Relief!

Deep sigh.... I have just spent the most relaxing few days that I've experienced in--I don't know how long.

My dear friend, Jenn, came to visit. Jenn and I go way back. We met at a Writer's Retreat long before Bob and I were married. How good it was to see an old friend. And to get out of the house. Lord almighty, did you know? There really is a world outside of the Pink House. Wow.

On Wednesday, Chris (and her great-grandson, Troy) sat with Bob so that Jenn and I could go out to lunch. Just getting in a car, letting someone else drive, was such a pleasure. We went to a bayside restaurant so we could look out at the water. Bob and I live only 10 minutes from the Gulf and only a few miles from the bay, but I haven't been by the waterside since Bob was in the hospital (the hospital being located on the intercoastal waterway). Such a pleasure just to sit and talk and look out upon the water.....

On Thursday, we spent the day with Bob, doing therapy, which was fun for all of us. Bob enjoyed the attention and I enjoyed the company and I think Jenn learned a thing or two about stroke therapy and also shared some "fresh eyes" advice, which I appreciated. The three of us then played Scrabble and Go Fish, a challenge for Bob. A good challenge. Heck, he won.....

And Friday, when Jenn was due to leave, she asked if I wanted to go to a local art museum with her in the morning. Chris, again, volunteered to sit with Bob, but on Friday morning Chris was not feeling well and I was quite uncomfortable leaving her, but she insisted, practically pushed us out the door, so we went to see a highly beautiful and strange exhibition of blown glass. One dark room featured a life size wooden row boat brimming with colorful glass balls. The boat floated on a glass floor, its reflection upside down underneath it. It was a breathtaking sight, so still and silent, strangely calming and weirdly intimate. Sort of a metaphor of our life right now, as I feel so often adrift since the therapists have abandoned us.....

We came back early. Bob needed meds and I was worried, too, as Chris was feeling poorly. But the minute we drove up to the house, Chris was yelling from the front porch for us "to get hell outta here and go back out!" She was feeling better, Bob was asleep, so I slipped him the medication and we went back out for a leisurely lunch at a fancy hotel resort, sitting at a table watching the tourists splashing in the hotel pool complete with a waterfall.  Aaaaahh.... what a life.

Well, it's back to reality today. But I am feeling quite refreshed and up to the usual challenges. Thank you, Jenn and Chris.