UPS Strong

Les had an outing to UPS this past week.  His old supervisor, Rick, retired.  On Rick's last day there was a morning party - similar to what Les had on his last day.  I needed to get Les up EARLY that day - not an easy feat!  He is pretty groggy in the mornings.  But, we made it by 8:45!  It was so fun to see all the drivers come rolling in.  They are always excited for cake and coffee!  Les was greeted very warmly by his old buddies.  Les got very emotional - what he wouldn't give to be going to work in his brown uniform and complaining about the load on his truck.......

Rick and Paula have been so great to us.  They come to church with us quite often.  They stop in with fresh picked raspberries and blueberries and homemade breads.  Les enjoyed Rick as a supervisor;  Rick has gone above and beyond since Les retired. 

This is Janna.  She starts EARLY in the morning and is pretty much the glue that holds that center together!  She also makes awesome chocolate chip cookies.

This is Ed.  He is the driver that delivers to our house.  I should have a picture of him sitting on our couch visiting with Les - because he does that OFTEN. 

 Les gets visits quite often from current drivers and retired drivers.  I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are a few:

Flash back to a year ago and the UPS golf tournament.  We continue to use money from that tournament to pay our medical bills.  SUCH A BLESSING!

Les continues to lose strength in his left arm.  This causes lots of frustration for both of us.  He is still "training" on his eye gaze computer, but that tires him out quickly.  We are having some "boards" made up with the alphabet and various phrases, etc. that we can point to and he can say yes or no to.  Not fun stuff.  Have I mentioned what an awful, nasty disease this is?  We try to continue to focus on just today.

 Our Iowa friend Rachel recently sent a letter and this is what she had to say:  "I wonder sometimes why we aren't told more about heaven in the Bible.  Is it because we are so incapable of understanding that we wouldn't really be able to appreicate it?  Or is it because God has it wrapped up like a gift, and if we were able to open it up too soon we'd lose the excitement of anticipation?  I guess for now, we really need a strong faith to believe that it will be SO far above anything our 'earth-bound' minds could ever dream up."  Les is counting on that last part!!

Visitors

We've had some fun visitors recently!  Having people around sure makes the days go by quicker.

We had a visit from Danny and his sweet wife Kati and their two darling girls.  They live in Moscow.  I first met Danny on a mission trip we went on together - many years ago.  Before they were married, Kati lived in our basement for several months.  It was such a treat to have them visit!  I was so excited, I didn't get a picture!  BUT I found this one from way back when........

Some of my cousins on my mom's side were here for a family wedding.  My mom made a yummy lunch for all of us.  It was so great to catch up with these girls!  Now it's my turn to get to their stomping grounds.

Brielle lives in Phoenix.  She made a point of spending an afternoon with us when she was visiting "home".   We are family friends from way back, so we spent some time watching old home movies.  Oh dear, hilarious!!  Thanks for taking the time Brielle!  It meant alot to Les (and me!!)

My cousins from the eastern side came for a visit.  Les went on a hunting trip with Jody before we were even married and those two formed some sort of bond on that trip.  People say Debbie and I resemble each other........that's not a bad thing in my opinion!!  We had a great visit - thanks so much for taking the time to hang out with us! 

Les' brother Howard came again for a week.  He stayed with us.  He was a big help with cleaning some stuff up - washed vehicles - helped with Les' care - took Les out for drives.  His wife Vicky must have given him a speech when he left home; he was very good about helping himself with meals and cleaning up after himself - even did his own laundry!  Pretty cute!!  It was a hard good bye.  You are a good big brother Howard.

Friend Dan gave a tour of the new cold storage in town!!

My baby sister Becky was back recently.  She took her daughter Jenae along and they also stayed with us.  Her hubs Darrell came later for a couple of nights.  Again, they were very helpful to have around.  Becky even cleaned out my fridge and some cupboards-- cleaned up some nasty sticky stuff in the fridge that has been there for awhile and we finally dumped the Christmas cookies in the cupboard that were waiting to get frosted!  My brother Don, his wife Sue, and Gretta and Nick also came up for the weekend, but again, I was so excited I didn't get a picture of them!

