Lessons Learned - Gratitude Given -

Lessons Learned

Due to my ankle surgery; there is not anything to report on our Inner City Mission; we were not able to go out and make our visits. We did manage to go to my Granddaughter's baptism; which was awesome. 

Here is our sweet Karli, My Husband and I

 I guess today I will just do some musing. 22 years ago I broke my ankle and therefore ruined a well planned vacation. We had rented a cabin for a week with  plans to fish and enjoy the outdoors. My oldest son had just returned home from his mission. We were all excited to have him to ourselves and enjoy hearing about his experiences. On the first day we went to a great fishing spot. We had all gone down to the creek and were beginning to fish. After a while I decided that I didn't want to fish; I wanted to just relax and read an Ensign Magazine that I had left in the car.  I moseyed up to the car to retrieve the magazine and started back down the hill. I slipped and jammed by foot into a boulder and broke my right ankle. I could actually hear it crack. I was so freaked out and in a great deal  pain. Of course, my family gathered around me quickly and my three sons and husband carried me up using a scouting chair hold; of which I complained that they were not doing it correctly. I thought that I could complain since I had served in the Cub and scouting program for years. I think mostly I was afraid of them carrying me up a steep hill. I did appreciate their efforts to get me up the incline safely.They stabilized my ankle as much as possible. A priesthood blessing was given and I felt comforted and knew all would be well. While traveling to the nearest hospital I was fairly comfortable; so I decided maybe it was just a bad sprain. However, that cracking sound that I had heard couldn't be rationalized away. At the small town hospital, I had an X-ray that showed  I had a very bad break. We were sent back to Las Vegas for my surgery which occurred the next day.Our vacation of course was ruined.
A few weeks after my ankle was fully healed, I was walking towards the Hospice Hospital that I worked for and tripped over the cement curb and fell and broke my left elbow. I am left handed so this posed a big problem for me. Luckily it wasn't a bad break; but I still had to wear a sling for several weeks. When I returned to work I had a new name; I was called Grace.
During the recovery of these two accidents I learned some valuable lessons. I am a nurse so I had helped a lot of people over the years. I thought I knew it all; just like
the best scouting lift.
These are some of the first lessons I learned.
  1. Having bone pain is very painful.
  2. Having surgery is not fun.
  3. Having a cast on is not fun; in time it will itch like crazy.
  4. Being in a hospital as a patient is the pits.
  5. When you push the call light; it may take a while before someone answers it
  6. Sometimes you don't get your pain medication on time.
  7.  It seems like there are people coming in and out of your room doing various things day and night.
  8. There is no rest in a hospital setting.
  9. It is very difficult to sit on a bedpan.
10. Getting out of bed is a chore.
11. Crutches do not help when trying to get into the fridge, opening doors and getting into a car.
12. You feel like people get tired of you complaining or asking for help.
13. First conversation is always; "What happened to you?"
14. Putting on make-up, doing hair is impossible without both hands.
15. You can't put on nylons at all; in fact you can't really dress without help.
16. You can not take baths; and showering doesn't work well either.
17. You need help whether you want it or not.
18. You have be to waited upon for almost everything.
19. You can not write if the break is on the arm you use to write with.
20. You can not type or use the computer if your arm is in a sling.
20. You can not drive if it is your right ankle.
21. You are really truly handicapped

Gratitude Given

70. I am so grateful for my sons and husband who did know how to left me gently up the hill using the chair carry. 
71. am grateful for good physicians.
72. I am grateful for all those who took care of me.
73. I am grateful for modern anesthetic; you wake up quicker and feel less drugged.
74. I am grateful for good medications for infections and pain.
74. I am grateful for bedpans and for bedside commodes.
75. I am grateful for children that helped me so much when I broke my ankle and elbow.
76. I am grateful for a kind and tender husband who has helped me so much all three times I have been injured. This time he has had to change the dressing everyday and he is so gentle. He also is running to the fridge several times a day to get me new ice packs, fluids and food.
77. I am grateful for all the meals that my children then and my husband now have provided for me.
78. I am thankful for all of the house chores that they took over for me
79. I am thankful for the sweet cards and drawings that my children made for me and now my grandchildren.
80. I am thankful for the kind ward and neighbor friends that brought food in and also came to visit

