midweek life and death

Our telephone rang this morning just after 6:00 a.m. It was the neighbor of our ninety-five year old friend. The neighbor has been sleeping in our friend's apartment since she returned from the hospital late last week. About a week ago our friend had gotten up during the night and fallen in the bathroom. The ambulance came for her. The doctors said her hip was not broken. She could go home.

This morning at 3:00 a.m. it was deja vu. The neighbor grabbed the telephone to dial 911. Our friend told the neighbor to hang up, finally agreeing to let her call about 6:00 a.m. when it got light out. The ambulance came and took their patient. They would not allow the neighbor to ride along. She has no car. The prognosis at this point is an end to independent living and an unwelcome move to the nursing home. Stay tuned.

This afternoon we attended the funeral for the seventy-three year old mother of an employee. She lost a short battle with cancer last Sunday. She lived her entire life on farms west of town. The largest church in town was filled with folk from Pelican and Norwegian Grove Townships. It was interesting to see these people all in the same place at the same time. I know their farms well, it's their faces I seldom see.