I saw Dr. Uma, my neurologist on Thursday, September 30. He did the electrical zap test on my arms, looking for diabetic neuropathy. Afterward, he assured me that there was no neuropathy in my arms. I have an appointment in two weeks, then a plan of action for diabetzes and improving my health.
Saturday, October 1, we celebrated day six of Harriet’s Birthday week. Joshua, Dyami, Tabby, Angel, Solum, Faith, and Zachary were there for the birthday dinner. We had steak, potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and peas. Desert was Birthday Cake and ice cream.
She opened her Birthday cards and hid the money away for another day, the grand children got her a book on cats and a bag of Michigan 🍒 cherries dipped in dark chocolate.
On Friday, October 14, Harriet and I were planning on going to Owosso and spend the evening with Dan and Mary. Saturday and Sunday were set aside to thank and praise the Lord for the Sixtieth Anniversary of Redeemer Lutheran Church. Because of Parkinson’s I was completely devoid of energy and so we cancelled with them asking that they pray that we would be able to drive the two hours to Owosso for the Anniversary celebration the next day.
Saturday and Sunday were busy with the 60th Anniversary party for Redeemer Lutheran Church in Owosso, Michigan. I was the pastor there from 1999 until I retired in 2016. We stayed at the Comstock Inn, but didn’t sleep well.
Saturday, October 15
We walked through a historical display, “I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY, 60 Years of Ministry.” Because of a lack of communication, what I thought was a time of fellowship turned out to be a presentation during which the pastors got up and spoke about their time at Redeemer. I knew I was in trouble when Paul Larson, who served just before me, walked up to the podium with a folder that had pictures and an outline of his time in Owosso.
When it was my turn, I declined, explaining that, because of Parkinson’s, I could not just talk off the top of my head. But after watching Pastor George, who seemed as uninformed as I was about doing a presentation, I walked up and shared a few stories.
Sunday, October 16:
My duties at the worship service were to read the scripture. The lessons were from 1 Kings, Psalm 100, 1 Corinthians 3, and Matthew 28. Easy reading with no difficult names. I knew that the Bibles in the pews were the Ne Revised Standard Version, I prepared reading that particular version. When I arrived for worship, I was handed a printout of the lessons from the New American Standard version. No big deal, how different could they be? Little did I know that the New International Version was projected on the screen behind me. When I asked the congregation to read Psalm 100 in unison, which was impossible because the translations are quite a bit different, I thought no one read along with me because they couldn’t understand what i had said. Which is a problem with Parkinson’s.
A similar thing happened when I attempted to read the scripture at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Adrian. Except the problem really was that I wasn’t speaking loudly or clearly enough and no one could understand ANYTHING I said.
Monday my Parkinson’s symptoms were really bad. I Couldn’t walk well, and almost fell going into Redeemer. Sadly, I could not pull it together, no energy or strength. I was having trouble with balance. I wanted to visit two people who are in the hospital, Brian who is on a ventilater and Janet who fell and broke her hip. Because of the flare-up in symptoms and having absolutely no energy, I Couldn’t do it. Truly, my days in public ministry are over.
We drove back to Adrian earlier than planned.
Please continue to pray for us and be sure we are praying for you
A Caregiver's Journal 