Yesterday was one of those “routine” days that you’d just never have if you weren’t in the sandwich. After church and a light lunch Sunday we headed over to Mom’s condo to clear out a few more things and grab a portable phone and some clothes she needed. Then we headed over to her room at “the manor” to sit and chat for awhile.

Mom can handle about half an hour of visiting and then she gets tired. Her pain medication was wearing off so she decided it was about time to head down the nurses’ station to get her next dose. As we left her room her new best buddy, Helen, swiveled around with her walker in the hallway and gave Mom the biggest hug I’d ever seen. Mom introduced her “kids” and then we moved along with Helen tailgating and waiting for a chance to pass when the aisle widened out. Not for long though as she cruised up to the next doorway, saw another friend sitting just inside the door and spooked her with another great big hug from behind! Well it was pretty obvious to me that just because Mom thinks she’s not very good at making friends didn’t stop anyone else from making friends with her. I think Helen is a blessing and a speed demon in a four wheeled walker; I doubt she has much use for the brakes on that rig!

Anyway the nurse caught us in the hallway, Mom got her pain meds, and we continued on with Mom explaining that sometimes the aide will even offer her a cup of coffee as she strolls toward the dining room, where we parked briefly to continue our chat. As we got up to leave another aide made our acquaintance and, sure enough, offered Mom a cup of coffee before dinner (of course you can always sell Mom on a coffee but what she secretly yearns for is her cola – they avoid serving carbonated beverages at the manor). Turns out this aide is the daughter of a guy who used to work as an RA in one of Western Michigan University’s residence halls where Mom was an admin assistant years ago. Small world and I love small world stories, but once again Mom had captured another life story in her strolls around the manor. Didn’t I say something about that talent in a recent post on boredom?

We said our goodbyes to Mom, headed back home and started to chill for a bit and get some dinner going, when in popped Scott and Liz after work, promptly dropped all their stuff and started filling us in on everything from chats with the celebrities visiting town (for Laugh Fest 2013, a huge fundraiser for Gilda’s Club) to the latest happenings at the museum. Plus we got to hear about the next producer job opportunities and plans for Tuesday night’s visit with Wayne Brady (yes, that Wayne Brady) plus free tickets to his “improv” program. It’s kind of neat to think our daughter-in-law gets to work with all these entertainers and celebrities in the various producer and photographer jobs she does through her company, Happy Hat LLC. As the evening wound down, the dishes were done, and Deb put the finishing touches on a cake for today’s office potluck, I began to think about our current situation.

I can’t imagine a less boring, more interesting life than what we share in the sandwich with our family. We get all the current stuff, all the details, hot off the presses. If we weren’t in the sandwich everything would be filtered and distilled to the essentials by the time we’d hear it. Do we yearn for some quiet time, or some together time for just us two. Sure, and we occasionally get it. But, if we weren’t living in this situation and had all of the quiet and together time we wanted, would I miss taking care of Mom and sharing our home with the kids? Absolutely! So for now, that’s just another day in the sandwich …