The Fall

It finally has cooled down and the rainy season has settled in. The leaves are just beginning to turn and the hollies and other such plants are producing berries for the winter. It seems impossible that we've been here nine months, yet in other ways it seems much longer. We are really beginning to feel at home in Murfreesboro.

Last weekend we went to Memphis for the arrival of Mendy's first grandson, Miles Shilling Breeden. He weighed a whopping 10 lbs 4 oz and was 21.5 inches long. He's going to be tall like his mom and dad. It will be nice living close enough to watch him grow up. Hopefully he'll be able to see his second cousins a lot and they'll be great friends.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I help the director of the Child Development Center at MTSU with paperwork and bookkeeping. She's quite a character and I enjoy the time I spend there, but my Tuesday and Thursday mornings are my favorites. I volunteer at the Alvin C. York VA Hospital a mile from my house. I have two wheelchair bound friends that I take out on the grounds.

Mr H came to the VA after a stroke several years ago. At that time he was bedridden and extremely obese. He's now able to get around in a wheelchair and is of average size, but his speech and vision are still affected. We have learned how to communicate and enjoy just sitting and watching the world go by on our outings. His smile is worth more than any paycheck!

Mark moved to Murfreesboro from Fort Lauderdale to help his mom with his dad who was suffering from Alzheimer's. Not long after he moved here Mark starting having health problems. He is now in the hospice wing of the VA with an inoperable brain tumor. I take him outside to smoke and to tour the grounds in good weather. His balance and memory are affected by the tumor and he can no longer get around by himself. He went to his parents for a visit over the weekend and had not returned as of this morning, so I hope he's okay. He seems to have been noticeably declining over the past couple of weeks.