Spent the weekend after the holiday with my best friend and oldest longest friend and her husband. They arrived on Friday. Her husband is not well and at this point no one knows what is going on. He has seen every kind of specialist known to man. His weight has dropped to the point where he is a skeleton. He is unable to swallow well and loses his breath easily. He is frail and so skeletal that he is frightening and my dearest friend in the world who has always been three levels above reality is meeting the challenge like a champ. She is with him and talking him through the panic of choking while he can't swallow. She talks him out of the panic and eases him into a calmer state where he can breathe and relax. Amazing.
My husband was a trooper through it all. My father went through a lot of what my friend's husband is going through and although it killed me to see this it really hit my husband so hard I couldn't believe the pain he was in. Thank God I had bought him a book for his birthday and in between cooking for everyone and truly hosting beautifully, he was able to lose himself in the book as I have never seen him do before.
My nephew was with us as well and he is a challenged adult. He lives in a sheltered house with staff and he holds down two jobs. He also has two girl friends. He will describe himself as "high functioning" and by golly he is, much more than I am most of the time. He is a gentle and sweet and considerate man with the manners of an 18th century courtier (?) is that the right term? He holds doors and stands when a lady enters and just twists my heart in many directions. He was so wonderful with my friend's husband that I can't even begin to describe it. He is just the most lovely man. My mother loved him beyond measure and he always refers to her. This morning the garage lock was frozen and to get in I had to heat the key with a match. "Nana would be so angry with you Auntie. You're playing with matches and she wouldn't like that at all." He laughed as he scolded me and when the door opened I had to tell him that we would never tell her about this. Since she passed away 8 years ago I don't think we have to worry about that but . . . how she would love that he is still talking about her and remembering all of the things that she would say and do.
Everyone is home now and here we are, alone at last. The husband will be spending the night with Tom Brady and the gang and me? I will finish the laundry and try to stay awake long enough to see some of those Patriots. Go Pats.
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