23 November 2004

Dear Friends of my Mother,

Thanksgiving greetings to you and many thanks to all of you who have contributed so generously to my mother's care during the past year.

Because of your help, we have met and recently exceeded our goal of raising $60,000 for the year. As you will recall, I had originally outlined this as the goal we needed to reach in order to keep Mother in an in-home care setting. This has allowed us to afford our caregivers for the year. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We have also been in consultation with the Church Universal and Triumphant board, and I am pleased to announce that the board has reached a decision to fully fund the in-home care option, which will include the additional caregiver and a half that we need.

Needless to say, Mother's caregiving staff, her guardians and family are enormously relieved by their decision. We want to thank the board for working with us to meet the growing gap in her budget.

As a result of this decision, my fundraising goals have been substantially reduced for 2005. There are still some incidental expenses related to my mother's incapacitated condition that are not covered by the church—up to $20,000 per year. So for any of you who are still interested in donating directly to my mother for these expenses, or for her emergency medical fund, you are welcome to continue.

We still do not know what the future will hold or if there will be the need for emergency or extreme measures in her care that will for some reason cause our needs to increase yet again.

Health

Mother's health continues a slow decline. When the family visited her this summer, we noticed that she could not speak as many words as before. However, she still derives happiness from her family's visits, and enjoys hugging, kissing, and dancing.

She responded well to music, especially music that evoked early memories. Tatiana and I danced with her to Dean Martin's “That's Amore” and other Big-Band era songs that she remembers from her high school years.

On another day, when Moira, Tatiana and I, along with several of our children, took her for a walk, she began to get tired on the way home. We began to sing some of the Broadway songs that she had enjoyed when we were children: “My Favorite Things,” and “What Do the Simple Folk Do?” She picked up her pace and began to march along with the song.

Although she couldn't speak, she clearly demonstrated, by sitting down on a nearby chair, that she wanted to stay outside in the sunshine with us, rather than go inside.

When we left, she kissed us and said, “Bye bye,” which were the only words she had spoken during that particular visit.

I realize that it may be difficult for some of you to understand what I mean when I say that she doesn't speak much. Although her body remains in good health and she can still stand and walk with assistance, unfortunately, her mind, which controls the speech patterns, facial expressions, etc., is continuing to lose capacity.

For much of the day, her face takes on a mask-like quality that is familiar to people who have spent time around Alzheimer's patients. During these times, she will often appear oblivious to what is going on around her, even when she is with her loved ones. That is why she does not smile in some of the group photos posted on the site, even though everybody else is smiling and she may be tightly holding onto our hands.

In spite of this mental deterioration, her physical body remains comfortable, her food is of the best quality, and her caregivers provide her with optimal amounts of stimulation and exercise. I couldn't be more satisfied with the level of care, which is surely some of the best available for any Alzheimer's patient anywhere.

Photographs

I am pleased to be able to post on the site a close-up photo of Mother that was taken in 1984. It is a beautiful, relaxed shot and shows her at her best, the way we would all like to think of her. For those of you who want to see a current photo, I've added one from this summer of Mother smiling at Tatiana.

To see these photos, go to www.ecprophet.info and look in the photo section (the Life History for the 1984 photo and the After Illness section for the most recent).

I will continue to honor our policy of releasing one 5x7 photo for each $100 donation. If enough interest is expressed, I will try to get reproductions made of the new 1984 photo. Don't forget, when ordering photos, to indicate which one you want. Currently, only three are available: “Mother in Camelot Office” (before Buddha), “Birthday 1991,” and “In front of her altar, Fall 2003.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you once again for all of your support, gifts, prayers, letters and e-mails. I'm sure my mother and father would join our family in wishing you all a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Erin

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