An Update

Since I blogged about some of my Hospice volunteer stories in my last post, I felt the need to share some news. My Hospice friend, T., the elderly woman who fell recently, died on Sunday. Her funeral will be in California, so I'll be unable to attend. Her prayers were finally answered and she's now with all the family and friends who passed before her.

Volunteering For Hospice...My Experience So Far

I have mentioned in a few of my previous posts that I am a hospice volunteer. I decided to do this last spring, as I have found my schedule to be somewhat flexible and wanted to engage in some meaningful volunteer work. The organization I am volunteering for is Hospice For Utah. It was started by an R.N. who had worked for a hospice in Montana and the agency has grown from a very small office in her home to three offices along the Wasatch Front.

I went to an all day volunteer training last April, and found it to be one of the most worthwhile things I've ever done. Even if I had decided not to volunteer, I would have been glad to have gone to the training. I heard so many inspirational stories from the staff, and it was clear to me that these are people who are very dedicated to the cause of helping people die with dignity. I found it liberating to discuss the topic of death so openly, which is something our society isn't very good at doing.

It took awhile after the training to get assigned to any patients because of background checks, TB tests, etc. Meanwhile, I found out that one of my Social Work classes required 20 hours of volunteer work during the semester, so I felt fortunate that I had decided to pursue this when I did.

In May I was assigned to visit three individuals who were all residing an assisted living facility that's not even two miles from my home. All of the patients I've visited are women, and all are quite elderly.

B. is in her 80's and has Alzheimers. She's from New York and she's Jewish. She used to work in her parents candy store in New York City. She's also lived in California. She has two children. I know this because each Alzheimer's patient has a sheet outside their room with their picture and some personal information about them. I have also learned of these things from B. herself. As is typical of someone with Alzheimer's, she'll randomly say things out loud, and she has spoken of these things. When I visit her, we don't have conversations. I sit next to her in the Day Room, and hold her hands, which she likes me to rub. She'll talk, sleep, hum, moan, and occasionally smile.

T. is 94 and moved here from Anaheim, CA. She worked as an R.N. until she was almost 70. She is extremely bright and quick for her age. She was raised in upstate New York, by Niagara Falls. Her daughter moved her to Ogden from California so she could be close to her. T. absolutely hates it in Utah. She always tells me, "Die in your 70's." She says it's very lonely to be as old as she is because she's outlived everyone she loves. She also says that she prays everyday for "...the Lord to take me." She's shared with me that she's thought about ending her life, but can't because of her faith. While these comments make her seem rather depressing, she really isn't. She's pretty fun, actually. My time with T. is spent walking with her (she uses a walker extremely well) and talking with her. I spend more time with T. than the other two women I visit, due to the fact that she's in such good condition both physically and mentally, and therefore, she has both the stamina and desire to converse for longer periods of time.

I had not visited T. for two weeks, due to vacations. When I went to the assisted living faclity to visit her today, I was told she'd taken a bad fall and was placed in a nursing home. I went to the nursing home to see her and was totally unprepared for what I encountered. T. not only fell, she fell flat on her face. Her entire face and neck are swollen and purple. She didn't look anything like herself. She slept the entire time I was there, so I just wrote a little note and left after awhile. I'm sure this fall is going to take a huge toll on her and I wonder if her prayers will soon be answered.

D. is the other individual I've visited. She is from the area and has a daughter in Roy. D. never left her room, opting to eat her meals in there rather than the Dining Room, and avoided contact with any of the other residents. She was not very conversant, and actually was quite sick with a UTI the whole month of June, therefore, I didn't establish much of a relationship with her. My time was really just spent popping in to say hello and checking to see if there was anything I could do for her. Today when I went to visit her, housekeeping was cleaning out her room, which was empty. D. passed away on Saturday.

