New meds, busy Mama, almost forgotten

Mama picked up my meds yesterday afternoon. I was going to start them last night, but Mama stopped me from doing so. One of the three is a blood pressure/diuretic pill. The pharmacist had told her when she picked up the medicines to caution me to wait until the morning to start taking anything. Otherwise I would be up all night going to the bathroom because of the diuretic – what people commonly refer to as a water pill. Fortunately, Mama caught me in time. Not that I am sure it would have mattered that much, but I did start the regimen this morning. According to what I have read about the blood pressure medicine, I should feel the effects within a couple hours. It is supposed to slow the heart rate and thereby reduce blood pressure. That should be fun.

Mama is meeting Grandpa and possibly Grandma this morning to drive them to Denton to go grocery shopping. They have decided to limit the money they spend at Walmart. Instead, they will go to Kroger’s and WinCo. Sometimes to Sam’s – but Sam’s is just another form of Walmart. Mama does not mind the shopping trip. She needs to go about the same time that Grandma and Grandpa do, so it all works out. I am not bothered by the extra trip. When we lived in West Virginia, it was a thirty-minute trip to town and an hour or more trip to Sam’s. It is about a forty-minute trip to get to the south side of Denton where we can get to all the stores we need. All of them are clustered in one area for Mama’s convenience. She has been on the go since we returned from Honduras and it does not look like it will let up until after Brittany and Makaila have their babies. Go Mama!

We are still waiting on Brittany as she waits on Aubrey. Mama has a bag packed and almost ready to go. I noticed the suitcase sitting on the bed in the spare bedroom yesterday. Mama is in considerable pain with her knees, but she keeps going. Her discomfort is partly my fault. I let her run out of an herbal combination she has been taking faithfully for years. Somehow, I did not order enough to keep her supplied as well as a friend at church who is taking the same supplement. My bad. As I prepared for the monthly order while we were in Honduras, I anticipated that order being at the house soon after our return. It has not shown up yet. As soon as it does, Mama will get some relief.  

Maggie has been suffering with kidney stones over the past week. Most, if not all have passed, but she is still in pain from the internal irritation caused by the stones she birthed. She has been able to carry out all her mom duties, but with difficulty. Cathryn and Walter are blissfully unaware of the inconvenience as long as their needs and requests are met. So it is with children.

Maggie shared with Mama the other day a question from Cathryn. Cathryn was trying to remember a name and it was eluding her. She asked her mommy, “Who is that boy that lives with Grammy?” Maggie was caught off guard by the question. As they talked for a few minutes, while Cathryn tried to narrow the question, Maggie realized she was talking about me. “Do you mean Papi?” A very relieved Cathryn responded, “Yes. Papi! How come we never talk to him?” It is nice to know I have made an impression on my grandchildren.

It has always been so all my parenting life. When the children were young, I was working rotating 12-hour shift work and was by default a rotating shift father. Missing too many special events in their lives. Mama filled in for both of us. That went on for thirty years. Now, with the grandchildren, I am still working, traveling and mostly in the background as our children, the parents of our grandchildren, make regular contact with Mama (Grammy). I suppose that is the way it will always be. I tried then and I try now to make up the difference in availability in a variety of ways – mostly with longer periods of contact during trips to visit the grandchildren. But I have always been more comfortable in the background watching the activities of my children and grandchildren rather than needing to be a part of those activities. Mama is a creature of contact. Craving that closeness, intimacy and contact time. It is her love language. Making it happen for Grammy, who is far more anxious to engage them, has met my emotional needs as I watch how the Lord is working in the lives of those two generations.

God has been very good to me and Mama and I have always understood that she is far more memorable than me. I’m good with that.