WHEN THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE

There are bound to be days

when the sun doesn't shine

When skies are not cheery

and bright;

Days when we're troubled

and weary with care,

And nothing is going quite right...

But on such a day

God is not far away,

His mercies and love

never cease--

When the going is rough

our faith is enough

To bring jus contentment

and peace

Life is the most unpredictable of all things. If you ever want to make God laugh, just try plan your life! Since Andy had his stroke in July, my life has done an about turn. As someone in our support group said yesterday, it is now all about them.

To go anywhere I have to dress him and me, feed him and me, pack the bag behind the wheelchair with a sandwich too, I never forget the sandwich! I learnt the hard way about the sandwich when we were waiting for medication at the hospital and Andy's sugar level dropped (he is diabetic) and I had to abandon him in the wheelchair, run home and make a jam sandwich! Not long after that he kept getting dizzy. I decided to check his sugar level, it was 2.1, not good, way too low. SO thereafter, I added this to my to do list, I had to take over something else he used to do quite capably, make sure he injected himself with the correct amount of insulin and not OD on it.

We have moved into a batchelor flat now which enables him to become more self sufficient and do more for himself which obviously helps me. I have to keep an eye on him though because he does things without telling me what he plans to do, sometimes with disasterous effects.

I bought a non slip mat the the shower, yes Murphy' law was there in the shower too and he slipped for the first time. We have learnt to laugh at many things, a sinse of humour is a must as it is too easy to fall into a pattern of selfpity and depression, and there is no room for that in our lives no matter how bad or sad things are, laughter is definitely the best medicine of all.

Every day there are small triumphs. He now shaves himself. Not as well as I had learnt to, now THAT was a challenge. Try shaving your man, that bristly hair that never seems to stop growing, grows in more than one direction I discovered, especially on the neck, yes, big challenge to shave the neck! It used to be that the big challenges in life were knitting patterns, just try shaving a face and NECK. And try and get the hair off the top lip without cutting him to pieces. God definitely has a good sense of humour.

Sometimes he will sound quite normal, then he loses his words and I make suggestions until we find the right one.The speech therapist is making him a 'necklace' with familiar objects on it that he uses in daily life. He wants a photo of all the grandchildren with their names on so he can refer to who he is speaking about. I am collecting pics this week of cokes to chips.

The powers that be in our municality are attempting to 'fix' Durban up for 20/10, so they have started b y digging everything up. Something else to get my head around - pushing a wheelchair along those widewalks without throwing my patient out when I hit something or get jammed in a small hole I didn't see. Avoid sea sand and wind, a deadly combination, those wheels dont move through sand and we get bogged down. Try and stay off the road because although the sidewalk is impassable at times, the traffic can be lethal.

My silver lining? That he will get better, if not 100%, his sharp mind will return, I will have my friend back to talk to and who will even help with decisions again!. What a wonderful day that will be!

PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL - a lesson learnt

I would like to pay tribute to my children and mother who help in unbelievable and selfless ways. They have relieved financial stress as Andy is now on disability. I don't have sleepless nights crying into my pillow. How blessed can a mother and daughter be?