Overall, my experience volunteering for hospice has been worthwhile and actually quite positive. I believe the training helped me immensely. I find myself learning to be a better listener and also learning to be comfortable in the silence; just learning to be with another person. Anyone who has served as a volunteer knows that you get so much more than you give.

I do wonder if it would be more difficult emotionally if I were visiting a younger individual who was dealing with a disease like cancer or ALS. Somehow it's easier to accept sickness and death when it's an elderly person who has lived to an advanced age. Perhaps I'll have the chance to find out. As they say in the hospice movement, we're all terminal from birth.

Courtney and Morgan's Rehearsal Dinner in Estes Park

We pulled into Estes Park about an hour before we needed to be at the Rehearsal Dinner. As you can see, we're making good use of the little time we had to unpack and get ready! I am going to do a separate post for each day of this wonderful weekend. There were so many fun moments and laughs, not to mention too many great pictures, to try and fit it into one post. Besides, this is really an online journal for our family, and it's my blog so I can do whatever I darn well please!
Cousin Mike with Caitlin and Sam. Mike's an Engineer in Chicago. He was Courtney's Man of Honor. Courtney had 8 bridesmaids and didn't want to deal with the drama of choosing one to be the Maid of Honor, therefore, she took care of it by choosing her little bro' to be the M.O.H. Smart girl!

All the Fuller grandchldren. Alison, Caitlin, Mike, Sam, Megan, Briana and the Bride..Courtney. What a good looking bunch!

Sam and Caitlin with Grandpa and Grandma Fuller.

The only two grandsons and Chip. The Three Stooges....

The Tanaka crew and the Fuller kids with their Aunt Connie from So. Dakota.

I have no idea what Marilyn is telling them, but this is such a natural pose for her...talking with her hands. Chip and Sam are probably giving her a hard time and she's reacting to it. That only happens about once every five minutes.

The happy couple, Courtney and Morgan, sharing a laugh.

Chip and his big sis, Marcy, known this weekend as the Mother of the Bride.

The original Fuller kids...Chip and his big sisters Ann and Marcy. You can tell they really don't enjoy each other very much ;)

The Main Event....Courtney and Morgan Get Married!!!

The guys are ready to go!!! As Caitlin and I primped, they set a goal to be ready, ties and all, in 6 minutes. By the thumbs up, you can guess the outcome.
Before the wedding

Caitlin and Briana gave out the wedding programs. Aren't they beautiful?

Caitlin, Briana and their Grandma Fuller (a.k.a. the shortest member of the family)

Mike and Chuck escorting Marilyn down to the wedding area. The wedding was held in a garden area. The weather and temperature couldn't have been better if they'd hand picked it!

Sam heading down to the ceremony. He was in charge of taking the gifts and took over the programs after Caitlin and Briana were escorted down. He's lookin' good!

Here Comes The Bride! A beautiful one at that....

Courtney and Morgan....The Siegals

The party begins! After cocktails and appetizers outside, we went in the reception hall for a sit down dinner. Sam's picture taking pose is catching on with Megan!

A dance with the Father of the Bride...ahhh :)

The beautiful Tanaka girls...Ann, Briana, Alison and Megan

Chuck and Marilyn (the shortest of the crew) and five of their seven grandchildren.

Courtney and Morgan and the Tanakas.

Mike and Courtney are all grown up! They were 5 and 3 when I first met them. Seems like just yesterday that I watched Mike throw a silent tantrum in the underwear department, and talked Barbie dolls with Courtney.

Chip and Caitlin dancing the night away. She taught him a few hip-hop moves and he taught her to Western Swing.

Sam and Briana dancing, laughing, dancing, and laughing some more.

Ann, Marcy, me, Caitlin, Briana, Alison, and a few groomsmen in our version of a mosh pit.

It looks like I'm doing some ancient tribal dance, but I'm actually taking off my shoes!

Sam finally got his Grandma to dance with him, after many attempts. He's getting a kick out of what is now affectionately known as "The Grandma Dance."

