Wednesday, August 10, 2022

A "Googled" image of my folk's OC, MD home

 




Earlier today, I “Googled” my folk’s Ocean City, Maryland home address; I did so because, planning some travel, I wanted check the distance and time it would take to get there from "here to there," for a visit I plan to make to see my dad. The attached Google photo is what came up (with some privacy alterations!).

Seeing the Google photo made me feel sad and melancholic because it’s obviously “dated” (I’d guess about eight to ten years old). My dad’s old fishing boat is in the driveway; years ago now, he departed with it.
There’s no doubt the photo was taken when my mom +Carolyn was healthy, full of life, very much alive, and still lived there (and before she was ravaged by Alzheimer’s and eventually had to live out the last three and a half years of her life at St. Joseph's Nursing Home, Catonsville-d. September 13, 2018). I'm sure my mom most certainly put those fall/Halloween decorations in the windows of the house that are visible in the picture.
Seeing this photo (something I didn't anticipate as I had entered the address on the Google search app), reminded me of how my mom always delighted in holidays, and how she took pleasure in changing her home’s decoration schemes so as to spruce up the house for festive occasions. She loved doing that!
The second photo is from Christmas 2014. It was the last Christmas my mom spent in her home. As I look at the photo now, I can see how obvious it is that my mom was already suffering the effects of the disease of Alzheimer's. It's notable to me that the tree is decorated only with lights and no ornaments, something my mom normally wouldn't have allowed! Not long after that Christmas, she became a resident of St. Joseph's Nursing Home.
After that, family holidays were never the same . . .
I really miss her.
Rest in peace dear +mother!

No comments: