Back from Boston Again

Caroline and I are just back from a quick trip to Boston, where we were treated to a very New England winter tradition: the nor'easter. Think freezing rain falling on ten inches of snow. Since someone else was there to run the snowblower (yes, after all these years my parents have purchased a snowblower!), we mostly stayed inside the house and puttered around, visiting with my parents and the couple who is living there to help care for them, and then hanging out with my siblings and their various significant others when they arrived. The major event was my dad's appointments with his neurologist and occupational therapist, both at the same hospital on the same day -- you can imagine the doctor's surprise when Dad wheels in with 9 people in tow! Fortunately, someone stayed home to watch Caroline, so I was able to participate in all this. The moment of truth, as always, was when they tested his breathing capacity (called Forced Vital Capacity) and found that his numbers had held steady since the last visit, three months previously. Hurray! We also got to discuss with the doctor, and later that night with each other, some end-of-life issues related to ALS. Difficult, but important to do so that we all understand ahead of time what he wants.

On a selfish note, the trip came at a good time for me, since I had been feeling the need (one might even call it desperation) for some sort of break, and having only Caroline with me and others to help out meant that I wasn't being constantly pulled in all different directions, which is what basically overloads my circuit breakers. :-) In fact, I would venture to say that I got to be a bit lazy. My in-laws stepped up to the plate to help Tim, most gallant husband that he is, take care of the older two (while at the same time moving into the house they finally finished having built!), and it's amazing sometimes what a few days apart will do -- I could almost swear that Ian's maturity level jumped a notch or two while I was gone! Of course, life is back in full swing today, you just can't skip a beat, but I have to say that it was most gratifying to hear from my husband last night: "Boy, just keeping the house clean and picked up really takes half the day!" Now that's what I call a sense of perspective!