Mission, TX (Take 2)

January 1 thru 31, 2021

Our South Texas Mission stay continued through January. We continued to enjoy Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort. While the campground had been half empty in December, it was filling up in January. The weather was exceptional in December with sunny days and comfortable temps. The weather was less exceptional in January with some overcast days, cooler temps, and a few more rain showers. But we’re pretty easy to please… no snow to shovel? We’re happy. 

The first several days in January we were catching up with friends and family via text, email, phone and video calls. How cool are video calls that we can see and chat with friends and family in all different locations! We enjoyed a Skype call with (Gary’s brother) Wayne & our dear sis-in-law Ellen as well as a Zoom call with friends… Meigs & Paul in San Marcos, TX and Carol & Charlie in Maine.

We also planned our travel route back to NH for May and made all those reservations. Never a dull moment with planning our travels!

On Tuesday, Jan. 5th, we visited two World Birding Centers in Harlingen, TX… the Arroyo Colorado World Birding Center at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park and Harlingen Thicket World Birding Center. Thicket wasn’t all that great. We spent most of our time at the Nature Park. Arroyo is a common word in these parts and means “a steep-sided gully formed by fast-flowing water in an arid or semi-arid region.” We did walk down to the Arroyo (think brown water), but also saw some very cool algae formations on various ponds in the Nature Park. We didn’t see too many birds but we finally saw some javelinas (medium sized wild pigs) up close. They tend to travel in small herds and are also referred to as “skunk pigs.”  The poor things don’t smell very pretty… as we can attest. 

On Thursday, Jan. 7th, we took a ride to Brownsville, about an hour and 15 minutes southeast of Mission, to visit Wendy & Vin, friends we met at Old Stage Campground in Madbury, NH last summer. Their coach was the only other one with a Texas license plate at Old Stage besides us. On one of my walks at Old Stage I stopped by to introduce myself to them, and we all became fast friends! As it turned out they were wintering in Brownsville for Jan. & Feb. We visited for the day and met their friends Rita & Wayne. Wendy made a delicious lunch. We had a wonderful afternoon catching up with each other. We made plans for the four of them to come visit us in Mission the following week. 

Friday, Jan. 8th, my brother Andy and my dear sister-in-law Linda were arriving to join us for a month of camping in their tiny home. Gary & I also had tickets that day to see “Mario.” This campground offers activities. There wasn’t much in the way of activities in December, but they were beginning to get some activities going in January… socially distanced, of course. The first entertainer they had was a gentleman named Mario whose home base was Las Vegas, but he typically did about 2 months of shows in South Texas in the winter. He was quite entertaining… a cross between singer and comedian. The show began at 3 and ended at 5! With Covid they had moved the entertainment to the afternoon hours when temps were more comfortable to allow for windows and doors to be open and indoor/outdoor seating. I like to think that’s the reason and not that we’re old!!

We kept a watchful eye out for A&L from the clubhouse venue. We finally saw them pulling down the road to their site about 30 minutes before the concert ended. We headed their way after the concert, they were in the midst of setting up and had the same experience we did with the 45 minute check-in process! After they got set-up, they came down and joined us, and we had an enjoyable evening of dinner and catching up!

Saturday A&L ran errands and Gary & I enjoyed another long Skype call with (brother) Wayne  and (sis) Ellen and some phone chats with friends. Then Linda and I walked around the campground. 

Sunday, the 10th, I received an early morning phone call from Brookdale, my mom’s Assisted Living facility. They were recommending she go to the Emergency Room because of cellulitis in her legs. They arranged for the ambulance and our dear friend Nancy met mom there. This turned into a 7-hour ER visit before they found a room and admitted her to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. Nancy stayed almost the entire time until Mom was admitted. Bless her! With Covid, Nancy wasn’t able to visit once Mom was admitted. No visitors whatsoever, so I relied on the online Patient Portal for information and talking to the nursing staff. 