Ann and John......not too bad for 20 plus years of marriage!

Chuck and Marilyn...not too bad after 55, yes 55, years of marriage! I've never known ANYONE who's been married that long!

Two of our beautiful nieces Bri and Meg.

In Courtney's words, this was an absolutely "magical" wedding! It was a true celebration in every sense of the word and such a tribute to the commitment that Courtney and Morgan are making to one another. The ceremony was led by a favorite Pastor from Courtney's childhood in Littleton. There were scriptures read and several prayers given as part of the wedding ceremony. I listened closely to the vows spoken and thought, "They have no idea what these words actually mean." I thoughtof my mom and Rich dealing with Parkinsons. I thought of Chuck and Marilyn being married 55 years. I thought of my Dad and Theo finding such contentment with one another at this time in life. I think of many couples I know who have literally loved one another through sickness and health, for better or worse, in good times and bad. I include Chip and myself in this. Marriage is so incredibly hard, but so incredibly wonderful. It isn't easy, but it's worth it.

This is the first grandchild's wedding on the Fuller side of the family. Here's to many, many more to come!

The Day After....

The day after the big event, we all headed to Marcy and Dick's home in Conifer, which is about two hours from Estes Park. Ever the over-achievers, Marcy and Dick decided that in addition to putting on a wedding for their daughter, they could turn around within 24 hours and host a family reunion....in their home no less! We started the evening on their incredible wrap around deck, surrounded by beautiful Colorado mountain scenery. Chip, Marilyn and Sam are getting cozy and enjoying a good laugh....one of many over the course of the weekend!
Marilyn's 76th birthday was on July 3rd, so we used this opportunity to celebrate. Here's Marcy bringing the cake (Courtney and Morgan's wedding cake) over to Marilyn. What we lacked in tone and pitch, we made up for in volume as we sang Happy Birthday to our Mom, Mother-in-law, and Grandma.

Lookin' good for 76!!!! The night continued with lots of storytelling, laughing, and taking turns lying on the self-inflating air mattress and it inflated/deflated.....it doesn't take much for this family!!!

Mt. Evans...As Close to Heaven as You'll Get on Earth!

After excellent Mexican food and margaritas in Evergreen, we headed up to Mt. Evans with Marcy, Dick, and Chip's parents. It was one of the most incredible sights I've ever seen. The sign shows it at 14,130 ft. at this point. The rest of the gang isn't shown because they'd already headed down due to issues with the high altitude. We didn't escape unscathed ourselves, as Caitlin ended up feeling light-headed and extremely tired, and I felt a profound tightness in my throat. Any high altitude symptoms were well worth the view which was spectacular....beyond description!
Sam and Chip hiked to the actual peak which is 14,260 ft. in elevation. He's the King of the World!!!

Chip and Sam at the peak.

We were lucky to have made it to the top of Mt. Evans when we did, as there was an amazing thunder storm shortly after we left. It was such a great experience. We headed back to Marcy and Dick's house in Conifer for Happy Hour, dinner, a lot of laughs and great conversation before leaving the next morning.

Cherry Days 5K

Every year for the 4th of July, North Ogden City sponsors a 5K Run/Walk. I first ran it about 5 years ago, and Chip and Sam ran it together last year. This year Chip, Sam, me and my friend, Mary, ran it together. Actually, Chip and Sam ran together and I ran with Mary. This is our pre-race photo, taken by Caitlin, our dedicated photographer, who got out of bed at 6:15 a.m., after a late night of scooping ice cream at the dairy. Chip and Sam crossing the finish line. Sam has been training with me since school let out. We run together every other day. He got up to 3.3 miles before Race Day, and his goal is to be able to run 5 miles by the end of the summer. I can tell he's giving it his all here as he's finishing. He's like his mom in the sense that we pick up the pace when we "smell the barn. "

Here's Mary and me crossing the Finish Line, with Sam high-fiving us. This was Mary's first race since sustaining a serious running injury last winter, when she slipped on some ice while running and broke her ankle in three places. I think it's fair to say she's impressed pretty much everyone who knows her with how well she's healed and how quickly she's returned to running. Her tenacious attitude and love of running are to credit for her quick recovery. I was so happy to be able to run her first race with her post-injury!

