We call Joel’s mom ‘mumsie’. Actually she called herself that first. Sometimes we refer to her as Grandma Mumsie when talking to Fiona so she knows we’re talking about her paternal grandma and not her maternal grandma.
One of the reasons we chose to settle for a while in Rice Lake, Wisconsin is because this is where Mumsie lives. The only other family she has in the area are three sisters – all older than her and dealing with their own health challenges.
Mumsie is 70-something now and has multiple health challenges. It’s very difficult for her to get around and when she does leave her apartment, she uses her electric wheelchair. She just got a new Hoveround.
Last year when we were just visiting, she ‘drove’ her electric wheelchair to the nearby bookstore. That was a treat!
I’m glad that Joel and I and Fiona can be here to help out as we can. All the rest of Mumsie’s children live in the West – Idaho and California. We finally got her computer power cord and so she can use her email again to stay in touch with them. Yesterday I was able to package up her Tassimo machine and take it to The UPS Store to be returned for repair. It’s those little things that she really needs help with and appreciates.
We spend every Sunday afternoon and evening with her in her air-conditioned apartment. Our little place doesn’t have air conditioning and in this heat it’s nice to be able to enjoy a cool Sunday afternoon there. We always cook dinner and often have dessert. Then we settle in for an evening of cooking shows – Cupcake Wars and The Next Food Network Star. Sometimes we stay late and watch Iron Chef America. Can’t get too much of Alton Brown. :) Once in a while we got mid-week for dinner and if it’s a Wednesday, we watch Restaurant Impossible. Are you getting the feeling we like food?
Periodically Fiona and I try to go mid-week and do little things for Mumsie. It’s nice for her to have one of her grandchildren around and nice for Fiona to have a grandma to spoil her. Mumsie just bought Fiona a new pair of sandals for the summer and a Hello Kitty shirt. We especially enjoy the Tassimo coffee machine Mumsie lets us use – the extra one. She buys the coffee and hot chocolate and we enjoy an easy cup of coffee whenever we like.
We’re going to enjoy taking care of Mumsie while we’re here.