81. I am thankful for the individuals that I worked for all of their assistance.
82. I am thankful for those who called to check on me.
83. I am thankful for the many people who opened doors and assisted me in other ways.
84. I am so grateful for a lovely husband and son who gave me a blessing before my last surgery which brought peace and comfort to my soul.
85. When I asked for a blessing this time, I had decided that my husband should anoint and I wanted my son to give me the blessing. In this sweet blessing I was comforted and I knew I did not need to worry at all about the surgery. I felt completely at peace. I am so thankful for the priesthood  that my husband and sons hold. Through this  priesthood authority they can bless me and others at anytime for anything that may be bothering us whether physical or emotional. 
86. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that heard and answered my prayers 
87. I am grateful for those friends and family that also prayed for me.
88. I am grateful to have more insight into how those with handicaps feel.
89. I feel I have learned great lessons in compassion through all of these experiences.
90. I feel I was a better nurse after having these moments. I now knew first hand how patients feel in the hospital and home settings.
91. I know and have greater love and compassion for all those who suffer with greater challenges than I.
92. I am grateful for all of the lessons learned through these kinds of life experiences.
93 .I have a greater appreciation for my own body and the fact that I can see, hear, smell, feel, talk, and that I have hands to use and feet to walk. 
94. I am so grateful to have all of the modern conveniences to help make my recovery more pleasant. I am humbled by the fact that so many in our world suffer for greater difficulties than I can even imagine. I have a sincere love for mankind an wish that all could be healed. I do know that through Christ they can be healed.
95. I know beyond a doubt that we have a loving Heavenly Father and an ever caring Savior Jesus Christ; who loves us all and wants us to love one another and to lift and assist one another through the refining fires of life. Yes, I am truly blessed.

 

Wise Woman Builds Her Home

 

Enjoy The Moments!

 I had surgery on my ankle on Monday so I am grounded to my bedroom with my leg up and ice on the surgery site. My dearest husband is being a wonderful caregiver. I finally today have been able to walk without a cane; but I still have to stay down. I have a hard time doing this. I am one who will try to do something I shouldn't and pay the price. I am trying to be obedient; I need my ankle to heal fast. I don't want to miss too many of my temple days and we have so much to do on our mission assignment.
Depending on how I am feeling tomorrow; we are planning a trip up to Sugar City, Idaho to attend the baptism of my granddaughter, karli. We made a commitment to attend all of our grand children's baptisms so I don't want to disappoint her or break our commitment. I think I can keep my leg elevated in the car and off we will go. 
As I have been laying here I have been thinking  about my direction in life. I have mentioned before that I need to prioritize my time more. I finally feel that I need to make a decision and work hard to make some of my goals happen. One of the main areas I need to draw back on is blogging time. I love to blog and even more I love to read blogs. I feel like I am creating some very wonderful friendships out there in blogging land. I thought perhaps I will assign a number of blogs that I will read and comment on each day rather than reading a ton of them on just one or two days. I love to write and I am learning so much more about writing so I will continue to post.
Our mission at this time is  # 1 in my time allotment. So far I feel so good about the direction we are taking and have also felt that we have had prayers answered and that Heavenly Father does watch over us all and especially wants us to reach out to the ones that are lost and have great needs.
 I have also been thinking a lot about enjoying the moments in my life more. I use that term a lot; but I don't know that I practice what I preach. Life becomes so busy that I don't take the time to look at a beautiful sunset, listen to the birds singing, stop to smell a rose, and spend quality time with those I love. I love the Mormon Message below and I have been pondering the thoughts presented therein




Read the full message in 2010 CR Of Things That Matter Most by Dietier F. Uchtdorf 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency

