper napkin a moist clot containing about 1/4 tsp of blood. He complained of pain in his shoulders, more intense

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-60553767626164838322010-09-24T09:10:00.000-10:002010-09-24T09:10:04.844-10:00

Thirty-three years ago, deer season was opening in Groveland.  It was one of those crisp, sunny autumn days that follow on the heels of the first cold snap of the season.  Our friends -- many from the San Francisco Bay area -- gathered in Groveland to support us as Ray and I were married. We chose a spot we both loved -- under an ancient oak tree shading the front porch of the historic ranch

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-89235186057744288262010-09-19T14:42:00.000-10:002010-09-19T14:42:19.786-10:00

It was raining lightly when I left for church this morning.  Against the cloudy sky this double rainbow stood out in glory. It would have been a prettier image if I had been able to take the picture from our own street where there are trees, hedges and greenery.  Until the rainbow got lost in all those trees and hedges. It would have been a prettier picture if I hadn't had to work around the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-64840110416369542742010-09-19T14:10:00.000-10:002010-09-19T14:10:59.600-10:00

I admit it.  I am addicted.  To fabric.  Like most quilters, doll clothes makers, and even many dressmakers, I see a piece of fabric that I really like, and buy it.  Sometimes I buy complementary fabrics at the same time.  Sometimes I just know that the right companion pieces will come along.  Sometimes they do.  Sometimes the fabric sits in my stash for a very long time. In one notable case, I

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-10259362011092193632010-09-13T21:09:00.000-10:002010-09-13T21:09:08.440-10:00

Kahala Mall is the neighborhood shopping area.  I was in high school when the mall was built.  My first "real" job was there, in the anchor department store.  Then it was Liberty House; today it is Macy's. There has always been a grocery store.  For many years it was locally owned. A couple of years ago, Whole Foods replaced Star Market.  Cinnabon, near Whole Foods, is another of the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-83710099264343543022010-09-13T19:48:00.002-10:002010-09-13T19:52:24.184-10:00

A week or so ago my mother found an advertisement that caught her fancy.  "This is what I should have."  she announced.  Never mind that I've been trying for the better part of 2 years to get her to even look at one of these. Today she went shopping. The new walker has 4 wheels, 2 hand brakes, a basket AND a (probably the most important feature) a seat!   Makes shopping a whole lot easier.

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-50541476274012348372010-09-11T10:30:00.001-10:002010-09-11T10:30:45.918-10:00

Last Sunday I joined several of my Daughters of Hawaii sisters, along with members of the Hawaiian Royal Societies, at a service at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral honoring the birthday of our last reigning monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani.  It should have been a very familiar service.  It wasn't. It wasn't the service that was different, but the language.  It was mostly in Hawaiian, from the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-77365955711161411982010-09-10T12:33:00.003-10:002010-09-10T12:44:37.261-10:00

Armed with a brand new pocket-sized camera, Panasonic's FH20 (on sale at Costco for a couple of more days at the best price I've seen nationally), I wandered Kahala Mall.  This t-shirt, hanging in the doorway of one of my favorite boutiques, caught my eye.  I am likely to go back and purchase it as a Christmas gift for my mom.  It says a lot about how one thinks and feels at 96. If you can do

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-71818863716401454252010-08-05T19:22:00.000-10:002010-08-05T19:22:46.934-10:00

My dad seems to have recovered from whatever was ailing him.  We don't have a definitive pneumonia vs. bronchitis diagnosis.  If he had a touch of pneumonia, the antibiotic must have killed hit, despite the abbreviated dosage and the unpleasant side effects.  If he didn't ... well, it was an aggressive response to a potentially life-threatening situation. Today he was reasonably clear-headed

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-29635022825096665382010-07-27T16:53:00.000-10:002010-07-27T16:53:06.337-10:00

Ian said it well.  See his entry for 27 Jul 2010 titled DIRECTIVE:  Aging and Dementia Our dad is a bit better today.  According to this afternoon's charge nurse, he is no longer coughing.  It occurs to me that I  have neglected to ask if he is running a fever.  He ate breakfast, but not lunch.  He is avoiding milk products, including Ensure.  I suspect that he feels they cause vomiting.  He

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-8982490889504753472010-07-24T22:21:00.000-10:002010-07-24T22:21:19.464-10:00

