Saturday,
December 28, 2002
Next Generation
Grace,
Catherine’s mom, is 86. She’s in failing health though still alert and
living alone at home. She’s at that point when living by her self is not a
wise idea and today the family hired Marygold to provide support three days
a week. Marygold will be preparing meals, doing light housework and keeping
Grace company. Grace of course hates the whole idea and only agreed after
being faced with the prospect of having to move in with Jane. Jane lives in San
Francisco but Grace wants to stay in the family house in Glendale.
It’s been a tense family gathering this Christmas while these arrangements
were made. Tempers have flared and feelings hurt. At some point Grace
stopped being the parent and the children had to take over and make some
important decisions. Grace has 4 children and all have different ideas on
how things should be handled.
So far, I’ve stayed in the background and out of the fray. My only role has
been to give Catherine moral support and occasionally do the dishes.
I took
Jonnie, my niece, to see the Star Trek movie yesterday. Jonnie is a “Star
Trek enthusiast” and it was fun to be with someone who actually knows what
the whole thing is about. I tried to raise my status by mentioning that I
was old enough to remember watching the original TV series but Jonnie was
unimpressed. When the “Next Generation” series was being broadcast, I had
just moved to the boondocks and was going for 10 years without TV. By the
time we finally got a satellite dish, the show was retired and I’ve only
seen a few reruns. Right now I’m still trying to catch up on “Northern
Exposure” reruns. Man, what a great show that was.
My favorite current shows are "ER" and
"David Letterman".
Tomorrow I get to help decorate the "Guide
Dogs of America" float for the Rose Parade. I'm just hoping I don't
have a gallbladder attack and I'll try to get some "behind the scenes"
photos. Jane is active with that organization and I tried to talk her
into letting me drive the thing. No luck.