The Last Dance -

My Father Millan F. Gledhill

Since it is Father's Day on Sunday, I thought I would write some thoughts and memories about my Father. My Father passed away  October of 2001. He had Alzheimer's and died from complication from hip surgery. 
First, I want all to know that my Father loved our Savior Jesus Christ and Our Heavenly Father with all of his heart. He was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He had been in active for many years but when he came back into the church he taught me so much about charity. He served several missions for our church and I learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ by him practising his lesson on my Mother and I. They loved going to the temple and they were able to serve in the Cove Fort Mission in their latter years.
I owe a special thanks you to my Father for nurturing my testimony. I have deep gratitude to my Heavenly Father for providing me with such faithful and good parents.
I have two older brothers and I was his only daughter of which he spoiled me a lot. Here are a few treasured memories of him. My Dad was a farmer and I remember him taking me out to the farm where he would let me ride with him on the different farm machines. He would let me sit on his lap while he was driving his truck around the farm and I would steer the truck.
He loved to fish and we went on many fishing trips. I know that sometimes he would put a fish on the end of my fishing pole when I was off playing and then he would call out to me that I had a fish on my line. 

When I was 9 years old my Dad had lost his farm and was working as an Ice Cream delivery man.  His route was from Richfield up to Eureka, Utah and back. He would often take one of us with him on his trips. On his route, he would deliver Ice Cream to different Cafes in the many small towns. He would often get me a little ice cream treat from the the back of the truck when he made stops. When we arrived in Eureka we would stay in a hotel room and he would take me to a movie; which generally was a cowboy movie. Even today I continue to enjoy watching cowboy movies. I always wanted to be Annie Oakley and spent many hours on the farm pretending I was her.
Every birthday and other special days he would buy me a Story Book Doll. I am sure Mother played a big part in this one too. I have quite a collection of these dolls.
My Dad loved riding horses and would  take me on the horse with him. One memorable trip that we had as a family was riding horses up on Fish Lake Mountain and staying in my uncles cabin for a few days.
  He loved to hunt deer and later on in life when I was married we went deer hunting with my family and always had such a good time. He was so fun to be with. My dear father had such a delightful personality; people loved to be around him. All of my children and many of my  grandchildren have had treasured moments with my Dad.
He loved sports and coached the town baseball team in Richfield for many years. My brothers became good at all of the sports and my Dad did not miss a game. For hours after the games he and my brothers would go over all of the good and bad parts of the game. He was a really a good coach. I felt like I was raised on a baseball field; because we went to all of the games. I think I spent most of the time playing under the bleachers. I too loved to play sports and my favorite was basketball and I can still do layups with my grandchildren.
Whenever we were in the car or truck he loved to sing. He didn't have a  quality voice but he could sing. He sang so many fun songs. My mother would also sing with him. He loved songs like; "My Wild Irish Rose", "Danny Boy", the Yellow Rose of Texas", "Always", and many other special songs.
Three years before he passed away; he made a recording of some of his favorite songs along with one that he made up the words too and gave it to my mother. He was a romantic man and loved my mother with all of his heart and soul and she felt the same for him. He was always hugging and kissing her. 
As his Alzehimers' disease progressed my mom finally could not care for him at home and he was placed in a care center. At one point he was assigned a room with another man. Somehow the two of them connected and we came in one day to hear them both singing some of the old time songs and it was so wonderful. We clapped and enjoyed the moment with tears streaming down our faces. They had an audience but didn't even know it
One of my fondest memories is my last dance. Growing up my Dad and Mom loved to go dancing. They belonged to a square dancing group for a while. My Dad was a very good dancer. Whenever there was dance music playing in our home; he would grab my mother and dance with her and then he would always dance with me too.

When he developed Alzheimer's disease and was in the  Care Center; I flew down  from my home in Spokane to Las Vegas to see him  a few times before he passed a way. The amazing thing about my Dad was that he always remembered who my mom was and he would always remember me. He had a pet name that he called me and it was Leanne. I miss hearing him say that name. One of the last visits that I made to see him in the Care Center; my mom and I took him down  to the recreation room. There was music playing and he grabbed my mom and danced a way with her.  When the music stopped he came over to me and as the music began again I had a last dance with my precious Dad. I will treasure that memory forever.
Towards the end he was put in to the Hospice Hospital that I had worked for  a few years when we lived in Las Vegas.  My husband and I flew down and that day ended up being his last night. I had encouraged my mother and everyone else to go home and get some rest. My husband and I stayed at his bedside and I was holding my Dad's hand when he took his last breathe.
I love you Daddy, I miss you and I will be yours forever.

Here's some photo's of my Dad and Me!

This one is a favorite one!

My Dad and Mom's last trip to our Spokane home