When someone you love is hospitalized, you want to believe they are getting the best care available.  But what is best? The care facility where my father has been for the last 20 months is good.  It's not in the Cadillac class, but it is clean, never reeks of urine, and the staff is caring and responsive.  There is just not enough staff to go around.  That's where we, the family, make a

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-19704296962791637052010-07-02T20:15:00.002-10:002010-07-02T20:22:29.840-10:00

... finally, off the mobiles and onto a laptop.  So much one cannot do with just a mobile, but "just the mobile" is certainly better than nothing. Granddaughters.  Here they are, tolerating the old folk (great-grandmother, grandmother, great-uncle and great-aunt ... and mom) after a day of beaches and other tourist-in-Honolulu things.  That's Katie on the left, the image of her maternal

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-4976458801489651832010-06-30T22:31:00.000-10:002010-06-30T22:31:03.173-10:00

On May Day the 16-year-old granddaughter of a dear friend crashed her car. No drugs. No alcohol. Probably a deer or a fox or a cat on a typical Tuolome Co. Road. For her story and status see nicolewillwalk.com. Then pray, or dance, light candles, or do whatever you do to link with the healing powers of the universe. She's making progress, but it is in tiny steps. Hug your own grands or

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-78953553142193599062010-06-22T12:32:00.000-10:002010-06-22T12:32:55.835-10:00

Summer is here.  On leave for a bit.  One dead computer.  New one due, but probably not until late next week at best.   Maybe not until after the holiday.  Blogging from a cell phone is a challenge I haven't yet mastered.  Granddaughters arrive tomorrow from Seattle.  Looking forward to a few days of immersion in the world of teens.  Hopefully, with lots of pictures to share.  When I get

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-77780138095900298742010-06-08T08:39:00.000-10:002010-06-08T08:39:06.060-10:00

Sarah is my hanai granddaughter.  Not a granddaughter by blood, but by love and other connections.  Her graduation photos are a stark contrast to Brianna's. I have to give Sarah credit, though.  She graduated.  Without a lot of help from home.  Through an independent study program through her public high school.  With a lot of help and support from teachers.  Despite some health issues.  Living

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-65945813809480260472010-05-27T15:44:00.001-10:002010-05-27T15:44:35.223-10:00

Congratualtions, Brianna! Brianna is my oldest granddaughter.  She graduates tonight, May 27 2010, from East Union High School, Manteca, California.  Surely wish I could be there with you, dear one. Know that Tutu (aka Grandma Bonnie) loves you.   Pray for all those who are graduating from high school and college in this graduation season.May they keep always the dreams and enthusiasm of their

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-30364556752877918362010-05-24T11:55:00.000-10:002010-05-24T11:55:07.105-10:00

My dad was asleep when I arrived the other day.  But this day he awoke on his own after about a half-hour.  In groping for a conversation topic, I told him about my fellow board member at Daughters of Hawaii.  She is an ukulele player, wants to learn to play guitar.  I am a guitar player who wants to learn melodies to some Hawaiian songs.  It's a great fit, and we plan to spend some time together

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-25826957753994755802010-05-16T13:37:00.001-10:002010-05-16T13:39:57.877-10:00

This year there was a full week between Mother's Day and my mom's birthday.  She told me last month that "we always" celebrate the two events at once.  But she's 96 years old now.  She has spent too many of those years sublimating her own desires for convenience of other people.  My brother and sister-in-law and their busy schedules.  My living half an ocean away.  My father's indifference.  All

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-87769118521079560492010-05-09T20:34:00.001-10:002010-05-09T20:35:49.425-10:00

Honor thy mother. Mine has been complaining about the difficult time she is having cutting her toenails.  It's hard to get down there to the toes when you're approaching 96.   Even if your not approaching quite as quickly as she is. She refuses to go to a podiatrist.  "Do you know they charge $40 to cut your toenails?" she responded when I suggested that Medicare sees proper foot care as

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-73619759395161212912010-05-04T23:17:00.000-10:002010-05-04T23:17:32.094-10:00

... but this week no one else is interested in what can or cannot, should or should not be taught in private schools. New thoughts. Am I thinking? This week, about an article for a Groveland monthly newspaper.  About the to-do list for Daughters of Hawaii.  About how long a dementia patient remembers he is afraid of something.  About ways to bring pleasure to my mother's life as she

