Jessie's Sunday Visit

Ryan and I went to pick Jessie up for her weekly Sunday visit. I saw two women on the way in and they asked who I was. When I told them "Jessie's mom" they each said "Jessie is my friend" which felt wonderful. When we got inside to get her, she was with 'grandma' an adorable older woman. The first time I laid eyes on her was when Gary and I were touring the facility and she was in a game room. As we walked in, she raised her arms out in front of her as if imploring us to do something and belted out a pretty good rendition of the song: "The Old Rugged Cross" - it was great. She is quite high functioning and has told Gary before that she takes care of Jessie and looks out for her. She is about 4'9" tall, is always smiling (until today), has a beautiful twinkle in her eyes and a face that reminds me of my jolly Norwegian Mrs Santa Clause.

I told her Jessie was coming home for a while and she started to cry. She said she would miss Jessie so much, she did not want her to go. I was feeling bad and assured her that it would only be for a few hours and she started sobbing. I gave her a hug and said she would be back in no time and left her being consoled by three aides. I guess Jessie has some friends!

The first thing Jessie wanted to do when she got here was call her real grandma - so we left a message when we could not reach her. By the way - if you want to talk to Jessie and feel uncomfortable calling RSS, we generally have her from about 2:30 - 5:30 (central time) every Sunday so feel free to give us a call and you can talk to her - if you are local - you are welcome to stop by.

Gary had fixed dinner and had it ready by the time we had made the round trip - it was Stake Conference today, so no stopping by and picking her up after church. To our amazement, Jessie did not want to eat! She said she was not hungry. This is definitely a new situation for us. Maybe they are giving her something - I want some! So we ate while she watched TV ... quietly - also a new situation for us.

She then said she wanted to feed the ducks - where she got the idea we are not sure - maybe they do it at RSS - so we headed out: Jessie with a bag of bread and me with my camera.

Jessie was too nervous to walk down the grassy slope to the lake, so she watched while Gary fed the ducks:

This next photo I call "Afro Duck". I have no idea what is going on with its head! It is a lovely 'do, just have not seen one on a duck before"

A shot of 'fro duck with his friends:

Then to obligatory Frisbee session with Charlie. One of many she gets a day (when Gary is in town):



Then we got the inevitable "I want to go back" statement. We are used to it now and it does not phase us. She says she does not want to go back to RSS generally on the ride back a couple of times, but seems to be more to make us feel good, or to be polite than for real - her heart is just not in it.

Jessie not being at home has become quite normal for us now. I thought it would take much longer. I thought the panic and fear would be around for, well I was afraid forever - but they have eased to a manageable level. Now I am just basking in the 'weirdness' of a house without a very large 3 year old in charge.

Life is good.