By Tuesday, the 12th, Mom had announced to the hospital nursing staff that she wanted no more treatment. Mom is completely sound of mind so she makes her own decisions. Her heart wasn’t pumping as well as it should anymore which was causing various issues. Mom turned 101 on November 22nd of last year. She has been blessed most of her life with good health. The last year has been challenging with advanced arthritis, mobility issues, shortness of breath, etc. Mom was concerned that we might not approve of her decision. But she should have known, we would ALWAYS support her… even in this. Since mom can’t hear well over the phone, we (my siblings and I and all our spouses) wrote an email and signed all our names telling her we supported her decision. The night nurse gave it to her and she held tight to the email throughout the night. Gary & I were fortunate to have Andy & Linda in Mission with us during all of this and Bob & Deb were a mere phone call away. 

On Wed., the 13th, the hospital was able to arrange for a Zoom call for the six of us and Mom. It was a short Zoom call but wonderful to see her and hear her voice. On Thurs., the 14th, we were able to take part in the Palliative Care meeting in Mom’s room via phone. After that, things moved quickly with Hospice Care getting on board and Mom returning to Brookdale, her Assisted Living facility, by Thursday afternoon. 

I was told by the Palliative Care Doctor that based on Mom’s condition, it could be several months that she’d be in hospice care. I thought to myself they don’t know my mom once she set’s her mind to something.

With all of this happening, we cancelled our get together with Vin & Wendy for here in Mission. Gary and I were trying to figure out if we could fly back to NH and see Mom. We quickly learned because of Covid, even with my mom being in Hospice Care, we couldn’t visit. A person has to be considered “actively dying” for a visit to be sanctioned. Believe me I tried. 

Mom isn’t a phone person but she called me twice once she returned to Brookdale… the first on Friday, the 15th and then two days later on Sunday. Gary had the presence of mind to turn on his phone and partially record the Sunday phone call. I’m thankful to have that call now as that was the last call we had. In both calls Mom was adamant that when the time came, we celebrate her passing. She said “you’ll know I’m where I want to be.” 

Once I realized that a visit was probably not going to be able to happen in time for any of us, our entire family (including my siblings, Mom’s grandchildren, great grandchildren, her niece, nephews, my Aunt, Gary’s brother and our dear sister-in-law) all wrote her cards and letters of support. It made my heart glad that we could at least do this for her if we couldn’t be there. 

In the meantime, Gary & I and Andy & Linda tried to carry on as much as possible knowing what Mom was going through back in NH. We did some walking and/or bike riding in the state park, played corn hole, enjoyed a rock & roll band called “The Howlers” at the clubhouse. 

Gary & I were also very much aware of the noticeable change that occurred once Trump was out of office and Biden in office. Work on the wall stopped almost immediately after Inauguration Day…. as did a noticeable lack of border patrol helicopter flyovers. Whether you’re happy about that or not, the change was instantaneous.

With A&L visiting, we took advantage of the Wednesday afternoon margaritas being offered in the clubhouse for $2. You could enjoy them outdoors as well. Plus I enjoyed line dancing one morning. Very fun. Gives me a chance to dance since you-know-who is not a dancer. 

We were entertained one morning seeing 3 javelinas walking behind our site. We’d heard that they were frequently spotted at the front of the campground, but this was the first time we’d seen them down our way. 

Sunday, the 24th, (brother) Bob & Deb arrived for a week in their new (to them) Class C motor home. They arrived later in the afternoon… in time to join A&L and Gary & I for dinner and to watch some of the football playoffs. Great to see Tampa Bay with Brady at the helm make it into another Super Bowl!

Very fun having Bob & Deb with us. Plus it was great to have all of us together to chat about mom and reminisce and laugh about our Stapp eccentricities!  I was still in frequent contact with hospice and Brookdale staff.

Monday, the 25th, we all went swimming and relaxed by the pool and later played corn hole. That evening Deb cooked for everyone. We had requested her meat sauce with pasta. 

