Mom arrived in Ghana last Tuesday night - after about 24 hours of travel and no sleep. I have to say that I'm impressed that my Mom, at age 72, made the trek from Vashon all the way to Ghana. Although she has traveled quite a bit, it's mostly been via cruise ship. Being on the ground in a developing country isn't exactly the same.
The kids were elated to see her and she arrived just in time to celebrate Xavy's 7th birthday. And, just in time to experience my house running out of water. I had been told when I moved here that it was important to have a water tank for when the city's water was turned off. I was a bit skeptical that the water in a city of somewhere around 3 million would just be turned off. Luckily, I did end up with a house with a water tank. A day or so after Mom arrived, the water pump stopped working and I couldn't figure out if the pump was broken or what was going on. The next day, I overheard someone casually mention that the water had been out around my neighborhood for weeks!!!! I had no idea, as my pump automatically switches to my reserve tank. Apparently, since the water had been out for weeks, we had used up all the water in the tank. So, we were without any running water for about 24 hours. Not really pleasant with 5 people living here and another 2 working here. Finally, we were able to arrange for a truck to bring in water and have it pumped into the tank and now I"ll know what to do next time it goes out - as there most certainly will be a next time!
I'm working, the kids are off to school for most of the day and I have a housekeeper who does the cooking and laundry, so Mom is finally learning how to sit back and relax - sort of. So far, she has rearranged the kids' closets, organized Patience's (the housekeeper) cookbook and read about and taken pages of notes on the history of Ghana. Seriously. Guess I come from a long line of women who just can't be idle.......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGee, I just decided to click on your website, Kirsten, as I was deleting emails to see what you were up to in Ghana since your mom sent the Bridge gals from Kent your site. And then, there it was, your first blog about your mom arriving! How wonderful. Can't wait to read more here and see how Mom is doing in a third world country "on the ground".
ReplyDeleteA sadder note Ellen, we got a note today from Anita Matson's sister that she is in "the active process of dying" according to the hospice nurse and it won't be long.She is communicating very little and resting peacefully.
Enjoy your family and each day for the joys and experiences it brings, water or no water :-). Looking forward to your stories.
Cil