A Break from the Stitching Blog

I haven't been around much lately, and I finally decided that I should just state exactly why I haven't been around here. Stitching has taken a complete back seat in my life and in my mind. My dad has been in declining health, and is now under Hospice care with Alzheimer's Disease. He went to the hospital one month ago today, and is now in a skilled nursing facility after having returned to the hospital another time in the past month. My mother cared for him as long as she could in their home, and I frankly don't know how she did it for so long. She did a great job, for as long as she could physically handle it.

To say it has been devastating to watch my dad decline in this manner would be a complete understatement. He was a very intelligent man with a gift for words, and he can now hardly respond to simple commands. He usually cannot even form small phrases. He can sometimes give us one word answers, other times he can't answer us at all. These past few days when I was with him it often times seemed he didn't know me at all, although yesterday he did say 'hi' to my brother by name. There are moments that are more lucid than others. Happily though, at times he still shows his sarcastic wit with a wonderfully snide comment here or there.


So for awhile there's a break in reports on stitching. I don't know when I'll return with updates on that, as at this time it's simply not relevant in my life. There hasn't been time to stitch, for one thing. I hope that makes sense, and I am sorry that for today this blog entry is not coming from the 'cheerful' side of life. It is real though, and from the heart.