The Dinner

Today was the day of the Thanksgiving Dinner the youth group did for our senior citizens. I'm proud of our kids. They did a wonderful job of waiting on their guests. The parents were wonderfully supportive. From the noise level and the length of time people hung around, I'd say a good time was had by all. One of the kids came up and said, "People want to know if we are going to do this next year." I suggested he wait a few days before he asked me that question.

At our next youth gathering, we will evaluate what we did and begin to make plans for next year. Overall, it went well. The serving took a bit longer than we would have liked, but that was okay. We had enough food. I have the bones from two turkeys simmering in a huge stock pot on my stove right now. I stayed out of the clean up, and had time to visit with various people.

Daughter did well, especially considering she chose today to start having lows again. Her blood sugar was 33 a little before noon. I started feeding her massive quantities of food, but her blood sugar has stayed low to normal for the rest of the day. It did get her out of running back and forth between the church and the house.

The hot water heater at the church gave out mid-afternoon. The initial fix was unsuccessful, so we started heating water on the stove for dishes. A second attempt got it fixed in time to do the dishes. Our teens did an excellent job today, and I was very proud of them. Our guests had them come out of the kitchen for a round of applause. Our guests were very impressed, and thrilled to have been invited.

When I got home, Dad had tried to call twice, and had even left a message. Dad doesn't call. Dad doesn't leave messages. He wanted to know how the dinner had gone, and couldn't remember what time we were having it. He has always loved to cook, and for years was the chef at his church. Brother and I have both carried on the tradition, and he loves it when we call and ask for advice, so of course I did. He wanted to know all the details of the meal. Dad will probably be going into the hospital tomorrow. He was at the doctor Friday, and he's dehydrated again from too many diuretics, and his hemoglobin is low, so they'll probably have to give him blood again. He's feeling pretty lousy, and said today he would have gladly gone to the hospital. Brother takes him back to the hospital tomorrow, and then we'll know more.

After I talked to Dad, I got a call from V, a 93 year old woman in the church. She had the stomach flu overnight, so she didn't come to the dinner. She had just gotten a call from her son-in-law. Her daughter is dying. When her daughter was diagnosed over 6 years ago, she wasn't expected to live 6 months. She's gone through numerous rounds of chemo, and she's done well. Now, the cancer is winning. V has buried most of her siblings and her husband in the time I've been here. Her one remaining sister (and she came from a large family) has early Alzheimer's. V has a strong faith, and will get through this, but it's going to be hard. We aren't supposed to bury our children, even when our children our senior citizens themselves. I drove over and spent a few minutes with V, offering Scripture and prayer. I volunteered to take her to the hospital tomorrow, if that would help. I told her I could go visit Broken Neck while she sees her daughter.

We were joking at one of the tables about how I only work one hour a week on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, there are people who really do think that is the case. One of the saints is coming in Wednesday to help out in the office. Secretary is out of commission for at least another week.