The View From Here - Various thoughts and travels
I got out a bit more than in 2024. This year was spent with a lot of therapy.
There are no photos that stand out for me in 2025 for a year end post. There is only one, my last photo for the year. I have been able to start taking some shaky unassisted steps for very short distances. It is painful but over time the pain will get less and the walking will improve. Here is to a breakout in 2026.
And I am not complaining. I love turkey. I have been eating turkey sandwiches for breakfast and having it for lunch and dinner and the occasional midnight stack. It will be sad when I finally run out.
This will be a Christmas that is a little different. It is the first Christmas without mom. For over a dozen years plans would be made for the family to get together for Christmas. There were various plans to get together at my place or my sister’s place and every time mom would find some way to sabotage those plans, frequently at the last minute. A couple of times my sister and I scrambled to alter plans due to mom. Most of the time I made sure to visit so she was not alone on Christmas Day and usually I brought a turkey dinner for the two of us. There were times I drove in some nasty conditions to visit so she would not be alone. On the rare times I could not make it my sister visited her.
It would drive my sister and I a little crazy as to why she would do it. We never got an answer. It would have made my sister wonderfully happy to have everyone together for Christmas. It is hard for her family to travel as they have a son with special needs. So there would have been planning to accommodate things for them. I gave up wondering why a long ago. I think she got some kind of perverse joy from it. I never bothered or harassed mom about it, some people have actions they cannot or will not explain. They are what they are.
I tried to visit mom as much as possible. She had a stroke in 2019 and never drove after. I live sixty miles away and was visiting her one, two, sometimes three times a week doing her shopping, looking after her bills, and just visiting. I kept up the pace when she moved into the retirement home in 2022. When the accident landed me in the hospital in February 2024 it took me until June of this year before I could start driving. Before I was able to start driving I had some friends and a relative drive me. My sister picked up a lot of the slack. There were times I was driving to see her every second day, and the last few weeks until she died last September it was practically daily. All that is hard on a person recovering from the injuries I had. You just do things because they are the right things to do.
Mom was not a pleasant person, more so in the remaining years. She made no friends at the retirement home. One of the residents told me when I was there to move out her things that she was not a happy person.
I will not have to worry about or accommodate her this year. Christmas will be quiet as I am still working on improving my mobility. Future years will be spent visiting friends and family. Wherever mom is I hope she found peace.
To all of you may you have a Merry Christmas and all the best.
Tried to get out this morning for brunch. I do not get out much, mainly just for appointments. With winter here I tend to try to exercise in my building.
Edmonton had freezing rain hours ago so that was out. Where I live (a little south of Edmonton) the handicapped spaces and restaurant parking lots are still too slick. I ended up getting Sausage McMuffins (which I happen to like) from a McDonald’s drive through and going back to my underground parking. Patience is not one of my stronger suits however given time I will be able to get out more.
Back to using the walker for now when I venture outside. Last Thursday it rained and then froze overnight. Trying to get around outside on crutches outdoors has been treacherous and there is no damn way I want to fall. Some months back I entertained thoughts of donating the walker as I thought I would no longer need it. Procrastination can turn out to be a good thing.
The last time I was at Prairie Circle Cemetery was in 2017. A few days ago I got a friend, Glen Bowe, to join me on a return trip. My prior visit was a short visit without a close look as there was a lot of tall grass and I did not want to step on and damage anything hidden in the grass. I thought a return visit at this time of year would be a great time as I would now be able to see everything. My plan partially worked. I did not expect snow on the ground. Since I am still on crutches I did not chance going down the ditch and attempting to check out the grounds. Asking my guest to pick me up if I fell might be too much of an imposition.
There is a hinged cover over a plaque showing there are at least twenty-eight burials here. There does not seem to be any past 1940. I could see a few more markers compared to my last visit but there are not many. The most common surname is Kary. There are references to Ensleigh, Fenner, and Zetland. The most I could find is that both areas might have had a post office or general store as those sometimes existed without anything else for miles around or was just an area name. Present day there is no evidence of either location. Glen was kind enough to allow me to use some of his photos.
 |
| Courtesy Glen Bowe |
 |
| Courtesy Glen Bowe |
