Everybody Loves Sarah

Here's what's been occupying my time lately:

Last fall, my dad began having some health problems: weakness, dizziness, faintness, memory problems, etc. He was bad at Thanksgiving, better at Christmas, but whatever it was wasn't going away. He played musical specialists for several months, as no one could figure out what the problem was and kept sending him to a different doctor for further analysis. At long last, they decided that the problem was several medications that he had been on: a potassium supplement, Lipitor, and a blood-pressure medicine I can't remember the name of. For most people, they cause no problem, but for my dad, over the time he'd been taking them all, they caused some neurological damage and (I think) also damaged his kidneys. While he has improved since being taken off the drugs in question, all the damage may not be reversible.

In light of his health issues, my parents (with significant prodding on my part) have finally decided to move down here, to be nearer us and see the grandkids regularly. I found them a house 2 blocks down the street from us, and hopefully they can move by mid-July. They've been in their house for thirty years; it was always too big for us; and they filled up the extra space by never throwing anything away, so moving is far from a painless process.

So, yes, I've voluntarily put myself in the situation of having my parents as neighbors. Fortunately, they're not right across the street a la Raymond. The first house I looked at for them we can see from our front porch; this one is still walkable but not actually visible, which is a plus. It's a very nice house -- smaller, and with a smaller yard, for downsizing purposes -- and I think they'll be happy there without the accretions of thirty years, if the move itself doesn't kill them. And on the plus side for me, I'll have easy-access babysitters, less worry about my parents being so far away, and -- not least -- no longer the prospect of inheriting thirty years' worth of junk to sort through.

So that's what I (and they) have been doing for the last couple of months. I hope that by late summer, they'll be settled in, and I can begin to think about other things again.