Ellen has always liked to do projects. She’s always had a list of projects going and the most recent one hung out the entire summer on the end table next to where she would sit on the living room couch. Recently, Eric, Kathryn, and I reviewed that list, made in April, and began assigning the […]
Month: September 2016
Ellen Time
We’re living in what midwife Michelle calls “Ellen time,” floating through each day with each hour calling us to be fully present. For the past ten days or so, Ellen has been speaking with more facility, had longer time periods of alertness, and been quite active physically, getting up many times a day and moving […]
Generosity in the Quiet
This week continues the pattern of quiet. Many hours of resting, drifting, eyes opening to acknowledge who’s sitting with her, sometimes a smile, and always response to what’s funny. And the big blessing, much less pain. Some discomfort, but usually shifting and adjusting this or that makes things ok. But the real story I want […]
Quiet Days
Ellen is having quiet days generally. One nice change we’ve seen since a week ago is Ellen being more active and alert and doing a bit (a bit) less sleeping and resting with eyes closed. Perhaps this is because it’s now been a month since she’s had a chemo treatment. She’s also doing a bit […]
Fifty Years Plus
Two days ago was Ellen’s 50th birthday, a bittersweet marking on the calendar of her life. How immensely grateful we are that she was born on that special day in 1966. Gina baked and brought over the spectacularly delicious chocolate cake you can see in the photos. Ellen did enjoy a bite of the cake, which is […]
Shifts and Changes
Things have shifted quite a bit for Ellen in the last two weeks, with notable further cognitive decline (mentioned in her previous blog post) and turning inward. Ellen spends most of her day resting with her eyes closed and will open them in response to a greeting and sometimes engage a bit with whoever has […]