Posted 5-15-19 “Mom is going to wring my neck!” whimpered an Applegate child hundreds of times after some nondescript/stupid thing we had done. (Editor’s note: Mom was (somewhat oddly) fond of telling the story of the first time she saw her frail, dainty momma “wring the neck” of a chicken at the farm. –Disclaimer: if…
Author: Mark Applegate
Death, Denial, and Doris Day
Posted 5-14-19 When I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be Will I be pretty will I be rich Here’s what she said to me: Que Sera Sera Whatever will be will be The future’s not ours to see Que Sera Sera What will be will be When I…
Guilty as Charged
Posted 5-13-19
Mother’s (2.0) Day
Posted 5-13-19 Thank you for your patience in my 2-day respite to celebrate Mother’s Day and my 250,000 hour anniversary Saturday. Both went great! 🙂 Me and my siblings met with mom for a nice visit Saturday instead of facing the rare visitor rush of a Sunday visit. It was a little selfish, but going…
Time Flies Like an Eagle…and/or a Buzzard
Posted 5-10-19 Tomorrow morning at 9am my bride and I celebrate 250,000 hours of wedded bliss! In case you can’t work through those numbers in your head, we hit 29 years this November! Many wondered if 2 babies of the families, still babies at 19 and 18, would make it a week…and we are happier…
(Sweet) 17 Sore Prevention Tips
Posted 5-9-19 Another day in paradise. 🙂 After a busy and productive day at work, I got some respite: a visit with mom. 😉 She is still happy, eating well, taking her meds and following her routine. The rest of the Sweet 17 were doing pretty well too although one of my favorite ex-teachers had…
The True Virtuoso
Posted 5-8-19 while tapping my toes… A handful of dust, a worthless piece of clayAnd you breathed the breath of HeavenThen there was a soul, the heart, the hands, the voiceThat could sing of your perfection Life is a symphonyThat only you can playYou know I can hear itThrough the madness everyday (Chorus) Virtuoso, virtuosoThis…
Crossing Life’s Road
Posted 5-7-19 Alzheimer’s and related dementias are a really cruddy set of conditions. (2019 Understatement Sentence of the Year nominee!) The path will vary depending on the type, the parts of the brain affected, the previous health of the patient and other factors, but the end result, as of 5-7-2019 is death…mercifully. The end. (Wow…
Grasses of the Fields
Posted 5-6-19 One of the temporary/seasonal jobs mom did in an earlier life was working in a greenhouse. She loves plants of all kinds, both inside and out. She was a good yard person. Perhaps not a great yard person since she has several passions, but the yard was always nice…nicer than some of her…
Circle Time
Posted 5-5-19 Not much to report on mom or the Sweet 17 from this weekend, as of yet. Unlike when you don’t hear from your younger kids for a couple minutes as they are playing, a few minutes of quiet isn’t a sign of nefariousness or eminent explosions of emotion with memory unit patients, at…