mosses monday XXIII...

spring faded into summer
and summer to fall...

mr. moss decided to have a birthday party for mrs. moss at the rest home. he had jean invite her friends and family. many came... mostly friends from church.

though she had no recollection of the fact that it was her birthday nor the names of the people gathered around her, mrs. moss was delighted!!! she beamed and attempted to carry on conversation.

it was quite apparent that deep inside she knew that we were there in her honor and because we loved her.

i choose to believe she had a very happy birthday!!!

~@~@~@~@~@~

fall faded into winter
and winter to spring...

on the saturday before easter, katherine and i went to a gift store downtown and bought mrs. moss a stuffed easter mouse dressed with bunny ears and a bag of spring-colored, white chocolate melt-aways (soft, mint-flavored, white chocolate discs that mrs. moss loved).

as katherine and i rounded the short hall leading to her room, we found her setting, as always, in her wheelchair in the hall amongst another 4 or 5 women who were also alzheimers patients. they all stared at us as we approached. however, mrs. moss smiled and held out her hands to greet us. she knew we were there to see her:)

katherine gave her the easter mouse, i fed her a few mints (little pieces at a time), and she held katherine's hand in one of hers and mine in the other...

i always loved when she held my hand:)

~@~@~@~@~@~

spring faded into summer.
and summer to fall...

dear mr. and mrs. moss,
i just wanted to extend a very
happy golden anniversary to you
both!!! you two mean the world
to me... God must love me for
He allowed me to happen onto
you.

unfortunately, i will not be able
to physically be there with you
to celebrate, but i will certainly
be with you in spirit. that being
said, i am looking very forward to
being there with you to celebrate
your diamond anniversary!!!

happy anniversary, my loves!!!

all my love,
dani

in the fall of 1987, i sent the above note inside a beautiful 50th anniversary card to the mosses. i hated that i had to miss their anniversary celebration and only hoped that there would be a 60th that i would be able to attend.

well, in the fall of 1997, i did just that!!!

even though it wasn't what i had pictured all those years prior, both mr. and mrs. moss made it to their 60th. the celebration honoring those 60 years of marriage was very intimate and only included the mosses' nieces and nephews, their secretary, their day-sitter/driver (jean), and my little family.

the gathering was small but very sweet!!!

it was always sweet spending time with the mosses and their family.

~@~@~@~@~@~

fall faded into winter
and winter to spring...

in the early summer of 1998, i stopped by the rest home to visit mrs. moss. as usual, she was sitting in the hall in a line... i saw her before she saw me. i could see in her face that something was different. her eyes were cloudier than the last time i'd visited, her skin was grayer in color, and she looked lonely.

i wondered if the change in her was due to her missing... him.

~@~@~@~@~@~

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)