[Early December]
Well, I haven't been as faithful in updating this as I'd hoped to be...but I think I'm excused as life has been a bit crazy lately. I have yet to get up the courage to talk to a counselor at my school about my academic downfall that has been this semester...I keep putting it off and now the semester is almost over. Eek.
In other news, my abuelito has been out of the hospital for...a couple weeks? I think it's been a couple weeks now...I'm honestly not sure. My days kind of overlap and run into each other. Anyway, he has good days and bad days. He has days when he's willing to move here with us and days when he's not. Same goes for my abuelita. She has days when she handles things well and remembers what she should (regarding things like my abuelito's medicines) and days when she gets forgetful and confused. I just talked to my mom on the phone today, and she said they've both digressed back to Spanish. Not that speaking Spanish is something one generally digresses to-I actually aspire to learn it-but they both used to be bilingual. And now they're not. Their English is apparently very broken and often incorrect. So there's actually a minor language barrier between them and my mom. See, when my mom was growing up, they insisted on her speaking only English and refused to teach her Spanish. She ended up surprising them by picking it up anyway; but she hasn't had very much practice speaking it for years. So her Spanish isn't what it was and their English is almost non-existant. However, all-in-all they're doing well. If you've been praying for them, please continue to do so as it is still just as necessary as ever.
[Now]
As I type I'm actually sitting in McKinney, TX (just outside of Dallas) in the living room of my parents' old pastor. A man I have heard about constantly growing up. He and his wife are even better than the stories. Southern, Holy Spirit filled, Bible quoting at every turn people. I love it! Pastor John is incredible! He's an artist, a musician, a poet, and an incredibly wise man of God. His wife Ann is equally amazing in her wisdom and spirit. We're staing with them through Monday, but we've been in TX since the 22nd. We were staying at my great Tia Frances' house, several blocks away from my grandparents. My abuelito has lost a lot of weight and my abuelita has gained some. His doctors advise him to try to gain some and hers just the opposite. She jokes that it would all be just fine if she could give him some of hers. They seem to be doing alright, but they can't live alone. So either we move here or they move out to CA. We'll probably move them out with us, but there's a lot of stress and pressure with all of that and the details concerning that right now. Our house isn't big enough for them to live with us, they have lot of things, and some of their siblings and friends are still alive out here. The thing is: for years, my abuelito was the one who took care of everything and everyone out here, but noone will help him now. His doctor wants to move him into some kind of hospice proram, but that would essentially be a death watch. We have a doctor out in CA (a nutritionist) who would likely be able to help him far more than a death watch; and with everything he's always done for everyone-including our family-we need to try it. They've enjoyed having all the kids out here, but it can be kind of stressful for them with all of the noise. It's been nice though. Not a "vacation" per se, and when we get back there it'll be even less "vacation-y"; however, seeing my grandparents and helping them out...just spending time with them...well, it's been worth it. :) God is so faithful. I'll update later with more information and whatnot when I have time, but I have to be getting to bed now.
Hope you all had a marvelous Christmas!!!
much love.
Well, I haven't been as faithful in updating this as I'd hoped to be...but I think I'm excused as life has been a bit crazy lately. I have yet to get up the courage to talk to a counselor at my school about my academic downfall that has been this semester...I keep putting it off and now the semester is almost over. Eek.
In other news, my abuelito has been out of the hospital for...a couple weeks? I think it's been a couple weeks now...I'm honestly not sure. My days kind of overlap and run into each other. Anyway, he has good days and bad days. He has days when he's willing to move here with us and days when he's not. Same goes for my abuelita. She has days when she handles things well and remembers what she should (regarding things like my abuelito's medicines) and days when she gets forgetful and confused. I just talked to my mom on the phone today, and she said they've both digressed back to Spanish. Not that speaking Spanish is something one generally digresses to-I actually aspire to learn it-but they both used to be bilingual. And now they're not. Their English is apparently very broken and often incorrect. So there's actually a minor language barrier between them and my mom. See, when my mom was growing up, they insisted on her speaking only English and refused to teach her Spanish. She ended up surprising them by picking it up anyway; but she hasn't had very much practice speaking it for years. So her Spanish isn't what it was and their English is almost non-existant. However, all-in-all they're doing well. If you've been praying for them, please continue to do so as it is still just as necessary as ever.
[Now]
As I type I'm actually sitting in McKinney, TX (just outside of Dallas) in the living room of my parents' old pastor. A man I have heard about constantly growing up. He and his wife are even better than the stories. Southern, Holy Spirit filled, Bible quoting at every turn people. I love it! Pastor John is incredible! He's an artist, a musician, a poet, and an incredibly wise man of God. His wife Ann is equally amazing in her wisdom and spirit. We're staing with them through Monday, but we've been in TX since the 22nd. We were staying at my great Tia Frances' house, several blocks away from my grandparents. My abuelito has lost a lot of weight and my abuelita has gained some. His doctors advise him to try to gain some and hers just the opposite. She jokes that it would all be just fine if she could give him some of hers. They seem to be doing alright, but they can't live alone. So either we move here or they move out to CA. We'll probably move them out with us, but there's a lot of stress and pressure with all of that and the details concerning that right now. Our house isn't big enough for them to live with us, they have lot of things, and some of their siblings and friends are still alive out here. The thing is: for years, my abuelito was the one who took care of everything and everyone out here, but noone will help him now. His doctor wants to move him into some kind of hospice proram, but that would essentially be a death watch. We have a doctor out in CA (a nutritionist) who would likely be able to help him far more than a death watch; and with everything he's always done for everyone-including our family-we need to try it. They've enjoyed having all the kids out here, but it can be kind of stressful for them with all of the noise. It's been nice though. Not a "vacation" per se, and when we get back there it'll be even less "vacation-y"; however, seeing my grandparents and helping them out...just spending time with them...well, it's been worth it. :) God is so faithful. I'll update later with more information and whatnot when I have time, but I have to be getting to bed now.
Hope you all had a marvelous Christmas!!!
much love.