Post-race photo....a little sweaty but feelin' good!

I have a picture of these two in the exact same shirts, race bibs and all from last year. The big difference is where Sam is in terms of height. Last year's photo shows him barely at Chip's shoulder. I can't believe how much he's grown in one year. I'm betting in next year's photo Sam will almost be the same height as his dad!

My buddy, Mary. Together, we have laughed until we cried and cried until we laughed. I respect her immensely and love her to pieces.

Bryce 2009

Before leaving on our trip to Bryce National Park we took Caitlin to the dance studio where she left with the Performing Troupe for a trip to St. George. They were going to perform in a Pre-Show Performance at Tuachan. While there, they got to participate in a dance workshop at Tuachan with some of the performers, see the plays "Footloose" and "Annie," and go shopping at the outlet malls. Caitlin thought all of this preferable to camping and hiking with us in Bryce.....go figure?
Sam is going to miss his big sister!
Camp is officially set up! We like to camp at Ruby's Inn Campground. The campsites are nice and shady, you can use the indoor and outdoor pools, there's a great store, a rodeo every night, and most importantly (for me) the bathrooms are extremely clean with large, spacious showers that are not crowded. We even had internet access on our laptop from camp.

Breaking in the campsite with a glass of wine on our first night.

Sam is breaking in the campground with a root beer on our first night.

First day of hiking. We did three hikes this day, logging 9 miles total. The first hike was Peek-a-Boo Loop. This was BEFORE the rain.

Sam is imitating the tourists we saw from Eastern Europe. There was a whole bus full of them and they all felt compelled to stand as close to the edge as possible, throw their arms in the air, and have their picture taken. Why not? It's amazing! One of the things that we enjoy about visiting the national parks is the fact that you have the opportunity to be around tourists from so many different countires and you hear such a variety of languages. Although you might not always understand what they're saying, you know from the tone and inflection of their voices that they are awestruck by the beauty and vastness of this country.

Me and my hiking buddy. I love hiking with Sam.

Our attempt at the Leonardo da Vinci guy. Pretty lame attempt.

It rained. It hailed. It blew. Rivers ran down the trails. Fortunately for us, our sherpa, a.k.a. Chip, had the foresight to pack rain ponchos.

Even hiking in the rain is enjoyable and beautiful in Bryce.

After our rainy hike in Bryce we decied to head to Kodachrome Basin State Park, which was about 20 miles away. It was much sunnier there. We did two hikes....the first was to Shakespeare Arch, the only natural arch in the park.

Sam is in character as Moses. Hmmm....somehow I don't remember Charlton Heston doing this in The Ten Commandments.

Our second hike at Kodachrome Basin. It was actually very pretty there, but you definitely wouldn't want to be there on a very warm day.

Our second day of hiking begins. Sam and his new friend. Actually, the critters there are professionals at begging for food. This little guy sat there looking absolutely adorable and pathetic at the same time. All he got was a photo op out of us...no food.

This is at Bryce Point, where we began our first hike on our second day. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We hiked to Hat Shop, which was a much quieter hike than the our previous day's hike at Bryce. This one was about a 4-miler and had lots of Bristlecone pines. You weren't right amongst the hoodoos, like our hike the day before, but always had them in sight. After this hike, we hiked to Tower Bridge, which started at Sunrise Point. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You were right down in the hoodoos. It was a little more crowded, but well worth it. We hiked a total of 17 miles on our trip, saw lots of amazing scenery, and replenished both body and mind. Chip and I are heading to Glacier National Park the last week of July, but are really itching to get to Capital Reef as a family sometime soon.