MartyT Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Clearly you and Lena are a team, and I'd venture to say that you're pretty amazing yourself, Laura 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enna Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Hi Laura, What a wonderful thing you and Lena are doing. My heart always is uplifted when you post about what Lena is doing when visiting the senior homes. I am amazed how you are picking up the language of the Turkish lady and are able to communicate with her. It is not the first time I have heard about some elderly people going back to a native language when they are experiencing some dementia. I think what you are doing is so inspiring. Anne 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Thank you. I have always tried to make whatever corner of the world in which I find myself a better place just by being there and using whatever abilities I have to do it. I figure that's what we should all do. It doesn't always happen like that, but it makes me feel good to contribute what I can. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Lena is such a good and amazing cat! I was on the phone earlier, on a long call with a parent - trying to do everything humanly possible to give her information help her child. Partway through this, I was walking around talking on the phone and Lena was under my feet trying to tell me something. At first it was little mews and then she got more intense as I walked. Eventually I walked near the bathroom and she intensified her efforts. I looked around the bathroom to see what she was talking about and realized that I had changed her litter box earlier and returned it backwards, so the opening to the covered box faced the wall. There was no way she could get in there! I fixed it up right away and she hustled in there. I felt terrible about causing her distress, even a little! I suppose we all have times sometimes when we have to hold it and are uncomfortable. But what a cat! One time I returned the box and forgot to put the litter in - it was like that overnight. I felt like a horrible human, but Lena used the box anyway. She really is amazing; I am so fortunate! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyT Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Laura and lattiee, this story came to me via email today, and I just had to share it with you. I don't know if the story is true, but as my dear daddy used to say, If it didn't happen, it should have! THE PASTOR'S CAT Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business. A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?' She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.' She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.' Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humor. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 I never laughed so hard! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 That is just hysterical!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2016 Lena crawled inside this little Mickey Mouse igloo in PetSmart, and refused to come out. We were looking around to see if they had something she'd like for a Christmas present. I guess that was a pretty clear message of what she wanted, but I thought it was too expensive. I went back today and they give me a nice discount..they love Lena. They have dogs visiting all the time, but seldom cats - other than Lena! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyT Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Nothing like knowing exactly what you want for Christmas ~ and having a mom who gets it for you! Way to go, Lena! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Something really cool happened. I have been studying Turkish because Lena and I met a woman at a nursing home where she visits; this lady is very old - in her 90's - and speaks Turkish only. They take good care of her and she seems ok, but I think it must be hard to be isolated in that way and so I have been studying Turkish so that I can speak with her. She was so excited when I first said her name and "hello" in Turkish! Every week I know a few more words and it has been a lot of fun. So tonight I went out to dinner with my friend Adrienne and her parents, sister, spouse and sister; we were celebrating the birthdays of Adrienne and her sister and having a nice time. Then we sat down at a large table to eat and discovered our waiter was from Turkey. I was very excited and said a few things to him in Turkish. He was very surprised and thought I must have picked up a few words from a trip to Turkey. He asked me where in Turkey I might have traveled and I said, oh no, no, I have never been to Turkey and explained that I was learning Turkish so that I could communicate with this woman whom my therapy cat and I had met. He asked was this nursing home in such & such town and I said yes! Turns out that this woman is the mother of his wife's best friend, and he was delighted that someone (me) had met her, befriended her and endeavored to learn Turkish to talk to her. We chatted throughout the meal, my doing my best to use what words & phrases I knew, and him helping me with grammar and pronunciation. When we finished the meal, he came out and presented us with an elegant and generous dessert, explaining that in Turkish there was a saying about giving sweets to a person who had done a sweet thing, and so he was giving us this dessert because I had shown kindness to the mother of his wife's best friend. It was so nice and I was so excited to meet someone who knows her. The staff cannot tell me anything due to confidentiality reasons, but I would love to know more about her. And her dementia is so progressed that she is not able to tell her family that I visit her. So I gave the waiter my card with my contact info and the time I visit her so that we might perhaps go get together around a visit to her. How cool would that be! Later, in response to a question from me, he explained how there is a tiny community of about 15 Turkish people in this area, including this woman, who all are close to each other and have a get-together every Sunday that lasts from breakfast into lunch at someone else's home every week. He also told the story of how he was the first in this area and the resort where he worked had helped him to get an internship in hotel & restaurant management, one thing and then another, leading eventually to him getting a green card and bring over friends and relatives over a period of several years. It was a wonderful story and just one of those things that just makes everybody feel good. And I was really happy to be able to make a connection to her people since she is not able to do that due to her dementia. Hopefully I will see them out there or hear from them soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Oh Laura, that is so cute! I can see her liking that! What cat wouldn't! She has a good mom. I am delighted to hear of your encounter with the Turkish waiter! What a small world it seems! Not many would go to the trouble you've gone to for a stranger, in fact, in my mom's dementia care center, most were not even visited. The staff really did their best to love and care for them and bring in people from the outside to play music, etc. for them. I miss being able to visit her there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 I know what you mean - sometimes people just can't stay at home because they aren't safe without more help than there is at home. The staff in these places try very hard and many people have frequent visitors, but even those with frequent visitors are mostly with staff and other residents. It is really sad that some people get no visitors at all - or this woman who does get frequent visits but is isolated by her not knowing English. I am doing what I hope someone would do for me if I were in her situation. I think it is really hard for family members who have someone in a facility who is really no longer themselves and who doesn't recognize their family and close friends. My father was in the same place where the Turkish lady is - placed there by hospice for 5 days respite for me. I visited him two or three times a day, and Lena came with me at least once a day. The other residents were always so happy to see her and that is why I decided to return there with Lena. I found it was hard to see him there and it would have been even worse if he didn't recognize me. He was just counting the days until I got him out of there and there were only five of them... It would have been hard to have him there declining for a long time. My dad and I both dreaded the possibility of him being in a facility longterm. I would give anything now to be able to drive across town to see him, no matter what condition he was in. But it wasn't what he wanted. I guess he got what he wanted - to live at home as long as possible. I just wish it had been longer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 12 hours ago, MartyT said: Nothing like knowing exactly what you want for Christmas ~ and having a mom who gets it for you! Way to go, Lena! Why wait for Christmas! She is now snug in her Mickey Mouse dome by the tree... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 She's beautiful and looks very content in her new "house". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted December 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 Lena has a pink fleece Pajamagram that matches one my dad bought me for Christmas a few years ago at Christmas. Being a cat she doesn't like wearing this sort of thing, but she is willing to put them on long enough for me to take a picture. Then I can content myself with looking at the picture. Two seconds after I took this picture she made it clear she was about to shred it with her back feet if I didn't promptly remove it. I complied. Lena's the boss! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted December 27, 2016 Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 Ahh, and she looks so cute in it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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