Eleanor is in the slow process of leaving us. On Monday we had a meeting with the social worker from the hospice telling us that the next stage for her will be when she becomes unconscious for a long time, most likely upwards of 72+ hours. After that she is likely to die. That was a hard meeting to get through. No one can give us a guess at how long this stage will last. She has a catheter and sleeps much of the day. Her body, especially her stomach, feels bloated. She often makes a "whish, whish" sound to relieve the sensation. However, she is still there. She greets us by name and tries to look at us, even if only for a second.
I purchased a device to transfer images from slides to digital and am working through the huge number of slide reels that represent her life since the 1960's. It is a slow but really wonderful process. I wish I had started this years and years ago. There are such lovely photos that I would have liked to print and hang up. I am focusing mostly on Don and Eleanor, but from time to time I find a really fun image of Larr, Doug or Rex that I just have to scan it, too. In an effort to share it with family members who are not in town I have set up a free website through Shutterfly.com. It is a wonderful, personal way to share photos. I am so glad they offer that service.
We have realized that the time for asking questions is over. We have to be contented with mostly sitting with her and holding her hand. It is hard for me to sit quietly for long periods of time so I have started describing the photographs to Eleanor. One of my favorite ones is the one above where Eleanor is standing by a Fuchsia plant. As I was talking about it she chimed in, "The fuchsias grow wild in Ireland. That bush was more than three feet taller than me." Wow, that caught me by surprise! It helps me see that she is still in there, even if her body does not want to cooperate. I thought the project might be hard (and it is) but it is more healing than I had expected. I hope to get it done before she dies. I also want to put the photos into a book for Don, Doug, Rex, Larr and whom ever would want one. Thank goodness for technology and Shutterfly!
On an entirely different note, the younger Eleanor has a fun girl's trip in her near future. Here you can see how much fun Ellie and Anna have together. Laura's brother (Anna's mom) has invited Anna to visit for spring break. He encouraged her to bring along friends. Anna, Ellie and Christy will spend nearly a week in sunny San Diego. They will swim, play on the beach, play with the dog, go to Disneyland and many other things. Ellie is super excited. We are thankful that such an opportunity is available for her!
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