Casallo with Hazzy and Blanche Finished!

So sorry I have been away for so long!  Life with my mom has been quite the roller coaster!  She arrived right after my last post in February!  Since than I have moved her 3 times (different rooms in the same facility)  Started in the memory care section because of her dementia… they wanted to make sure she was not going to wander off. Thought it was going to be alright and moved her to the general population… that lasted less than a week before she was found wandering in the parking lot!  Back to memory care!  A month ago they thought she was having either a stroke or heart attack… sent her to the hospital… turns out she had an obstructed bowel!  Three weeks of basically being bedridden, we are  now in rehab! O.K. TMI!  Between keeping up with her and just doing my work, something had to give! Sorry bout that!  She is doing alright in rehab but I am afraid this is the calm before the storm!  It is just so sad to see your parents fading away! She recognizes me, but does not know who I am.  She lives in the moment, which is good for her, but sad for me.  And also hard for her care givers, nurses and doctors. And she just does not have the will to get better…. so very sad!  I thought I would blog about the experience… but it is just so depressing that I could not make myself rehash everything here.  My work, when I can do it has been my retreat from it all. I also have taken up guitar again after 20 years or so! I always found playing to be therapeutic.  Need all I can get right now! And I have lots of work that needs to get posted here!!  Some really wonderful pieces  too!  So… stay tuned!  And thanks for listening if I ramble on a bit about life with an elderly parent!  And I must add…  my dad on the other hand has been in Africa on a safari for the last few weeks!  Total polar opposite!

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #9

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #9, originally uploaded by debifitz.

Almost there…. sorry I have not been posting… lots of family stuff going on. We are in the process of moving my mother down here to Florida close to me. She has moderate dementia and just fell and broke her shoulder. She has been in independent living, but now she needs more care than she can afford up in Raleigh. I have no idea how I am going to do this! We did go through this with my mother-in-law… but that was so different from my own mother. I was the support for my husband and he was not that close to his mother. Going to be a journey! I will try to post some of it here… never know who it may help or who might help me. It is so hard seeing your parents age and knowing that I am the next generation to head down that path…..

Casallo with Hazy & Blanche #8

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #8, originally uploaded by debifitz.

Pretty much done here with Casallo… working on Hazy and Blanche….

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #6

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #6, originally uploaded by debifitz.

Ahhhh… the dapples are done! But I will have to go back and mess with them some more before it is all over!

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #5

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #5, originally uploaded by debifitz.

Almost finished with the dapples!!

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #4

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #4, originally uploaded by debifitz.

DAPPLES! DAPPLES! DAPPLES!

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #3

Casallo with Hazzy & Blanche #3, originally uploaded by debifitz.

Boy have I been BAD!! So glad the holidays are behind us! Now I just need to get back into a routine here! I will try to get Casallo's portrait posted so I can catch up with all the others I have been working on. Just starting to work on Casallo here… those dapples took FOREVER!! Not really so much hard as time consuming… And Casallo has a little warm tint to his.