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Golden Wedding Anniversary


SarahR

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By the Grace of God we made it to our 50th wedding anniversary....nothing fancy, no big celebrations, not even acknowledgement from some of our closest relatives or friends, but we survived.  Gary had his stroke in 2004 at the age of 56, going on 57, and a secondary bleed on his 57th birthday.   Not a single doctor who worked with him during that time would give him a life expectancy of more than six weeks or at best six months - nearly 14 years later he is still here, and we made it to the 50th anniversary.   What do doctors know????   lol

 

Gary's two youngest sisters and one brother-in-law flew out last weekend and were here till Monday.   We met them in Scottsdale and they followed us back to our home in Coolidge, AZ.  On Saturday Gary slept late (too much brain over stimulation from all the chatter), and after he got up and ate breakfast they all wanted to go to a casino, so we headed out to Harrah's Ak-Chin in Maricopa.  I hit a nice sized jackpot, we ate a light lunch and headed back home again.   On Sunday, we drove to Phoenix to our son Joel's place where he had prepared a couple smoked turkeys and a fine meal for all of us.  It was a fun day, but a lot of over stimulation for Gary again.  He went straight to bed when we got home (around 5:30 p.m.) and slept till I got him up around 10:30 on Monday morning.  I wanted him to get up and eat before they all had to take off to the airport for their return flights home.  Monday afternoon after they all left and it was once again quiet in the house, he napped a full five hours and went to bed by 8 that night.   That has been the story of our life for nearly 14 years.....which is why I have caregivers come in a couple days a week so I can get out before I go stir crazy sitting in the house while he sleeps.

 

It's still a bit chilly to start swimming, but I need to hit the pool again to take off the pounds.  I had set a goal to lose 50 lb. before our 50th, but only managed to get 40 lb. off, so now working toward my next goal of losing a total of 70 lb.  It has not been easy with all the crap I've had to deal with these past few weeks with our former caregiver, who is renting our mobile home in Scottsdale, and refusing to allow realtors to  show the place after she had agreed that she would be cooperative when I had to re-list it this spring.  I need to get it sold so I can do a roll-in shower here before my back goes completely out trying to get Gary in and out of that bathroom with a tub.  I already have areas of the back that feel like something  is out of place and need to schedule an appointment to get an MRI, but finding the time is a real challenge as I would likely have to go to Casa Grande to get it done.  I have enough problems in my life without her drama and will be glad when I finally get her out of there.

 

I need to hit the shower and try to find a place to schedule a pedicure today before I start tripping over the long toenails.   lol  

 

Sarah

 

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Congratulations Sarah and Gary, you're both strong people. Sarah I know how much you have struggled to get this far, 14 years of hard, continuing caregiving surely takes its toll. And yet you maintain your sense of humour. You and I had our time together in Hawaii and I am so glad we did. Hope you have the best summer ever. Blessings on you both. 

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Sarah :

 

you are one strong woman & caregiver, taking care of severely disabled person is not easy,   when person is suffering they are not very happy or grateful person  to be around.  wish you lot of blessings in life

 

Asha

 

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Congrats on Golden Anniversary, and I suppose you have heard the 1909 song Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet, which is a sweet song about Our Golden Wedding Day.  I know the last 14 were not what was expected, but you were full of love and care which is admirable. Thank you for the tidbits of wisdom for n:bravo:wbies

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