Wednesday, Dec. 7

December 7...Pearl Harbor Day. Seventy years ago, Mother, now age 89, was working in the Rochester, N.Y. Eastman Kodak Company darkroom rolling film for cameras, when she, along with most other Americans, hear a radio news report about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

She was pregnant with me at the time...I was born nearly a month later in January. Today, it occurred to me for the first time what a coincidence it is that many years after Mother worked rolling film in a darkroom, I became a photographer.

We were surprised to be greeted by a layer of snow on the ground when we got up at 5:30 this morning. We were up extra early, because we needed to take Mother to an outpatient clinic for an endoscopy exam to check her stomach ulcer.

I had a little time before we left to snap several photos of the snow, which was predicted to melt soon after daylight.

Hubbie and I grabbed a quick breakfast of cereal (Mother could have nothing to eat this morning), and then helped Mother into the van. She was dreading the procedure, but she enjoyed the ride to the clinic, anyway, since the snow was so fluffy-pretty.

Soon after we arrived at the clinic, Hubbie decided to take the van to the shop for an oil change, rather than spend his time in the waiting room.

I was allowed to accompany Mother back to the prep room, but had to go back to the waiting room while the procedure was going on. It only lasted about twenty minutes, and then I was allowed to go back and stay with her during recovery.

When the doctor came to tell me that Mother's ulcer was 99% cured, he said he wished he had talked to her before she went to sleep, because he was interested in knowing if she remembered what she was doing when she heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.

Mother roused about then, and he asked her. She said she remembered she was working in the school lunchroom. I hastened to tell the doctor that she was confused, because she didn't work in a school lunchroom until many years later, when I was in high school. She was actually working at Eastman Kodak at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Mother was awake in about thirty minutes, and ready to go home. She'd used her walker to go to the van for the ride to the clinic, but a nurse pushed her out to the van in a wheelchair. It was a bit of a challenge getting Mother into the van, since she was still a bit woozy and wobbly from the medication.

At home, we used the wheelchair to help Mother get back into the house. She was very hungry by this time, so I fixed her scrambled eggs and toast...eggs from Sis's chickens.

Although it was nearly 11 a.m., we decided to hang the flag on the well house, in honor of Pearl Harbor Day.

After Hubbie and I had bowls of chili for lunch, he ran errands, while Mother and I worked in the kitchen. Mother cut up pineapple chunks which she added to carrot salad, and then chopped bell pepper for macaroni and cheese. While she did that, I made a glaze for the rum cake. This time, it worked just fine.

Then I called the doctor who did Mother's procedure today, because I was confused about an ulcer medication he prescribed. It was different from the one she's been taking, so I wondered if I was supposed to give her both medications, or replace the old one with the new one.

I couldn't reach anyone when I called, so I left a message. Soon, a nurse called back to say she was confused about the meds, too, and needed to consult the doctor. Later, she called back to say both are good ulcer meds, but that Mother should just finish the old prescription, and then begin taking the new one. She doesn't need both, though. No wonder elderly people become confused and end up taking meds inappropriately. If anyone at the clinic had asked, I'd have provided them with a list of Mother's medications.

The call from Mother's doctor was followed by one from my cardiologist's office, where I am to have a treadmill stress test later this month. We set it for 9:30 a.m., Dec. 27. I can't have breakfast that morning, so I'll be pretty hungry by the time I get home.

I spent the afternoon putting some more touches of Christmas around the house. Just a few more things, and I'll be done...maybe I can finish up tomorrow. I was sorely tempted to cut way back this year, but Mother wanted it all out. Very tiring effort, but I guess it's worth it if it pleases her.

Later, I decided rotisserie chicken, with macaroni and cheese, and carrot salad were in order for supper, because I was too pooped to do anything else. Hubbie went to the WDCS to get the chicken, as well as some white American cheese for the macaroni and cheese. I boiled the macaroni, with the chopped bell peppers, while he was gone, and then made a sauce from the cheese and a little milk, plus spices, to add to the macaroni.

After supper, Mother watched TV for a little while, but was ready for bed by around 7:30. She'd had a trying day following a sleepless night dreading the procedure this morning.

Hubbie and I continued watching TV until bedtime, including a TNT channel Mystery Movie Night presentation called, "Hide," based on a novel by Lisa Gardner. Six mummified remains of women, missing for years, are found in an abandoned mental hospital.