Suddenlies

These beautiful rhythms of life that I have observed for all of my life are about to change. 

Mom and Dad in their very ordered, 3 meals a day routine, eating their home made bread  and borscht, enjoying a snack from the plastic box of cookies and crumb cake and making their daily coffees...

Sunday lunches of delicious chicken and potatoes after church...

They have been struggling over the past while to keep up with life in the condo.

Well, it's been slow going for quite a few years now, but somehow still manageable.

However, since Mom's stroke in April and since Dad's bladder problems became more intense the whole "independent" scenario didn't seem sustainable anymore.

Us kids have been extremely eager for a long time to find a nice retirement spot where they could be served nice meals and where there would be entertainment provided to break up Mom's long days...

So at the end of May I broached the subject with Dad, once again, hoping that he would finally agree and just like that he said "YES"!! 

I was amazed, to say the least as there has been great resistance up to this point. 

That night I was on the phone with "The Village" putting them on a waiting list.

The wait was going to be 4-6 months but in 6 weeks later they were given a place.

It was one of those beautiful "suddenlies" when God sweeps in and re-arranges life for us.

The place would be available to move in on August 1st. 

So the packing began.

These beautiful spaces that have hosted many family meals over the past 10 years needed to be dismantled and boxed away. 

Vic and Marcia had just left Kelowna when we were given the phone call about the impending move so Patrice and I started doing as much as we could and I spent time going through boxes of cards and pictures, reading many of them aloud to Mom and Dad.

So very many years of memories...

Vic and Marcia arrived at the beginning of August and they began packing and dismantling in earnest. 

For 5 days they packed up the kitchen, bathrooms etc, making endless trips to the thrift store and helped settle mom and dad into their new spot. 

Papers were signed and a new chapter was begun at the Village.

It took awhile to get things moved over and to decide what would fit and what wasn't necessary anymore.

The meals haven't been stellar, but Dad isn't complaining and thankfully there is food prepared for them and served with a smile. 

Even pets are allowed in this friendly new place so Moose came to check things out.

We asked for a slightly larger room than was originally available and it was open for them just in time!  So now they have space for their giant bed and there is even a pretty view of the mountains and trees.

So this is their new spot... cozy (at least when the crazy air conditioning unit isn't blowing freezing air at them as it only seems to have an off and on switch).

We are figuring out the new routines and getting things organized so it feels like home for them again.

The whole move was very disruptive and upsetting for Dad and his health took a real dip for in the month of August.

The day I was taking them over to the new place Dad was walking towards my car with his cane and he started shaking so badly he nearly fell over.  Thankfully there was a man working nearby so I yelled at him to go and grab Dad.

Yikes... hard on everyone's nerves! 

It's hard to see how frail they have become and how taxing these big changes can be for the elderly, now matter how much you try to make sure they are not doing too much.

However here we are, starting over again with new routines around a new kitchen table. 

Occasionally we join them and they still come over for evenings up at my place so new rhythms are beginning. 

God is kind and good.

He is our Shepherd, leading us and guiding us even when it feels like we are dipping into a valley...