Fort Worth Friday.....

Summer and I planned to drive over to Fort Worth late this morning but things don't always go as planned. No worries. We're flexible.

Summer was in a lot of pain this morning and had some calls she needed to make.

One bit of good news was a call from the rheumatologist. 

Summer does not have Polymyalgia Rheumatica.

Also her liver, kidneys and thyroid are all normal.

Summer has little inflammation and her joints are good.

Her diagnosis is all fibromyalgia.

I'm learning more about this condition every day.

It was after 1:00 when we got on George Bush Toll Road for Fort Worth.

Our first stop was to see Deanie.

Our Cousin Pam saw this plaque and bought it for Deanie.

I love it!

Deanie and I put on lipstick - Summer just wears a smile!

She smiles as often as she can and it is contagious.

We had a nice catch up visit with Deanie and then we got a bonus when Uncle Charlie came home before we left. Charlie gives the best hugs and Summer was in need of one!

I picked up Mother's clean laundry Dean had done before I left so we could take it to her.

Our next stop was to see Mother at the nursing home and we wanted to take her and Lillian a hamburger. Lillian prefers McDonald's so that's where we went and then decided to eat a late lunch ourselves before we went.

Summer continued her gluten free diet and ate a cheeseburger with  lettuce wrap.

She's learning more every day about what is and is not gluten free.

We enjoyed our time at McDonald's and I was surprised at the menu they have now.

I haven't really eaten there since my kids were young.

They have a good salad selection and - while it wasn't delicious - it was more than okay.

Summer's holding her instapot cookbook. She found a gluten free recipe for baked beans she wants to try for the Super Bowl Party we are having on Sunday.

This is the ceiling in one of the dining areas there at the Benbrook McDonald location.

It was 4:00 when we arrived at the nursing home.

Mother was SO excited to see Summer!

Lillian has been ill (not contagious, though) and she was in a different room for the last few days.

We suspect she just needed some alone time. I know how that is.

Back in September 2005, Mother had a stroke.

After she had recovered some, 

she gave me a big box of papers, photographs, mementos and her Bible. 

Today I took her Bible back to her.

She pointed to her name label on the front.

I need to take tape next visit and repair it.

She was so happy to see it again.

The church bulletins were still in there just as she had left them.

I also found this poem that I had copied out for her.

This must be from the 1970's.

My handwriting has changed so much I wouldn't even have recognized this as being mine.

I had laminated the front of the paper way back then and there was a tiny hole where she had, at one time, thumb tacked it to a wall.

She teared up when she saw it.

I read it out loud to her.

I tacked it up on her wall before we left.

The nightgown Summer gave Mother at Christmas didn't work out for her so Summer bought her several pair of pajamas.

Mother liked some of them and some of them she didn't.

The bag beside Mother's chair is filled with snack goodies from Aldi.

I bought a matching bag full for Lillian and took it down to her room along with the burger and milk shake. We really love and appreciate Lillian. She lost her husband last January.

Life doesn't always turn out like we think it will.

She has two daughters and one lives far away and doesn't get to visit.

We make a special point to visit and give Lillian treats just as we do for Mother.

When we told her goodbye tonight, she gave both of us several hugs - going from me to Summer and then back to me and then back to Summer.

I thought this was a gift from God.

He knew Summer needed hugs today.

Deanie had fixed up a photo grouping so I hung it up tonight.

We have a couple more pics to add but Mother was super happy with them.

I hung the old photos of her parents and grandparents and siblings above her bed.

Our last stop was to Nita and Mike's house to drop off the few pieces of dirty laundry and get in a quick visit with them. 

Nita was telling us about how Lady GaGa has been sharing how fibromyalgia has affected her life and how she lives with the condition. Knowledge is valuable.

While there is no cure, I am praying that Summer will be able to live a more normal life in spite of this illness. Step by step. Apparently stress plays a huge role in it and exercise seems to be a really important part of the treatment. Summer has tried acupuncture - which didn't help - as well as a few other things. I'm sure there will be a big learning curve as she reads and learns more of how to deal with this.

It was after 8:00 when we got home and Summer went straight to bed.

We are going to stay home all day tomorrow and hopefully she can get some rest.

All in all, it's been a good day.

I can't count how many hugs Summer got today.

She needed every single one of them.

Thank you, all my friends and family, for your kindness and prayers.