Drat

 When I started in my current job, I was offered two days a week. It's not enough but I hoped it would become more. Within a week, I found out that my counterpart on the other three days would be going on maternity leave. I would have savings to use until she actually took leave and then I thought I might be able to do full time until she returned from leave.

Well, that didn't happen because the facility wants to keep a job share arrangement. When my latest counterpart resigned, I hoped I could at least get three days but so far that hasn't happened.

On the way to work yesterday, a woman driving in front of me slowed to take a left turn. She slowed and I braked, slowed more, I braked more. She almost stopped and still wasn't around the corner. I was braking as hard as I could and the car wasn't stopping on a slippery wet road. It was like a bad dream.

Her first words to me were "YOU HIT ME" 

The damage to my car will never be fixed, I just get to drive around in a more beaten vehicle than I already did.

I am responsible for the damage to the other car and have just made the insurance claim.

After that upset I got to work (late) and was called to the boss's office to be told the succession plan for my counterpart who is about to leave (the second person in 8 months) I had hoped that at this change, I might be able to increase my hours but no, the new hire will, again, take the greater number of hours.

It was a hard day and I am getting real tired of hard.

The aged care home where I work is a stone's throw from where I grew up so I have an association with the area and sometimes run across people I knew or knew of a long time ago. One of these was my piano teacher. I was about 14-15 when she taught me. I used to ride my bike to her house and I had to take my shoes off at the door. Mrs H taught in her loungeroom with plush white carpet and baby grand piano. I played half heartedly and she often took phone calls from friends. Mrs H seemed posh and scary.

Now she has pleasant dementia and when I told her I was a terrible student she said " Oh, you were probably interested in other things, darling"

Here she is at the Valentines Day afternoon tea. She saved a piece of cake for her hubby and when he didn't arrive she fed it to the visiting dog. She seems a lot less posh and scary now.

On a Mission

I didn't snap this photo but the moment I saw it I was struck with the purpose shown by my small grandson and old lady Buffy.
I've just come back from a weekend with the family: 3 of my grown children, their partners and child and my dog.

I shared a cabin with the young family while the child free camped. Buffy camped because dogs aren't allowed to stay in cabins. She was well taken care of, took up a duffel bag as her bed and shared an actual bed when the weather got chilly.

It was quite lovely and I am exhausted even though I did next to nothing.
 

Escorted In and Out

I think we all have seen stories about people facing the end of life who wait for a special event: a birthday, a visit, a baby's birth, Christmas.

I have seen those stories all my life and assumed that the dying person wanted to be present. I still think my assumption is valid but I saw a snippet of video this week which added complexity I had never thought of.

A priest who works as a hospital chaplain described his visit to a woman who was expected to die within a day. He spoke with the family, prayed and administered last rites expecting that would be the end of the interaction.

The following week he was surprised to see the woman still on the list for visiting. He questioned whether he had the correct list. He did and the doctor assured him the woman had less than a day left.

On the third week the woman was still there, still unconscious. The family was no longer quite so attentive, the TV was on and they looked tired.

The priest asked the nurse what she thought was happening with this woman and the nurse said "Oh, she's not going anywhere, a new grandbaby is due any day now and she won't be going anywhere until baby arrives"

True to the nurse's prediction, the babe arrived, unconscious granny was informed that the baby was here and safe and the lady soon passed away.

The priest commented that we are all escorted in and out of this life, he also commented that a good number of us will reach heaven on the prayers of our grandmothers.

End of Life will be a mystery until we experience it but I have to agree with the priest: the motivator for the granny in the story, who was unconscious the whole time and never met the baby must have been much more powerful than curiosity and more powerful than a snuggle with a newborn.

What do you think kept her going? and who would you like to escort you out of life?