Then, Along Came Mary!

[Note:] I discovered that this was not published when I wrote it. So, here it is!]


Have I told you about the "Miracle Lady" lately?

She's my wife, Mary, who's life for the months from September til the first of this month, March 2011, has been anything but calm! First, in about two month's time last Summer, her eyes went from fairly good vision to almost no vision, due to retina swelling, we finally discovered in mid August. Then when a friend of our from my days of gardening and landscaping on a Whidbey Island beach cottage property, just came bouncing right back into my life. She, our friend, invited us to a leg of lamb bar-b-que at her lakeside duplex, and while I was making the bar b que, she invited Mary inside to tour her little duplex. But, Mary missed the tricky door step, fell onto the high door sill, shattered her shoulder in many fragments, and over the next two weeks, went into deep shock and then depression.

By the end of December, Mary's depression had so taken her will to live away that she stopped eating. By the middle of February, Mary's weight had dissipated away to well under 100 pounds, and I was called in to meet with her and her case worker, and psychiatrist. We finally persuaded Mary to 'volunteer' to go to a physical and mental health wellness unit in an auburn hospital, to begin the moment they had a bed open.

With some hospital maneuvering to speed things up, Mary was admitted in mid-February. For two intensive weeks she was diagnosed daily, given close diet scrutiny, frequent mental evaluations, and amendments to compensate for brain chemistry imbalance.
 At Day 15, she was discharged, and a whole new Mary Margaret (Pearl) came back to Lakewood! Her sprtits were way up, her weight was returning, and her vigor and will to exist had returned! What a Joy!

At the health care home she was in, they had been trying to prepare her for release to an assisted living home, but her deteriorated mental and physical condition had held things up. With her renewed spirits, Mary was soon able to go with me to review prospective homes. What we discovered was unfortunate. Of four we visited, two had very little resident activities in the public areas, halls, and only muffled dining room chatter. We were not allowed to mingle with residents, for the obvious.

The third home we toured was much better, open, and all residents seemed happy, well-adjusted, and interactive. But, when the room the administrator had promised us would be Mary's was due for her to move in on the agreed date, we were informed that "there are no vacancies"!! I had told the administrator how I'd had a fast-growing lump on my throat, searched online to find non-doctor, non-invasive ways to stop such growths, and finally, it was hydrogen peroxide that reduced the lump to nothing in about three months, and it has not returned since early 2010.

Her reply was, "So you self-treated the condition?" - as if that were a bad thing. I also took coconut oil and hydrogen peroxide to a young man living there who has M.S., and is determined to overcome its effects, which I given this admin to give to him. From her lie about "No vacancy," two days later, and her disparaging remark about treating myself, it seems clear that her idea of health is to trust disease-promoting medical and pharmaceutical enterprises to heal us!

A good thing she turned us down! I could not think of Mary being under such twisted anti-health care!

Then came the best home! Plus, it's just a block from my bank branch of HomeStreet Bank, here in Lakewood! The home is owned by a family where the mother is an invalid, and hubby stays with her in their home in Vancover, Washinton. He has a family friend, a local lawyer, managing the home via his local business. The admin and her assistant are great ladies, taking detailed care for each resident. And, both are named "Cindy," and "Sindy"!! Makes me feel right at home, since my youngest child is "Cindy"!!

But, back to Mary! She has just amazed me with her vitality! Her sweet smile, super kind attitude, and her heart flowing over with love for all is so nice to have again! Our relationship was not just on hold these months, it was not there. "Frustrating," to say the least, having no way to stop the depression, the constant bad-mouthing, and the unkind words that her dementia seemed to work overtime to produce. So good to  have my sweetheart, Mary, back again!

On a close, similar note, several ladies have taken a liking to me, as Mary's hubby, mind you!, and look forward to this Spring, when I am to help create a garden for residents. I'll be taking my compost, buying some gladiolus, maybe a few dahlia, and some vegetables, like peas and carrots. Simple garden plants, but hands-on fun in the outdoors for these cabin-fevered sweethearts! I look forward to some great times in their little community.

For Mary's room, we are carefully selecting furniture like she's had with her first marriage, things that hold a unique and uncommon good looks to their design and material. Pieces that fit together to form a special, inviting place for dear Mary to be comforted in, and to entertain her family and friends. It is a shared bath and closet room, where two rooms are served. For now, the other room is vacant.

One detail about the setting that especially makes Mary happy is the babbling little creek, Ponce de Leon Creek, just outside her window! It exits a via-duct from under Lakewood, Towne Centre's all-paved over, sprawling campus, and actually flows right under the Key Bank building!, and enters a gully with alder and Douglas Fir trees, wild-growing holly, and woods-bushes, has a rocky bed, and lots of wild grasses, shrubs, and creek sounds!

When I was setting her room up for her arrival, there were two very plump raccoons traversing the far edge of the stream bed, tuning over the stones, looking for larvae and other delectable cuisine! They sure looked pretty! Yesterday, in the morning, I saw two mallard ducks swimming down-stream, going fast, with the added speed of the fast stream!

It's kinda funny, but this little stream empties right into the lake where my reappeared Whidbey Island friend now lives in her duplex! It's a small world we live in!

I'll keep Mary's progress posted - probably infrequently!