Happy Birthday Mother

One of the major reasons I come to WI in May is because it is my Mother’s birthday.

This year it is her 93rd birthday!!

Earlier this year she  moved to a nursing home.  The very small town she was living in no longer has a grocery store and it was increasingly more difficult for her to get along.  She was not eating very well and was beginning to look gaunt.  Most of her friends have passed on and the bitter, non ending winter here meant she spent way too much time alone.

 

 I was apprehensive about her condition since my family does not communicate, but I was pleasantly surprised to find her looking well and very content. 

 

 I got there just in time for the “road trip”.  The nursing home has a van to transport the residents so we went for a ride and I was lucky enough to be able to go along.  I was in the back, this was my view from the rear.

Mother claimed the window seat so she got a great view.  The trip took us by beautiful homes with nice  flowers gardens.  We also went to a boat landing on the Wisconsin River.  The water level is very high right now.  Along one highway we saw were trees and boulders came crashing down due to mud slides.  We were out cruising the countryside for about an hour and a half.  On the way back we went by a Dairy Queen, so I treated the ladies to ice cream cones.

The lady that drove the van did a great job of narrating the trip.  She was very upbeat and cheerful.

I am so glad I got to spend my Mother’s birthday with her.  The nursing home she is in is very nice and all the staff I met were great.  The other residents I met were also nice so I think my Mother will get along great there.