Some days are diamonds

If you've been reading this blog for more than a day or two, you've learned several things:

1. I have no idea what I'm doing.
2. I'm making everything up as I go along.
3. Domesticity is NOT my strong suit.
4. My primary success in this adventure is that I have not (yet) killed anyone.

The best thing about going into the care of your elderly parents is that other people don't expect much of you. They say nice things like: "Oh, you're doing the nicest thing ever." Or: "You'll treasure these days as you look back." Or, my favorite: "Oh boy."

The worst thing about caring for your parents is that you expect a lot out of yourself. You want so bad to do a good job, but so often logistics get in the way...and you fail...on a daily basis.

Yesterday, somehow, the fates aligned and it all, kinda, worked. The primary part in the daily puzzle of elderly care is food. If I've provided three decent "squares" plus snacks, I feel pretty good about myself.

Breakfast and lunch were the standard issue - food on repeat, if you will. Keep in mind, for these two, repeat is good. Remember the reason why I titled this blog Manila Sandwich? Read that here.

Then I had an idea for dinner. A recipe shared by a friend. Homemade Chicken Pot Pie. I said to myself what I say a lot lately: "What the hell."

Somehow, miraculously, it worked. Look:

But the best part of the day was before dinner we went for a walk. Rather than forcing Dad to walk UP our street and our stairs to get back to the house, I drove them to our nearby parkway and walked over a very picturesque bridge and over to the local community pool. On the way back, I had the crazy idea to take a photo of them. (It, of course, blew my Mom's mind that I could take a photo if I hadn't brought my camera. Mom, meet my cell phone.)

So I took a photo. Here were my instructions to them:

"Turn around."
"OK, Smile."
"Wait, stand NEXT to each other."
"OK, now pretend you like each other."

This is the result. As my sister says, THIS is what almost 60 years of marriage looks like. Priceless.