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-20314599535008386882010-04-25T21:41:00.001-10:002010-04-25T21:45:31.214-10:00

At the risk of duplicating a recent Facebook entry --- I've found myself with a new pot to learn about and perhaps stew over.  Private school education.  At the elementary and secondary levels.  Now don't, as Ray used to say, get your buns in an uproar,.  I am a product of private school education.  I acknowledge, even if I don't always like, the need for public schools to be inclusive (a very

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-78791722114783098682010-04-17T19:56:00.000-10:002010-04-17T19:56:57.390-10:00

Today was the second day of a two-day Diocesan (read 'statewide') conference of Episcopalians in Hawaii.  My home church was the host parish, chosen because we have the largest physical plant on Oahu and can accommodate a group of 250 attendees.   Whatever the reason, only 55 registered.  There were 16 children, 8 presenters, and 3 Diocesan staff -- plus three of us who volunteered to do the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-66632731877607437372010-04-09T08:03:00.000-10:002010-04-09T08:03:25.534-10:00

Mama Dove left the nest for most of Easter afternoon, came home overnight, then left again on Monday.  She didn't reappear until very late afternoon.  Clearly, she had had her fill of that next, and perching atop a wriggling chick who filled the next almost completely in his own right.  By breakfast the next morning, the nest was empty.  Lacking a lifeless heap of feathers on the ground beneath

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-75197492881736264802010-04-03T10:33:00.000-10:002010-04-03T10:33:13.705-10:00

Mama Dove was  restless this morning.  Perhaps bcause it was morning.  Perhaps because her chick is growing and moving around, too. Look carefully, and you'll see baby peeking out under mom's feathery protection.   Baby wiggles more.  Now you can see his face, this time under mom's wing.   At first I thought baby was being fed.  It's possible Mama was grooming her chick.   Eventually, Mama

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-49638988435457622672010-03-29T09:40:00.004-10:002010-03-29T09:45:48.647-10:00

Ray was a wise man.  He used to tell me, "We fear things we don't know.  Think about how you feel when you get into an elevator with one stranger who looks very different.  Or pass a homeless person sleeping on a sidewalk.  Once you get to know a person, you won't feel quite so threatened." I have just finished a 2008 novel by mystery writer Kathy Reichs.  I didn't get as wrapped into the story

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-6697754758610563922010-03-26T19:45:00.000-10:002010-03-26T19:45:04.753-10:00

We have a baby! There still may be another egg about to hatch.  Or this little guy's shell may still be in the nest.  Since getting these images requires a tall ladder and a reasonably good telephoto lens, it's hard to tell what else is there. As fuzzy as this baby is, he may have hatched on Thursday or Friday. Mama is still setting, but now leaves for more extended periods.  We still have

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-22985088840982974462010-03-26T18:47:00.001-10:002010-03-26T18:53:32.156-10:00

My family loves bargain hunting.  Yard sales and garage sales.  Rummage sales.  Especially thrift shops.  My mother, brother and sister-in-law consider thrift shop hopping prime entertainment.  They have an array of high end treasures found in at thrift shop prices.  I have never been quite so lucky.  Until this week. On the path between the Hearing Center and the typewriter store (yes, really)

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-55453869065925937892010-03-26T09:54:00.000-10:002010-03-26T09:54:36.959-10:00

Nearly two years ago my mother purchased a very expensive, very high tech pair of hearing aids.  They were not her first pair, but far more comfortable and effective as any others she had owned. After only a few months, one of those expensive little gadgets escaped.  We tore her room apart.  She checked the clothes she (thought) she had been wearing when she last saw them.  We filtered through

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-69035136885471839612010-03-20T14:44:00.000-10:002010-03-20T14:44:05.479-10:00

A song we used to sing in elementary school keeps running through my mind:  "Welcome, sweet springtime, we greet thee in song ...."  Spring has arrived! I'v had a partial glass of mango juice at my side while working on the computer today.  One of our resident geckos has followed the aroma of mango, and has been visiting.  Wish I had a camera close enough to grab and take his picture.  First he

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-62765916595186355752010-03-16T21:18:00.001-10:002010-03-16T21:29:59.059-10:00

