Our Texas Thanksgiving – Part 1 – Hays, KS

I know. It’s confusing when I call it our “Texas Thanksgiving” and our first day is in Hays, KS, but we drove and Hays was our first stop. Hays is where Larry is from and his mom Ollie still lives there, and still lives by herself at 96.

We left Friday 11/21, around noon, and arrived in Hays just in time for BINGO. Ollie loves BINGO. We went with Ollie and Phillip, one of our nephews. Collectively, we won over $400, and Ollie’s rule is that all the winnings are split evenly. So we all came out of BINGO $106 richer than when we entered.

BINGO was a huge win for all of us. After BINGO, and the next morning, however, we had a big scare. Ollie fell as we were going to bed on Friday night, and really banged herself up badly. She wouldn’t let us take her to the hospital and insisted she was OK. The next morning, she fell again, and almost fainted in Larry’s arms. We called 911 and they were there instantly and took her to the hospital. The doctors checked her heart and her vitals, and said it was not a heart attack or a stroke, which is great news. But the bad news is that we don’t know what is causing these falls (she has fallen quite a few times lately). But, after about an hour, the hospital released her and let her go home again. We stayed to make sure she was OK, and Larry’s sister Jean, who lives nearby came over. Ollie told us she was OK and told us to leave for the rest of our trip, to drive safely and to have a good time.

Next stop is in Pratt, still in KS, to visit our nephew Jared and his family.

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Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people.

23 thoughts on “Our Texas Thanksgiving – Part 1 – Hays, KS”

    1. That it is!!!!!! I don’t think she should still be living along, and I have said that for quite some time now, but Larry and his siblings don’t want to see what’s right in front of them, and still thinks she’s OK, even though she has fallen many times, and each fall seems to be worse than the last one.

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      1. It is hard to bring up change when your parents don’t want to change and have their mental faculties. Does she at least have the wearable device that lets the emergency team know she has fallen? Remember the old commercial “Help! I’ve fallen and can’t get up.”

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      2. So very true. She does wear one of those, but for some reason, it did not go off when she fell. I don’t know if she turned it off or not, but it didn’t go off. She is a VERY stubborn, old German lady. Larry and his siblings need to be the adults now, and need to make some tough decisions. It’s crystal clear Ollie can’t make these decisions on her own anymore.

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      3. Falls at her age can be so dangerous. If an old person breaks a hip, they are done for. They never seem to recover. If they hit their head, it can have all sorts of complications. Unfortunately, assisted living is so expensive. She sounds too spry to need a nursing home.

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      4. I know. That’s what I am so worried about. She is definitely NOT spry though. She can barely get around. I think that’s why she always downplays her falls. She knows how bad they are for people her age, with very limited mobility too.

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      6. She uses her walker all the time, and can’t really get around with out it. She even uses it around the house. Other than BINGO, her hair appointments, and her doctor, she really doesn’t go anywhere anymore, and rarely leaves the house.

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