Revisiting lines

Stuff . . ,

Thank you for all the kind words. 

Busy day yesterday regarding mom. I am the executor so I have responsibilities.

Quick stop at the hospital. Got paperwork and her personal effects. Thanked the staff for their care. I suspect they are a little overworked but they never failed to answer my questions on prior visits.

Next stop was a funeral home. Arranged cremation. No service as that is what she wanted. My father died in 1997 and cremation prices, as with everything, have gone up since then.  The funeral home will notify the Government of Canada and Alberta that she is deceased. I pick up the ashes this coming week. 

Met up with her brother. Out of a family of four kids he is the last one on her side. No one is left on my father’s side. You grow up meeting a lot of people along the way and as you grow older they become less and less in number.

Retirement home was next. Met with the general manager and she had already got word that mom is deceased. In a smaller town word travels fast. My sister and I arranged for her room to be packed up. She did not have much in her room as it was not a big space. The floor plans in her building were two bedroom, one bedroom, and studio. She had the last type. Anything she had wanted we would have arranged it. She did not want much.

This coming week I will get a lawyer. I am not sure if I will need to use one. Her estate is a few bank accounts and an investment fund, nothing more. I will inform her accountant and the investment firm. Her taxes were ridiculously easy for the last few years as there was very little to report but because she used the same firm for decades, and liked them, she insisted on overpaying for a tax return to be done by a professional accountant.

Any keepsakes were given to my sister and me a few years ago. Mom was difficult and unpleasant for her last bit of time. I hope she is in a better place and found peace.

Events . . .

I have been spending a fair amount of time in hospitals lately. A friend of mine had a mishap and ignored it. He is a farmer, whacked his leg on some equipment, carried on working in his fields because at this time of year according to him that came first. It was not until he started to get ill that he went to a hospital to deal with a nasty leg infection. He spent two and a half weeks in the hospital and was released yesterday. He was easy to visit because he wound up in the hospital in my town. He lives about an hour from me.

Time has been spent visiting mom in the hospital. It is a little over an hour one way to see her. She is not doing well. She was admitted about two weeks ago for something minor and she has deteriorated since then. She sleeps all day. She does not eat and will not take her pills. When I visit she has not been coherent. Yesterday she did not acknowledge my presence, I do not think she can, she likely does not know I am there. Last week she attempted to communicate, now there is nothing. She seems to be in some pain and they are keeping her comfortable. With every visit she is a little less.

That was yesterday.

I got a call that she died just after three this morning.

Arf-Arf!

Found this in Islay, Alberta a couple of summers ago.

You never know what you'll run across on a road trip.

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year

Spotted in Leduc County, Alberta.

Elevator Friday - Marsden, Saskatchewan

Thank you once again Dale Redekopp.

Delineation

Trying to capture lines on fields. This time of year the fields have a great look to them during harvest. I love seeing fields like this as I drive by. Unfortunately I can never get a really good shot.

Tis the season for . . .

If it is not one thing . . .

Just as soon as I started getting mobile mom ended up in the hospital. So far I have made three trips to the hospital to see her, she lives a little over an hour from me. She is in for something relatively minor. The big problem is she requires more care than what her current retirement home can provide. She cannot get from a bed to a wheelchair without the use of a lift. She has also become difficult with staff. I have had to cancel some plans due to mom issues. Once she is better she needs to be placed somewhere and my sister and I are not sure where she will end up. In Alberta if you are an emergency placement you could end up in a town nowhere close to where you live. Once you are in the system then you can be moved to a better location for your family.

The rules may not make a lot of sense but they are the rules that we are stuck with. Hopefully this works out in our favour.

Elevator Friday - near Mannville, Alberta

Thank you once again Dale Redekopp.

Prairie sky

With luck I will be getting off my ass and posting again.