Sweet nieces!

If you have a couple of minutes, please don't hesitate to just pop in for a quick visit.  If it's not a good time, I will let you know.  Les has long days and he loves it when people just stop to say hi.  Please pray that his left hand doesn't get any weaker.  He continues to deteriorate but we are praying that he can continue to use his hand for communicating.

Blessings

The blessings continue!  These are all so great!!

Our van pooped out a couple weeks ago (you can ask Barry and Rick about that if you want details, tee hee).  Long story short - neighbor friend Melinda found out and called our friend Roy who owns an auto repair shop.  Roy and Rick got the van to Roy's shop - Roy had it back the next evening, working just fine.  AND we haven't received a bill from Roy.......

We needed some major yard trimming done this spring.  Les usually does all this stuff!  We called Mark who does yard work; he attends our church.  He came over and got the trimming done.  Such a nice guy - if you need yard work done, give him a call!  AND we haven't received a bill.........

We have some friends in Palm Springs.  They used to live up here and they attended our church. When they lived here, Les was Rene's "handy man" - he would help out with various odd jobs around Rene & Geraldine's house. We had a chance to visit them last year when we were in Palm Springs.  Anyway, Rene called awhile back to check in on us.   Rene found out that Les likes to listen to books on tape.  Two days later we received a FULL BOX of books and books-on-tape from David Jeremiah.  What an awesome surprise!  Les has been working through them - I believe he might be on the last one.  He has been so blessed by these books.  Les has also been passing them on - and others are being blessed!

Daniel takes pictures.  We have had him take family pictures in the past; he took the wedding pictures of Kris & Hannah.  He doesn't technically take family pictures anymore, but he came and took some of us a few weeks ago.  His wife Traci owns a hair salon and she recently sent over a gift certificate for a pedicure for me, Leslie and Hannah.  How sweet is that???  Such a great young couple.

Our long time friend Roby gifted Les and I each a massage.  Les' massage was in our house - I opted to go to the "spa" because I knew I would be more relaxed there.  We don't see much of Roby anymore but she continues to send thoughts and prayers our way.  Love ya Roby!

Niece Emily's bunco group brought over some single serve meals.  They also did this last fall when Les wasn't eating at all.  Such a great idea, and such a blessing for me.  I don't even know some of these girls!!  Servant hearts.

We had a good Father's Day.  My dad wasn't feeling well, but at least we had coffee with him and mom after church.  (My dad has Parkinsons.)  Our family had pizza at Kris and Hannah's in the evening.  It's so peaceful out there--the little red house in the country.  Les' brother Howard is visiting so he and niece Emily joined us.  A good day.  We are still focusing on just one day at a time.

Choose Joy

 I was convicted recently of two things.

The first for me was to choose joy.  I had read some quotes posted by my Iowa-friend Starla from a book she was reading, "Fight Back With Joy" by Margaret Feinberg.  I commented on her post - two days later the book was on our doorstep.  (THANKS STARLA!)  This is a great book about choosing joy in the midst of whatever you are going through.   Shortly after that,  I saw this chalk frame posted:

I contacted sweet Rachel who creates these and she made one for me that same week.  It will be hanging in my bedroom (as soon as Kris hangs it...........I'm new to all this handyman stuff!!)

The second conviction was to take one day at a time.  Les and I were both worrying/thinking of the future too much, and that made us anxious.  Les and I have been going through the Jesus Calling devotional, and several days have been talking directly to us about this.  Here is an example:

AMEN!!!

We are now trying to just think about today.  Our days aren't quite as stressful as they were and we are both more content and at peace.  Just today is good.

Please pray that Les keeps use of his left arm/hand.  That arm continues to deteriorate bit by bit.  We try not to worry about it, but that hand is his communication tool!  We are trying to decide if it would be wise to get him a new iPad to type with instead of his phone.  Les isn't eating solid foods anymore.  He was eating blended foods with a syringe, but even that made him very tired - it took too much effort.  Every now and then he will try a shake, or coffee in the morning, but it wears him out.

