Nice Day For A Visit

Me and my folks relaxing in the yard.

Thought I would post an update on how things are going. Today my mom came home to visit. We sat in the yard, talked and played with the dog. My mom is still in the nursing home, but she is doing better than she was. She still can't speak very well and she doesn't have full use of her right arm, but she can get around with her walker and wheelchair. She called my niece yesterday from the nursing home on her own. Sarah asked her if someone had called for her and she said she had done it herself and even remembered the number.

My Mom with Jackson.

Sarah had asked me a few weeks ago to move in, because she just wanted to have me around and also to help out with chores. Since my brother passed (her dad) and my mom had her stroke she has been kind of lost over here. Being here feels kind of strange without them around. I still haven't fully accepted my brother being gone and neither has Sarah. When we talk about it it's like we're talking about some other family. It's weird how quickly things can change and when they do you feel sort of alien and lost.

My mom and dad in the yard with the dog.

But for now my mom is doing great and we are very happy about that. She can come to visit and we can go see her at the nursing home here in town anytime. And now that I'm living here with Sarah and my dad we at least have each other and we can be thankful for the blessings God has given us.

The New Year

At the end of 2011 my mom had a heart attack and was taken to Mercy hospital in Muskegon. While she was there she had a stroke, and was paralyzed down the left side of her body. After being held there for several weeks she was finally released to a nursing facility here in Grand Haven.

She has made some encouraging progress since then. She has recovered most of her mobility, but she is still unable to speak or use her right arm very well. She gets very aggravated because she can't articulate to us what she wants to say. Last week while I was there with my niece Sarah my mom sat up and was trying to tell us something. We waited. Finally, as tears welled in her eyes, she managed to say, "I have no home anymore."

My niece has taken over the house my folks lived in and she is handling the rent and bills and keeping an eye on my dad, who isn't doing very well himself. My brother drank himself into a stupor and Sarah had to call the ambulance to take him to the hospital. After being there for several days they told her that he would never recover and so they sent him to a rehab facility in Fremont. So now it's just me and Sarah trying to keep what little family we have left together, for the time being at least.

Last week they allowed my mom to leave the nursing home and come back to the house for a short visit. She was able to sit outside with Sarah and my dad and enjoy the quiet of her yard once more. She can continue to come home or go for drives as long as she is doing well. She makes progress everyday, because my mom is very stubborn and refuses to give up. Her beloved computer is now gone. I had my own drama happen at the beginning of 2012 and I'm now staying in the basement of a friend's house. I gave the computer to my friend's son, and his wife is using the computer desk. I have the monitor.

We certainly had a traumatic new year here at the Cloud residence and while things can never really go back to what they were, we can only hope and pray that what we do have will improve.

- Doug Cloud