Faith's Mom's Blog

When my dad told me he'd like to see Pembina Gorge sometime, I told him I had never heard of it. (I don't feel bad as I know many other North Dakotans who hadn't heard of it either!) In order to help make his dream a reality, I tried to schedule a weekend that my caregivers could come here to look after Faith. We settled on the first weekend in October. My mom decided to come as well. She said it would be the only nonmedical trip the three of us had taken together! We all hoped the fall foliage would be out in full force that weekend!  In preparing to go, I had typed up 3 pages of instructions for Faith's caregivers, one of whom was a loyal respite care provider who has been with us for over 3 years and also my sister. Both of them are very experienced and resourceful, but I printed out the instructions, nonetheless. Faith has been trying a new kind of food so that was a bit of an adjustment for them.  After dropping Faith off at her day program in the middle of a wind ...

This past weekend, Faith and I both got to experience the  Medora Musical  together - for the first time ever! We went with my dad and sister. The singing and dancing definitely met our expectations. After the National Anthem, some of the first songs they sang included, "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Dancing on the Ceiling." Both songs were a great and energetic way to start the show.  Faith was super excited, nearly dancing out of her chair! One reason she could hardly contain her excitement was that a few of the performers (Adam and Taylor) go to our church! The storytelling in between the musical numbers described how the little "cow town" of Medora came to be, as well as the influence that Theodore Roosevelt had in North Dakota.  View from our seats! Close up of the performers.  Auntie Dawn and Grandpa During the song, "Paint Your Dreams Across the Sky" by Dolly Parton, the cast invited the children to join them onstage. I wasn't ex...

Faith and I had the best 4th of July ever! We started the day bright and early to go to the parade in Mandan. We haven't been there for many years, so I was surprised that she wanted to go. I think maybe it was because she heard everyone at her day program talking about it and making their own plans.  Faith's grandpa went along with us, as well as her auntie Dawn (my youngest sister). Thanks to Dawn's connections with people who live in Mandan, we were able to park the van at her friend's house and then he drove us down to Main Street. Then, thanks to another friend of hers, we were able to enjoy the parade underneath a canopy right in the front row. I could not be more grateful to her friends for making it such so convenient for us! One reason I was glad not to go to the parade in the past, was all the planning, parking, and walking it takes, not to mention sitting in the sun for almost 3 hours! Someone might wonder why it takes all that just to go to a parade. Mandan ...

A snowy Century Ave. Last Tuesday at this time, most of North Dakota was getting blasted with a historic blizzard that lasted 3 days. We have experienced blizzards before, but this was probably the worst most people in the state had ever gone through. For me, it brought back memories of the catastrophic blizzard that occurred at the beginning of April in 1997. At that time, I lived in Fargo.  What made that storm so bad is that many parts of the state had already received 100 inches of snow throughout the winter. That wasn't the case this year, as the central and western parts of the state have had severe drought conditions. While most people were thankful for the moisture this blizzard brought, it didn't come without its challenges (especially for the ranchers who were in the midst of calving). The good news is, the storm was not unexpected. As a result, people could make preparations in advance. The most I needed to do to prepare was make sure we had plenty of groceries and ...

Just recently I was able to go away for the weekend - for fun! For the first time in 18 years, I was able to travel to another city, stay overnight, and not have any doctors appointments or procedures. And what made it even better was going with my sisters!  Faith was well-looked after by respite care. She even had a friend come over to visit and her grandparents, too! Of course getting away did not come without a challenge or two.  The day before leaving, as I was cleaning the entire apartment and getting ready to pack, a staff member at Faith's day program told me her feeding pump was not working. I only had an hour before I had to pick her up so I cruised down to our DME provider and asked if I could get a loaner pump since hers was not working.  Unfortunately, they no longer carry the type of feeding pump she uses, so I needed to get a whole new system. This required me to learn how to use it and then make sure Faith's respite staff and her day program staff was going...