This photo was taken near the end of the second visit I paid to the Midwest this summer, in late July and early August. It may well mark my mother's last visit to her home and undoubtedly the last family meal on the porch, one of her favorite places in the whole world. Not only was it the site of family meals, reading, playing games, and all sorts of informal gatherings of friends and family during seasonable weather, it was used on occasion in the cold and snow (one I recall offhand was members of the bridal party at my first wedding lighting and dancing with sparklers on a snowy late November day).
This "new" porch furniture, the porch, and the house itself will be soon up for sale. Meanwhile, Mother remains temporarily at a nursing home trying to build up her strength to travel. The plan for her to leave after my second visit never materialized when she was hospitalized for a week with some new and old problems and generally left in a much weakened condition, I went out to visit for yet a third trip in hopes that I could both keep her company and help determine whether she could travel as planned. In the end, we decided to wait yet again, and she has returned to the nursing home near her home for the time being. Meanwhile, the sale of the house and its contents is proceeding. It will never be the same as she and I last saw it.
I don't know when and if I will write about these trips. Every time there seems to be a sort of ending or resolution, things change. I have had wonderful friends and family lending their ear to the mixed feelings and concerns I have had. Meanwhile, we hope and pray that my mother will find the strength and the wherewithal to get to where she wants and needs to be.