We took a few family pictures in our backyard a few weeks ago.  Daniel, Tracy and sweet little January were so fun to have around that evening!  This is a super sweet family who has become very dear to us!

Random Stuff

 Several months ago, our daughter-in-law and her dentist dad Randy created a "bumper" for Les to wear in his mouth because he kept biting his tongue and cheeks.  This new bumper has helped so much with that.  They re-created some sort of brace for him.  Isn't she cute???   Les still does bite his tongue quite a bit, but the "bumper" protects his cheeks.

My workout friend Jan happens to be our son's mother-in-law and our daughter-in-law's mother.  Jan brings Les and I lattes every Tuesday morning.  She is so sweet and giving.

I do bookkeeping work for Joey.  Joey, Jeff and Joe built our wheelchair ramp in the garage.  Joey and Jeff also put in a wider door to our bathroom so the wheelchair gets in easier.  Joey is a great boss and a great friend.  My other construction friends helped refinish the new door, and our church friend Dan (who owns the door store) donated the door.  This is all so great!

The reverend in romeo's has made some random visits.  He recently cleaned out our flower beds and brought away all our cardboard.  I need to catch him by camera one of these visits!!

My friends Pam and Doris have set up a schedule for meals to be brought in.  This has been very helpful since we were receiving so many meals!  We are truly blessed by all the great cooks we know.

The cleaning fairies have been showing up every few weeks.  It seems like such an easy thing to just quick vacuum or dust...........but that's always at the end of my list so never gets done.   It's such a relief knowing that our house is staying clean.  Well......... except for the other day when Kris was transferring his Dad and knocked over his FULL vanilla latte on the carpet...........  Oh well.  It's only carpet.   Thankfully Melinda next door has a Spot Bot.

Recently our church handed out a piece of paper that was blank except for "Dear Les".......  The other day Pastor Clay stopped by with all of these notes from our church family.  We can only read a few at a time because I start crying and can't read, and Les starts crying and can't breath......  We are so grateful for our church family.  (Truly, how does anyone go through a journey like this without the support of a church family?????)   It is a silver lining to being diagnosed with a terminal illness:  Les is being blessed even as he knows his life here on earth is short.  In all truthfulness, we should always be this caring and supportive of each other!  We are all going to die some day - Les is not the only one that will leave this world!

The other pic is our card box - overflowing with cards we have received.

We had a great Mother's Day.  We are blessed to have my mom here with us, and our two girls.  Baby bump is growing!!!

Progression

This is a nasty disease.  It just plain sucks.  We are progressing into a not-so-very-fun stage.

When this disease began we thought, Well Les is slurring his words a bit - we can handle that!  When he could barely talk we thought, Well, he can still talk with texting and we can understand some words.  At least he is mobile and very active!

When he had his first trach surgery we thought, Well at least he is mobile and he can talk with texting.  He was pretty miserable because he couldn't eat, but he was mobile and active!

After his second surgery which removed his larynx, we were so thankful he could eat a bit again!  He was mobile and could talk with texting.  He started losing a bit of strength in his right hand and left leg, but otherwise was doing good physically.  He could still give himself his meds and was walking!

When Les started using a walker we thought, Well he can still get around.  He can get in and out of the car, he can get himself to bed, he can get himself on the toilet.  And he could still talk with texting!

When Les couldn't walk anymore or use his right hand at all we thought, Well he can still talk with texting using his left hand!  He could still stand upright so I could get him from the recliner to the wheelchair, and from the wheelchair to the toilet.  He couldn't give himself his meds anymore, but I learned all that and did it myself.  He could still feed himself.

But now Les can't get himself up and I can't pull him up by myself.  He is losing strength in his left hand; he can barely hold his phone to text (to talk).  He is losing strength to swallow; he can only eat foods that have been thinned enough to feed through a syringe.  We have some of his very dear friends coming every evening to get him on and off the toilet, and into the recliner for bed (he prefers sleeping in the recliner).  We recently hired a gal, Kelli, to come in three mornings a week to get him up and washed.  Kelli also does a bit of stretching with his legs and arms.  The other mornings, either our son Kris or a friend gets Les up.  Les has to make a decision in the morning if he wants to spend the day in the recliner or his wheelchair.  Most days it's the wheelchair; he can get outside on the deck and putz around the house a bit.  He also uses a cough assist several times a day to pull up mucus (like our snot) from his stoma opening.

