Introduction

Today is the first day of my blog. My daughter suggested me writing this blog after hearing so many stories about the daily shenanigans of me and my mom. If you're wondering why my title is "Porkchops and Pianos," this is a funny story in itself which I will speak of at times. My sister once asked my mom what food I ate when she and I patronized our favorite restaurant...my mother said "she didn't know what it was but it looked like a piano." It was actually porkchops with grill marks. In my mother's mind, my porkchop somehow resembled "a piano." I'd like to begin by telling you a little about my mother, whom I will refer to as Mema from time to time. Mother was the youngest daughter in a family of six siblings. Her mother died with a heart condition when my mom was only three years old. Grandma was in her early forties and six months pregnant. Her father soon remarried and mother became big sister to two other siblings. I have to say that some of the pictures I saw of my mom were pretty homely, but as years passed, she became a very beautiful woman. She married my dad when he came home from World War II and quickly began a family of three daughters and a son. I am the youngest of the four and always referred to as her baby girl. My oldest sister has just recently passed after a brave battle with lung cancer. Mother has been blessed with many grandchildren and great grandchildren of all sizes. I have always been very close to my mother and often referred to her as my hero. My dad died some twenty years ago from Kidney disease at the age of 65. My parents were married for over 40 years. After my dad's passing, my mother soon married a man in our community who just happened to be my dad's cousin and a bachelor who lived with his mom until her passing. Everyone in our family fell in love with Yates, a quiet, country farmer, including mother. They were married and mother sold her home where she lived with my dad for some 40 years and where me and my siblings had lived most of our life prior to our leaving home. The newlyweds built a new home directly across from Yates' old home place, equipped with many cows and all the things that come with farm life. Mother was the boss of the two but she didn't let Yates know it. These two shared some 16 years together on their cattle farm before Yates' passing three years ago now. Yates was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and mother quickly became his primary caregiver. Mother had spent many years prior to her marriage to Yates working in an insurance agency and various other jobs throughout her life, but never a caregiver. She found the role a little overwhelming at times, but love and commitment kept her going. I personally feel that mother began her journey with dementia sometime during his care. Bringing help into the home was not an option for her, it wasn't that they couldn't afford it, but just that mother was a very private person and wanted to do it herself. My oldest sister, my husband and myself and other family members would help at times and the rest was left up to mother. After his death, we began to notice mother's dementia...