Hey, quilters and other needleworkers!  Remember the selvage quilt that I commented on earlier this year?  Posted the image, then sent you off to look at the creator's blog?  This use of selvages -- other people's waste -- fascinates me.  I don't know whether it's the idea or the look.   So here's another example of garbage-to-useful, garbage-to-attractive.  How do people come up with these ideas

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-4458089545321245562010-03-15T14:45:00.002-10:002010-03-15T14:48:32.141-10:00

Sitting at the breakfast table each morning, I look out the window into this plumeria tree.  It is one of the few trees in Hawaii that actually looses all its leaves in the (late) winter, then breaks into bloom in the spring. In other parts of the world, it's called Frangipani.   I don't know what it was that caught my eye one day last week. Movement?  An unsual bulge? Look carefully at the

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-62800138697111906122010-03-14T10:50:00.000-10:002010-03-14T10:50:28.733-10:00

Forty years. Forty years since a baby boy was born at Maui Memorial Hosptial.  A typical baby boy, 7 pounds plus, chubby, pink-skinned, with squished up sleeping eyes -- and an almost blonde fuzz covering his head.  That wasn't so typical.  Most babies in Hawaii arrive with a thatch of very dark hair, curly or straight depending on ethnicity.  Fair-haired babies are an anomaly.  So are babies who

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-80116533339742560762010-03-04T10:40:00.000-10:002010-03-04T10:40:32.886-10:00

Overcast, intermittent rain.  Sometimes heavy, sometimes just a drizzle.  Tradewinds blowing, giving continuing movement in the garden as I look out onto the back yard.  Cool enough that I had to find a fleece jacket.  One of those curl-up-under-a-blanket-and-read-a-good-book days. Temperature at 10:30 a.m.?  69.1 at the airport. Give thanks for the rain --- and a warm jacket.  Don't forget

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-11876387160437452812010-03-02T23:03:00.001-10:002010-03-02T23:10:26.841-10:00

Dear Ray, It's been 3 years since you passed over.  In some ways it was yesterday.  In other ways, it was forever ago. I miss you terribly, and I miss the life we had in Groveland.  It was our place, the place where we lived most of our shared life.  It  shaped so much of what we both became.  I think we both found ourselves there.  I never realized what a country girl I am until I moved back

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-65006576910694975152010-03-01T01:55:00.016-10:002010-03-01T01:55:00.269-10:00

Living with a 95-year-old nearly deaf person is a lot like living alone.  My mother has spent far too much time alone.  She can no longer be bothered making the effort to carry on a real conversation.   I crave the sound of a human voice. Sometimes I am just looking for background noise.  Radio talk shows are good for that.  Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers of PBS "Car Talk" fame are good,

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-81541470513971858392010-02-28T10:44:00.001-10:002010-02-28T14:47:04.073-10:00

It's the last day of February.  It's been four lonely years for my cousin and his children since his wife and their mother passed.  It's a difficult day, but important that in our own sense of loss we focus on the good times shared. Remind me of that on Wednesday, when I face my own day of remembering. So today remember Judy.  Or someone you love who has passed out of your life.  Give thanks for

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-63545243937757283322010-02-24T14:45:00.000-10:002010-02-24T14:45:06.571-10:00

With her 96th birthday a 3 scant months away, my mother is clearly wearing out.  Any task that requires walking even a block is nearly impossible.  The current attack, gout, leaves her unable to even put a shoe on her left foot.  Walk?  6', maybe, and that's only since the pain has begun to diminish after more than 2 weeks of agony.  But her mind and spirit are still strong, and I know she

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-71898784688555467312010-02-23T08:33:00.000-10:002010-02-23T08:33:40.711-10:00

Ray and I bought our share of those furniture pieces that come in a box and are assembled once you get home.  The assembly task was usually mine, with extra hands from Ray when necessary.  The only piece that completely defeated me was the barbecue.  Thank goodness Larry showed up from Sacramento to become that day's Knight in Shining Armor. I've been thinking for a year about something to put

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-260154108561111302010-02-12T21:43:00.001-10:002010-02-12T21:45:48.686-10:00

None of the CNA's in the care facility where my dad is resident are native English speakers.  Many are Filipino or Korean.  A few are Vietnamese.  Among the entire staff, there are only 3 haoles -- faces that would be familiar in most of the rest of America or Europe.   A few are what Ray used to describe as "a brick short of a full load". My dad's habit is to take off whatever trousers he has

