Columns

CARING FOR PARENTS AT HOME

My aunt, 77, is keeping company with a man forty years younger than she is. She hired this guy to drive her around and to cut the grass at her home.

Hello to all of you Marshall Mountain Wave readers and greetings from the Jewel of the Ozarks, Leslie, Arkansas. We finally got some blessed rain this past week with a bunch of thunderstorms that blew through on Halloween day.

My mom has fallen a couple of times, she’s not eating right, she’s not taking her meds, and none of us can help her. She’ll never spend a dime on herself, so she has built up some savings.

Frost predicted for the weekend, according to my weatherman, Bill, he keeps us informed on the weather.

Got a call that said it was Visa and I owed a certain amount and would I like to make a payment of $56. I said, “no, I don’t owe you anything.” They said “Thank you Ben.” It was a sham.

Another week, another hurricane and what a hurricane I sometimes have a touch of fondness for hurricanes because they a) can bring rain to Arkansas when we are desperate for it and b) have such majestic force to them. We saw Hurricane Katrina from the Florida Gulf Coast, where it was only a tropical storm but oh-so-impressive. Later we helped Eight Days of Hope with some house restoration in Bay St. Louis, MS, and saw the very sobering, tragic side of the storm. Refugees also came to the Baptist Camp in Paron for a time and they had some survivor stories to tell. Resilient folks, they were. But now, we have a personal stake in Hurricane Helene and I’m not too fond of it at all.

Good morning to all Mountain Wave readers. No complaint of the weather wouldn’t mind if it stayed the same way.

The family of Toby Donley would like to thank everyone that called, visited, sent flowers and cards during Toby’s illness. Thank you to Roller-Coffman for making arrangements so easy for the family.