Well, most of you probably know what is happening in my life as of late.
As if my life hasn't been a huge roller coaster of crazy stories, sucky boyfriends and 2 divorces, another doosy has been placed in my family's tracks.
My mom has recently been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
We noticed a few questionable things that are not the way my mom would normally act. Whether is was leaving the gas pump in the car while driving away (3 times) to not being able to understand step by step directions to not remembering her schedules.
This summer has been the summer of massive changes and emotional chaos.
Ani went to Washington for the month of May to help out and organize things in the house.
The next month, I went out there to do the same. We both noticed a tremendous amount of distance she had with reality and relationships and it became very clear to our family that something needed to be done.
We decided to move my mom closer to her family in Northern California to live with her brother and sister-in-law. This is an amazing blessing for her and our family. To have someone able to take care of her and who is close to her as well.
For my little sisters, this meant that they will be moving to Oregon to live with their dad.
It was a very devastating and hard decision. Nobody wants to break up a family especially after having been broken up time and time before. But it was also very clear to us that this is the best thing we could do given this awful circumstance we were in.
This last week, Ani, Kirk and myself made the trek back to Washington where we had to move my mom's things to various locations. We got in at 2am on Friday night, and then were woken up at 7:30am to get ready for the people to help us move at 8am. Ani and I were the only ones there that had a say as to where things would be going and the overwhelming sensation came over us as so many people were trying to help but we had nothing for them to help us with. It was too fast for us and we were not ready. One of the women from our ward came to us and asked us specifically what we would like to have them do. I politely asked if they could leave just so we could get our bearings and go through a few things before everything was boxed up and maybe never seen again.
Everyone was so incredibly kind and left us alone for a few hours where Ani and I still had no idea where to even begin. Years and years of memories, pictures, jewelry, clothing, kitchenware, furniture had been in my mom's possession and we barely got to skim the surface. Everything had a meaning and purpose to us and it was so hard for us to be able to decide what we wanted to take and what was going elsewhere. My friend Brandi showed up while Ani and I were in the midst of having a meltdown and walked in while we were literally trying on all of my mom's jewelry. We laughed and said, we are losing our minds and have no idea where to even begin. Thank goodness for Brandi. She was so helpful and we got the ball rolling on decision-making. (Something I have always been so slow at doing.) When everyone returned at 1pm, we had a system and we were able to pack the cars and finish by 3pm.
WHAT A DAY.
We were exhausted.
A family from the ward invited our entire family out to dinner that night just so we could relax and get some air conditioning and not have to worry about food. It was a fun night considering all of the things we had to deal with that day and we were so glad that the Sweetwood's were so generous to us.
We had a few air mattresses that were donated from my step-dad, where Julia, Natalia, Ani and myself slept that night. We wanted to watch a movie so we started it and fell asleep 10 minutes after it began.
I felt bad because my little sisters wanted to hang out with Ani and I but, we had to focus on getting the house moved and cleaned up and it was so hard to be able to spend quality time with them. We did, however, get them cell phone covers and Chipotle so, it's not terrible.
The next few days were spent cleaning the place and making sure everything was taken care of. We slept on the floor even though we had numerous offers to sleep at other people's houses (and we probably should have taken them up on those...) And we headed our way back to Utah with 2 cars this time and both full to the brim.
Now we are back in Utah with two full cars or as I like to refer to them as, our mobile storage units where everything will be staying until we move into our new condo next week.
Everyone has been so kind and helpful. My work has allowed me to take an incredible amount of time off and Ani's work has also done the same. I am very thankful that Kirk has been so helpful and has come to Washington both times to help me out and keep me sane. Even though the level of my sanity is completely debatable. I am also really grateful for my friends and everyone who has been there to support me and my family. I can't believe how much people have been willing to help and take the reins when needed. My mom has such amazing friends and family that love her and it is so obvious to me that she is an amazing person.
Even though my life has dramatically changed recently, I do know that things do happen for a reason, and whether or not I know that reason now doesn't matter. I have faith that it will all make sense someday.