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-43497649676891940062010-02-08T19:04:00.000-10:002010-02-08T19:04:35.543-10:00

They were not broken, exactly.  Just disassembled. Most of the time I wear contact lenses.  I don't wear them because of vanity.  I wear them so that I can find my feet on uneven terrain -- like stairs and hiking trails, hillsides and sidewalks and curbs.  I've never mastered the art of finding my feet through bifocals. The contacts are "daily wear" -- meaning they are designed to be removed

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-84944447275599674332010-02-04T15:12:00.001-10:002010-02-04T15:15:28.917-10:00

Sandi, a former co-worker, dropped in for a couple of days between here and there. She was looking for thrift shops, so we spent considerable time thrift shopping.  I bought more than she did. Another stop was Bailey's Antiques and Aloha Shirts on Kapahulu Avenue.  I was astounded that shirts that I really don't like sell for several thousand dollars each.  Most of the shirts in the store are

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-12449195108498755272010-01-27T06:50:00.004-10:002010-02-01T21:44:57.951-10:00

Turn Around Written by: Harry Belafonte / Alan Greene / Malvina Reynolds Where are you going My little one, little one Where are you going My baby, my own Turn around and you’re two Turn around and you’re four Turn around and you’re a young girl Going out of the door Turn around, turn around Turn around and you’re a young girl Going out of the door Where are you going My little one,

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-42014397361203921412010-01-24T14:40:00.001-10:002010-01-24T14:42:03.991-10:00

M had his angiogram, but not angioplasty.  The next step for him is bypass surgery, but he's not there yet.  His cardiologist says he will do the bypass when the choice is life with a bypass, or death. G doesn't get his eye repair -- yet.  His cardiologist won't let him stop taking his  blood thinning medications  long enough to please the opthamologist.   The opthomologist doesn't want his

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-9144855579209351792010-01-20T23:34:00.000-10:002010-01-20T23:34:37.550-10:00

Two friends are scheduled for surgery in the next week.  One is happy.  One needs to stay optimistic. G has had vision issues most of his life.  As I recall, he came to college with a goal of medical school, but dropped out because his vision would not tolerate the amount of reading required of a pre-med student.  Big Bummer.  As his dreams shattered, I suspect that some of his self-image

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-3611344624549036462010-01-10T21:49:00.001-10:002010-01-10T21:55:32.102-10:00

I should have visited my dad yesterday.  That was the plan.  He told people all day that his daughter was coming at 4:00.  I didn't get there.  Mother had a bad bout of vertigo and was afraid to get up and move.  It was not fair to leave her alone in that state.  But today she was feeling better, so off I went to visit my dad. He greeted me warmly.  He called me by name.  I pulled up a chair,

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-77438866982961274032010-01-01T13:14:00.013-10:002010-01-01T14:49:01.635-10:00

January 1, 2010.  Only one 0 following that 2 -- how far we've travelled since the New Year when the world welcomed the 21st century.... Some parts of the US are buried in snow.  In Chicago the temperature didn't get to 20.  In Colorado and Utah it was in the 30's.  In Boise, ID and in Groveland, temps in the 40's were promised.  In Seattle it was 54 when I looked, with a forecast of rain all

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-8045384869172002802009-12-31T11:23:00.003-10:002009-12-31T11:51:51.562-10:00

My sister, Jackie, recommended a book to me some time ago.  Three Cups of Tea turned out to be a compelling read, but then, in high school I was a reader of Dr. Tom Dooley's books about his experience as an American doctor working in Indo-China (what we then called Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam)  in the 1950's. Now Mortenson has a new book out, Stones into Schools.  If you have any interest in

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372953408299172633.post-72522472133543901472009-12-30T08:37:00.000-10:002009-12-30T08:37:32.893-10:00

Normally I love Christmas.  I love the decorating, the scheming to create the perfect gift for someone else. I love the lights and outdoor decorations that we don't see much of in this neighborhood.   I love the sharing, opening my home, visiting friends.  The Advent wreath, marking those four Sundays before Christmas, reminding us of promise, prophesy, anticipation, love, candles bringing more

TutuBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03532006250447036360noreply@blogger.com0