AUNT JEAN HAS MOVED:)) AND A MOTORCYLE ACCIDENT SERIOUSLY INJURES MY SON SEAN:((

 IRIS FLOWERS SEEN IN GODERICH THIS MORNING

Being concerned about my hip I hadn't taken myself for a walk since last Tuesday afternoon at London's Westminster Ponds area.  This morning Pheebs and walked our country road and I was okay for the first quarter mile walking away from the Jeep but increasingly sore on the quarter-mile walk back to the Jeep.  From our walk, we headed to Goderich for a routine McDonalds, harbor, beach, and Walmart excursion before heading home.  With another hot day upon us, I stayed inside and enjoyed our now-working A/C.  Did a lot of reading and caught a few zzzzz's.  And then I got a Facebook message that shook my day.  But more about that at the end of my post. 

 A FEW PHOTOS FROM OUR JEEP RIDE EARLIER TODAY

 MOM AND THE KIDS AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE BEACH

 ONLY ONE SHIP IN PORT TODAY

 I'VE HEARD ABOUT GETTING ALL YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW BUT HOW ABOUT YOUR GEESE

This past Monday turned out to be a big day for my 96-year-old Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida.  It was a moving day for her.  Aunt Jean's health has been slowly slipping these past few years and even more so this past year and even six months.  Her mind is still as sharp as a tack but physically her body has been wearing down and tiring her.  Finding it harder and harder to do ordinary simple things Jean found herself face-to-face with a big decision.  About seven weeks ago she finally realized she couldn't deny the inevitable any longer.  She had to make a decision before it was too late.  Although a daunting task she made the decision to sell her Condo in Lake Tippecanoe Sarasota and move to an assisted living facility.  Luckily, her place sold right away and she was able to stroke that worry off her list right up front and concentrate on the challenging task ahead of her.  What was she going to do with all her furniture and personal mementos going back to the days of her early childhood?  As daunting and difficult as that task was she worked steadily at what needed to be done as best she could right up to the day and these following days since her official moving day.  She is and has always been an extraordinary person all her life and she wasn't about to let her age get in the way of getting things done.  This past Monday was the big moving day and you may be wondering at this point just where it is she has moved to.  Well, right from the start, Aunt Jean knew exactly where it was she wanted to go.  The Sunnyside Village Senior Assisted Living facility has a reputation of being one of the best care facilities in all of Sarasota and there is a reason for that.  Mennonite-operated, it is a Christian  Senior Living Community and when you are talking Mennonite, you are talking great food as well as the finest care.  Despite a long six-month waiting period to get into Sunnyside, Jean was fortunate enough to have an unexpected piece of luck fall into her lap just at the right time.  She had been a Registered Nurse and was the head supervisor of an IV team for a number of years.  She first worked at Bradenton's Memorial Hospital, then at Sarasota's Doctors Hospital and finally the Sarasota Memorial Hospital.  Following those hospital years, she worked for a well-respected Sarasota Doctor.  Aunt Jean was Doctor Wiseman's office Nurse.  She has remained friends with and in contact with Dr. Wiseman over the years and as it turns out, he is the Medical Director for Sunnyside Village.  Hmmmmmm:))  One of the changes this move has made for Jean and I regards our weekly Friday night 8:15 phone calls which we have been doing for years.  On our second to last Friday night phone call May 26th with an old weathered piece of paper in my hand and Aunt Jean's phone number barely readable anymore, I dialed her old phone number for the last time ever.  A number I had been dialing every Friday night for years yet I still needed that piece of crumbling paper with its faded numbers on it for me to punch into my phone each time I called her.  This past Friday night June 2nd at 8:15 I had a new piece of paper in hand with Jean's new phone number and extension boldly written down on it.  I dialed the number, listened for a half dozen seconds as a recorded Sunnyside voice answered, then punched in Jean's extension number  Normally, Jean picks up on the second ring but it was the very end of the third ring before I heard a scratchy little voice very far away say 'hello'.  Jean had been sound asleep and the phone had woke her up.  It took her a few moments to get oriented but then we were happily up and running again.  The phone connection transition was complete and I was very relieved our communication line hadn't been broken.  At the time of writing this tonight, Jean has been at her new Sunnyside residence for nearly a week and despite being very tired when I called her I could tell she is very very happy with her move.  She is so pleased with the food and the caring staff and she is handling these recent changes in her life exceptionally well. I will keep readers updated on how she is doing........

 THIS IS MY FAVORITE AUNT JEAN PICTURE THAT I TOOK OF JEAN WHILE WE WERE BOMBING AROUND IN SARASOTA FLORIDA'S CHAOTIC TRAFFIC

 JEAN'S CONDO WHICH SHE JUST SOLD.....SHE HAD BEEN HERE 8 YEARS I THINK

 AUNT JEAN IS VERY FOND OF LILAC TREES SO WITH HER IN MIND THIS MORNING I TOOK THIS PHOTO

I received word this afternoon from my son's wife Kim that Sean has been in a bad motorcycle accident.  I don't have a lot of details yet but Kim's Facebook message said his injuries are "9 broken/fractured ribs on one side, and 7 on the other. A broken shoulder, broken clavicles, Tons of road rash, but what we need to pay attention to is his broken neck- in two places, and a fractured disc on his spine". Kim called me later this afternoon and I was able to talk to Sean for a couple minutes in the Hamilton General Hospital.  He's out of pain (pain meds) but is immobilized due to the neck and spinal injuries.  He is not paralyzed thank heavens.  He is still in the trauma unit and it sounds like he is going to have a long recovery period ahead of him.  Sean and Kim live in a little place called Jordan Station north of St. Catherines Ontario.  I have already checked Google Maps for the easiest way to get there once Sean is released from the hospital.  Knowing Sean and his love for music, he will be wanting to get himself back into his music studio as soon as possible.   

 THIS IS SEAN IN HIS MUSIC STUDIO

 AND THIS IS HIS STUDIO WITH ALL THE AMAZING COLORS

Al's Music Box:)) Stranger On The Shore by Acker Bilk from the album 'Stranger On The Shore'.  1961  Lots of pleasant memories here of a Port Franks cottage in the wintertime on the shores of Lake Huron in the early sixties.  A shout-out to my long-time Tavistock buddies who were there and shared in the memories.....Gary Burton (his Mom and Dad's cottage) brothers Jim and John Eifert, and Craig Wilker.  It was here at this cottage on a Sunday night we all watched the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.  Great memories guys.  Stranger On The Shore indeed:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Two elderly, excited Southern women were sitting together in the front pew of a church listening to a fiery preacher.  When this preacher condemned the sin of stealing, these two ladies cried out at the tops of their lungs, "AMEN, BROTHER!" When the preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, "PREACH IT, REVEREND!"  And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, "RIGHT ON, BROTHER! TELL IT LIKE IT IS... AMEN!"  But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very quiet. One turned to the other and said, "He's quit preaching and now he's meddlin'."

------------------------------------

Judge: Haven’t I seen you before?  Man: Yes, Your Honor. I taught your daughter how to play the drums.  Judge: Twenty years!!!!

------------------------------------