THE GERBER GAZETTE
2022
There have been many and big changes for this Gerber family in 2022. The biggest one was our move from our Bryans Road house that was our home for over 40 years to a single story home about 20 miles away. Our new address is: 30240 Memory Hill Lane Charlotte Hall, MD 20622. Several factors contributed to the decision to move. The greatest was that keeping up with a 4 bedroom house and having to go up and down the stairs was getting to be just too much. It was time to downsize. As it ended up, the new house is only 300 square feet smaller! But it is only one level. The move had its greatest effect on our resident granddaughters and great granddaughter. Since all are now out of school and pretty much adults, it was time for them to move on and start lives of their own. Amielia and Zanaya were the first to go. Amielia has found temporary housing with a friend and has FINALLY found work. She is working toward saving her money and getting a place of her own. Zanaya is being home schooled. Abi and Sky have moved back with their father, although Sky is usually here a couple days a week to help me with the unpacking and heavy lifting. It has been slow going, but I think we may just be settled in by the new year.
Our most important change has been the progression of Ron's vascular dementia and a mild heart attach the week we moved. The heart attack landed Ron in the hospital where they found that he has a blocked carotid artery and was extremely anemic. After many doctors' appointments, it was decided that surgery would not be in Ron's best interest and that other processes would be more beneficial. We have been working on the anemia and have now found a hematologist who is addressing the problem. Although Ron still has many long term memories, his short term-memory is his major problem. He often says that he has no idea what is going on. I think most of the time it is just too difficult to focus on all the commotion surrounding him. He has made a good adjustment to the new house and, although using a walker, can get around fairly well. His first accomplishment was to find the way from his bedroom to the refrigerator! That only took a couple days. We have set up a routine that requires him to leave his bedroom and large TV and join us at the table for meals. That gets him away from his habit of laying on the couch and sleeping to the TV all day and night. He frequently asks about going out to eat, but the process is becoming more and more difficult. He gets very winded and shaky when he walks a short distance. We are hoping that his blood boosting shots and iron infusions will strength him to the point where it will be easier for him to move around. But, we are managing day to day fairly well.
I have become head of household now. I am not exceptionally joyful about managing it all on my own, but have learned a lot in the last year. Buying a house/selling a house on my own at the age of 78 is not something I ever thought I would be doing! But, (old house is still on the market) we seem to have accomplished it. My health is fair. I still can't stand for long or walk distances without assistance (Ron took over my rollator, so we now have another one). I have learned that groceries delivered to my car is a handy way to go. When Sky is here, she hauls all the big items into the house for me. Carry out meals from our favorite restaurants fill the bill for when we want to have a special meal. We do tele-conferencing for as many doctor's appointments as we can. I have not been fostering the kittens since our move. I hope to continue that next spring when kitten season rolls around again. We had a fence put up around the back of the house to keep the dog and our cats safe. I learned that I should have measured not only the distance around but also the ground level. The fence is a whole foot lower on one end than the other. Of course, that end is also closest to the deck railing, so the cats have learned to jump over the fence! Thankfully, they stay pretty close to home. We have about half an acre of land and are pretty "country" here off our little gravel road. The dog is happy to stay in his fenced yard and lie on the deck in the sun.
That is our news for this year. Lots of new "stuff" and memories being made. I do miss having the girls around and not having Zanaya with me all the time was a big adjustment. But the Gerber Bed and Breakfast (and lunch and dinner) is now officially closed. We will be having Thanksgiving here with Frank and two of his children. The third is in New England in college. It will be interesting to see how that goes. (As it turned out, we were 10 for Thanksgiving! All went well and it was great having everyone here.) I haven't figured out Christmas yet. That will be another new tradition that we will be starting. We hope that you have had a good year and that this letter finds you well and looking forward to 2023!
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
