We’re back home in Orlando now, after a busy week in Roanoke. We were in Roanoke, Virginia for a week visiting my family, and assisting my 84 year old parents. My Dad had a terrible fall, and is currently recovering in a rehab center, which is fortunately only a couple miles from their home as Mom visits daily. As Mom no longer drives, Steve (DOS) and myself took turns taking Mom to visit Dad daily, giving my brother Andy and his partner Art a bit of a break from their daily routine which they’ve been doing for a while, as they live down the street from Mom. Since Dad will probably be there for a couple months, I arranged for Mom to have daily meals (at least lunch and dinner) with Dad, which really seemed to perk them both up.
I could tell a big difference in Dad’s recovery, just in the short time we were there. When we first arrived, Dad was confined to his bed, and needed assistance eating. By the time we left nearly a week later, he was able to sit in a chair, although requires nurses aids to assist him. He still has his sense of humor, which helps a lot, and the therapists are wonderful! One day they even brought a beautiful therapy dog to his room; it really cheered Dad up too.
And now a word of thanks: I would specifically like to give a huge “shout-out” and Thank You, to all the nurses and other medical professionals who provide care for people, and especially the different therapists (OT, PT, speech) etc that assist my Dad and others daily. It is “you Angels” both here and worldwide, that truly make this world a better place to live. You have difficult and mostly thankless jobs with long hours, and are so underpaid for what you do. I thank “you Angels” from the bottom of my heard for your dedication and service to improving patient’s lives (as well as their families). Group hug to “you Angels!” And never underestimate how your day-to-day job affects someone’s life. Bravo “you Angels!”
I didn’t make many photos this week as we were busy, but here are a couple pics sitting out front of the rehab center. It sits high on the hillside overlooking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Roanoke Valley.
We did manage to have a couple good meals in the evening while we were there, including Billy’s and Frankie Rolland’s in downtown Roanoke which we Uber’d to, and Four Nineteen Restaurant, just down from Andy and Art’s house.
By the end of the week we had to head back to Orlando. If we didn’t have previous plans (I feel guilty saying Disney World) we would have stayed another week as I have home office next week. But we had prepaid for three nights hotel and were planning on meeting a couple from Canada and another co-worker of mine and his family, so we headed back home, although we plan on going up to Roanoke again sometime in October.
Oh, and for what it’s worth . . . totally unrelated to anything but can be filed in the WTF (be nice, what the freak) section: We went by Sam’s Club to purchase some items for my Mom while we were there, and noticed this in the Christmas display section. This was definitely a first; a ‘woman Christmas tree’. What’s next – it’s only September!