We have been with Hospice for a month now.  We LOVE nurse Carren and we LOVE the bath aide Sheila.  These gals are so kind and compassionate!  Carren comes once a week - she brings meds and cans of liquid food,  she changes the catheter, she does a quick physical check up.  Sheila comes twice a week to give Les a shower in the bathtub - we use a transfer chair.  Les has also tried acupuncture through Hospice - he's had Robin come once and will probably continue weekly.  She also did a bit of massage, which he loved!

We are currently trying to learn how to use a Hoyer lift and a different version of that lift.  When Les can't bear ANY weight on his own, we will need to use this lift.  He is not happy about it.  It's not a very nice way to be transferred.  But, it will be a necessity and we need to be prepared.

Not a very uplifting post, I realize.  But we are in a very difficult stage.  It's exhausting for me and for Les.  We covet your prayers - we need them.

Our Love Story (in a nutshell)

We met the last week of my junior year of college in Iowa.  Les was a city police officer.  One day I was riding my bike and Les drove up next to me on his Goldwing motorcycle and asked if I wanted a ride.  Um, yes please!!   We saw each other just about every night that last week until I left for Washington for the summer.  Les actually drove out with his parents that summer and he spent a week visiting at my parents house.  We dated that next year, my senior year.   I knew from about our first date that I wanted to marry him!!  We had originally planned on getting married right after my college graduation, but we had a bit of a bump in our relationship (we hadn't even dated a year!!!) so postponed the wedding a year.  After graduation I got a job in Yakima, Washington; Les quit his police officer job and started long haul trucking.  We visited a few times, wrote many letters, and spent lots of $$ on long distance phone calls!

We got married May 8, 1982 in Iowa.  We had a second wedding reception in Washington.  We settled in Iowa.

 I had a great job for a large advertising company. Les was a long haul trucker for a few years until he became an electrician for the same city he was a police officer.  After 4 years, we had our first baby, Kristopher Gerrit.  I went back to work full time but after six months of that craziness I quit and became a full time mommy.  Almost 3 years later Leslie Grace came along.

 About this time, Les decided he wanted to try out for a state trooper job.  When Leslie turned 2, he went to police academy and became an Iowa state trooper.  It wasn't long before he decided he wasn't cut out for that kind of work.

  He went back to an electrician job, but wasn't content.  We talked about moving to Washington (his idea - not mine!!).  Les had a job interview in eastern Washington and while out there, we decided to drive to Lynden because Les had heard so much about it.  We both fell in love with this little town and decided we wanted to live here.  Through some total "God things" we ended up moving about a month later.  Les then applied for a UPS driving job - he was a preloader for about 3.5 years while also working for a local electrician.  I got a job with a construction contractor and they offered to build us a house.  We still live in the same house!  And I work for the same contractor.  It's been almost 23 years since we have lived here.  We never regretted the move.

Today is our 33rd anniversary.  It's weird knowing that this is most likely our last anniversary we will celebrate together.  We won't be going on a trip, we won't be going out for dinner, we won't even be able to have an "I love you" kiss.  But, we have been blessed with so many more amazing years than lots of people have!   When we look back, we can totally see how God was weaving everything together.  Tough times helped us grow.  Fun times made for good memories.  We always loved each other "tons and tons" no matter what happened.  He was always my best friend.

Les always gave me flowers on our anniversary.  Lots of fun surprises!  The best was one of the first years we lived here.  We went out for dinner at the place on Chuckanut Drive.  Right before we received our dinners, the waiter brought me flowers.  What???  How did he do that?   And today was no exception.  Not sure how he did it, but I had flowers delivered today. 

This disease has not taken away our love.  Les can't talk and tell me that he loves me, but he can make a heart with his fingers to tell me. Caring for a loved one is a true testament of true love.  Believe me, I wouldn't do this for anyone else!  We are so thankful that God brought us together and we are thankful that He has given us 33 amazing years.

My flowers today