Mr. Maia did not settle in immediately and he kept Kim up most of that first night. The next evening, Christmas Eve, Kim managed to stay awake through church but she could not stay up to see Kerry and Theresa late in the evening when they returned from their trip to Prague. For the first time in their lives, no Christmas Eve picture was taken of the “children” hanging up their stockings! Keith, our baby, is almost 20 years old so maybe it is time for that tradition to go. Even as we welcome the formation of new traditions, Jeff is keen to participate in our long-held ones, like the Claus Family Christmas get-together.
Last night Harry and Linda hosted the Claus Family Christmas Extravaganza. It was good to see my nieces and nephews and their significant others. Jeff enjoyed talking to the young folks as well as those of our generation and my parents. He talked to Josh and Melissa about the furniture he will make for their wedding gift. He told my mother he would make dinner and bring it to them today. He made plans with Judy to have an email exchange during the night since she also suffers from insomnia. All generations of the Claus gang enjoyed watching a picture DVD I had made as a family gift, “1983-1992: The Childbearing Years.” As I have done for the last few years, I scanned photos from my parents’ photo collection, a decade or so each year. The newest members of the family either enjoyed the slide show – complete with 80s music selected by Keith – or they were too polite to excuse themselves, evidence of their worthiness to join our clan!
This morning Jeff and I did our grocery shopping the way Kim does it in the city – on foot with a knapsack. Last night I suggested we get up early and walk the mall but when we woke up this morning, Jeff saw the sunshine and decided it was not too cold to walk the neighborhood. He suggested we make a shopping list for the meal he plans to prepare for my parents tonight and walk to the grocery store. As we walked along, we planned our meals for the rest of the week and laughed, realizing that we wouldn’t be able to carry everything we’d added to our list. Since we rarely – if ever – see anyone in our neck of the woods shopping with a knapsack, we thought we probably looked like we were running away from home.
Jeff walked briskly and without that dragging of the feet that signals to me that it is time to turn towards home. He held up very well until we got home. He laughed at himself as he climbed the three steps to the front door; he could hardly lift his legs to go up the stairs. He unloaded the groceries and prepared breakfast - our second one of the day but who’s counting? Oh, those steroid munchies! Then he went down to the shop to work on a project. He isn’t sleeping very well these days (steroid side effect) and yet he seems to be running on nervous energy. I’m having trouble keeping up with him.
A friend of our family - Keith’s friend Michael’s mom - works for Johnson & Johnson and gave Jeff a very thoughtful gift: several boxes of Band Aids from the company store. Band Aids are frequently on our shopping list because Jeff still needs them to keep his thin fingernails from catching on things and folding back. We were both so excited with the gift and Tami’s thoughtfulness!
And, on the subject of gifts, Jeff made me a beautiful cherry tea box with cubbies on the lid to hold tea bags and room below for six or more boxes of tea, spoons, strainer, etc. He also made birdhouses – a church for Kim and, for Kerry and Theresa, a two-hole house with their wedding date for a house number, 7911. He keeps turning spoons as gifts for people who helped him during his treatments or who have otherwise touched him. He exudes gratitude and thanks me every morning for taking care of him.
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