Looking Up

It's been an interesting day.  I had been looking forward to getting some laundry and other things done around the house, just taking my time and then reading and watching movies.  I only got the watching movies part done, and not at MY house!

I'd been up, but not ready to do much of anything other than make a couple of phone calls, and sometime before noon my niece texted me.  I knew immediately that meant she was home from school, which wasn't a good thing.  She's been having a lot of stomach pains, nausea, & vomiting.  She's been to several doctors, and is due for an upper GI on Tuesday.  But, since going off some of the meds she had been on that weren't really helping, she's been vomiting more.  That's why she was home today.  Anyway, she was hoping for some lunch, which I got and took to her.  It was not something that stayed with her for very long.

I feel badly for her because it's been going on for several months, and none of the doctors seem to be able to pinpoint exactly what the problem is.  At almost 15, that's a tough age to be going through all of this (not that there's a good or easy age to go through it).  Regardless, it was great to be able to spend most of the day with her.

I took these pictures of the sky and clouds just outside my sister's and her family's house.  I loved the contrast of the darker clouds with the fluffy white clouds, as well as the blue sky and the green leaves of the trees.


I didn't realize the pics would also be so representative of the day!


When I arrived, my niece was doing OK.  Not great, but not horrible, either.  She ate her chicken sandwich and baked potato, and for a while, seemed to be doing better.  Thought good thoughts too soon, I guess.  I took some Sprite and took the fizziness out of it and had her sip that, which seemed to stay down the longest.


We did manage to watch two movies, one of which always makes me cry.  I love it, and I hate it.  She was watching "She's the Man" when I arrived, and it was kind of a cute movie (Amanda Bynes is adorable in almost everything she does though).  I was glad I got to see it, and that we could watch it together.  Next up was the tearjerker, "The Notebook."  


It's one thing to watch that movie from an objective standpoint, but once you know someone with any form of dementia (Alzheimer's is just one form of dementia, but the most widely diagnosed form), it takes on a whole new layer of meaning.


I'm sure by now you're wondering how in the world clouds, sky, and trees are representative of puking, crying, and dementia.  Well, the fluffy clouds and blue sky remind me of when things are going well; there's no sign of "threatening" weather or troubles ahead, just days where our plans move along and life cooperates with us.  The dark clouds remind me of when I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop; I know something not so good is going to be happening, I just don't know when or how severe it will be.  The leaves and the trees remind me that we survive those "dead" periods when everything seems to be going wrong or at least not much is going right.  Once we are firmly rooted in God, the storms, disasters, diseases, and emotional turmoil are survivable.  They still aren't easy to deal with, but we know who is ultimately in control, and know it will be OK.


I've discovered that looking up is almost always a positive move.