Tuesday, the 26th, some of us biked in the state park for 6 miles and some of us walked and enjoyed the birds in the park. In the afternoon we all went swimming and relaxed by the pool again. Since it was Tuesday, our Fruit & Veggie guy visited the campground and we stocked up on produce. Linda cooked that evening. We all enjoyed her “Buttery Chicken,” an Indian dish. Delicious! Afterwards we played tic (card game) and had fun with that!

Wednesday, the 27th, I checked in with Jennie, Mom’s Occupational Therapist. Initially I was wondering if Mom needed this since she’s in hospice care. But I felt it was more eyes on mom, which is a good thing, and Jennie could help with some daily function activities. Plus Jennie is a sweetheart. Thankfully Mom was on board with this. If not, we would have said bye-bye to Jennie. At 101 Mom gets to make her own decisions, particularly since she’s completely cognizant. I also checked in with Kelly, the receptionist at Brookdale, to be sure they were delivering Mom’s mail to her. I wanted to be sure that she was getting the letters everyone was sending her. Those and the ones that Nancy was nice enough to print out via email and drop off to Brookdale. 

We visited the National Butterfly Center with Bob & Deb and Andy & Linda. We walked some of the paths and watched the birds coming in for their 1:30 feeding. Cool place. It was Wednesday, which meant Margarita day! We enjoyed sitting outside at the club house and drinking our $2 margaritas and popcorn. In the middle of it as we’re sitting around the table, Bob commented on how nice it is that we’re all together and how great it is that we all get along so well. I couldn’t agree more! 

Our turn to cook tonight. Gary grilled steaks, and I made mashed potatoes in the crockpot. That was a first for mashed potatoes cooked in the crockpot. Afterwards Gary showed some of the bird pics he’d taken over the past month on our big TV screen.

Thursday, the 28th, I spoke with the hospice nurse a few times. She said Mom was on a “shaky” plateau. I took that to mean that for now Mom was holding her own but things could change quickly. A&L and Bob & Deb played golf in the morning. Gary and I did some chores and I got a 2 mile walk in at the campground. In the afternoon we all had tickets (thank you A&L) to see Piano Man outside the clubhouse at the campground. The entertainer was a 30+ year-old-young man who set up up his small piano on the back of his pick-up. His wife was his road crew person. Very entertaining. Dinner that night was Deb’s delicious meat sauce again. 

Friday, the 29th, we all visited Quinta Mazatlan. It’s a World Birding Center in addition to having a 1935 Spanish style mansion on its property, plus remarkable walking paths with lots of local plants. Gary and I particularly wanted to visit it again, since the last time we were there was to see the Christmas lights. In the afternoon we played corn hole. We enjoyed a pot roast over at A&L’s and played Mexican Train at our house afterwards. 

Saturday, the 30th, we had everyone over for a pancake breakfast and mimosas for those who were interested. Afterwards Bob & I were the only two that headed over to line dance. Then it was an afternoon of swimming and sitting pool side. Afterwards A&L made poppers and guacamole for an appetizer and Deb made a pork tenderloin for dinner for everyone. We don’t go hungry that’s for sure. 

Sunday, the 31st, it was time to say goodbye to Bob & Deb, and for them to head back home to Fairview, TX. Bittersweet parting with everything happening with our mom. 

Gary & I had some packing to do since the following day we were pulling out of Mission, TX. A&L were here for one more week. Later in the afternoon we met up with four friends of A&L at Riverside Club… a nearby outdoor restaurant. Hard to believe our two months in Mission is coming to an end. 

The original plan was for Gary & I to head to Port Aransas for a week so we could have an opportunity to visit family nearby. Then we were going to head on to Galveston after that for three months. But, since we were unsure of things with Mom and when we would be flying to NH, we decided it was best if we just headed directly to Galveston. Luckily the campground was able to accommodate us. We moved our three month reservation up by a week. We will miss seeing my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Corpus Christi but we will re-schedule with them for a later date. 

We’ll continue with the February saga in the next post.