News about Charles and Sis and I

Here is an older photo of Charles from November, and a photo of myself and my grandson in April on my birthday. We went to San Antonio last Friday and got home late Monday night. Charles seemed better than the weekend before. We had a meeting on Monday with several members of the hospice that is taking care of Charles, and some members from the staff of Charles' home.
At the meeting we had the director, an RN, a social worker, and the Chaplin from Bethany Hospice. Also there was the Administrator, home nurse, Q, which is over the house mom, who was also there.
We had been alerted that the home was thinking of sending Charles to a nursing home, and we weren't having any of that! However, it turns out that they were not going to send him to a nursing home. The thing is that if Charles gets into a crisis that can be managed better at the mini-hospital of the hospice, they will take him there.
Charles is having increasing pain in his left leg, and so they are giving him more morphine for his break through pain, which makes him more sleepy.
The RN from the hospice and the RN from the home agree that Charles will probably suffer more broken bones, where the cancer lives in the marrow of the bones and causes large tumors. We are pretty sure he has one on his leg. They will probably put it in a cast, but it won't heal. Then he will be bed bound. They brought his hospital bed, which looks just like a twin bed. It has electric controls, and side bars that are down now. He just loves it. He said the handyman bought it for him because he is the one who delivered it! The hospice director said that everyone always wants to know how much longer the patient has. He said they count time differently than we do in the world. He said they say months to a year, weeks to months, days to weeks, and hours to days, and minutes to hours. They say Charles has weeks to months, so we are not sure how long that will be. He is loosing more weight, eating less, less active, and like I said, sleeping more. He has been sort of going up and down, but always in a decline, and as he gets worse, he will go straight down.
My head is reeling, and my nerves are a mess again. I have been to the doctor to get some injections in my left shoulder, neck and head to block the pain, and I am taking muscle relaxers to help me get better. I also had injections in my right hip (my bad one) and my right knee. I am feeling some better. We would be going again tomorrow for the day, but Sis and her husband are going, and I will stay home and rest.
Charles is still happy to see us, and he felt strong enough to go to Denny's one morning for breakfast, and we had a great time together. He finished a new black velvet art project that was almost ruined. Someone spilt their drink on it, and some of the colors blended together. I think it looks great, and maybe that's the trick to blending those watercolor markers, just dump water on it! We had a great time with all of the clients there since we were all the house most of the time. Laughting, and playing and watching movies. It is the saying goodbye that is so difficult. I went over to him in his recliner to say goodbye on Monday, after the meeting, and I just hugged Charles so closely, and I could feel all of his bony back, and then I couldn't let him go. Only when I knew that I was going to cry did I let him go and turned away so he couldn't hear me or see my face. I went out of the door and just cried and cried for my brother.
Please continue to keep Charles on your prayer list. Thank you so much for all of the beautiful new cards that I saw this time. Each one a treasure to Charles and to me.

Hello everyone. Here are some photos that were taken last Saturday. I could see a big difference in Charles since we were there before. He is so much weaker, and having more break through pain. Sis and I are leaving in the morning to go back to SA, and we may come home on Monday. We know that Charles doesn't have a lot of time left, so we want to be with him as much as possible. I have been an emotional wreck all week, and I know it is only going to get worse. His hospice doctor said that he didn't know how Charles was still alive and he was doing OK, but now it has hit all at once, and we don't think he will make it to June. If you wanted to send him a card or something, now would be a good time. He is on more pain meds, and an anti-inflammatory medication for cancer patients to reduce swelling, and it has made him so sick that I think they are going to discontinue it.

In the first photo are my sister, Jeannie, and Charles and I, and we are at Denny's for breakfast (of course). Second photo is just me and my darling brother Charles. All our lives we have called him Butch, and a few years back, out of the blue, he asked us to call him Charles, which was my dad's name.

Photo three, look at that beautiful smile. He didn't know I was taking his picture. Last photo, he is back home in his recliner.

I wish you could all be here to meet Charles. I promise you would go away, just knowing that there is someone out here as special as Charles is. I want everyone here to know that Charles is so happy to see the postman and to get cards, letters, photos, drawing from some children etc. from all of you. He received several letters from 5th graders who wrote to him in English class. He liked those too. You have kept the smile on his face. Someone sent him a necklace that has a boot, hat, and saddle charms on it, and he hasn't taken it off since he got it. He even wears it to bed. Speaking of which, hospice is delivering a hospital bed tomorrow, and he is getting his TV tomorrow and a combo DVD/VCR player, all from his home. When he is so medicated or feels really bad, he has started to go and get in his bed. They want to be able to put up the bars to keep him from falling out of bed as they continue to increase his pain meds. He is still very much Charles, and what a trooper he is! Still never complains about anything except of course the pain.

We had told him that we would take him to the western store after breakfast if he wanted to go, and he said "Yes"! On the way though, he wanted to get his flat top haircut so we did that. We took his hat and had is cleaned and a new hat band put on it. Then we looked at the shirts and pants. Well, Charles shops like a girl, because he has always gone with me and sis, so he had to pick up, consider, look some more, and finally decide what he wanted. He picked out one really expensive shirt that was a red plaid, and I said "Charles, this one isn't on sale, so you decide do you want to keep this one, or get 2 off the sales rack". Well, of course, he put the red one back so he could get 2! In all he chose a pair of white jeans!!!! He loves them so much, and 3 western shirts a blue check, a blue and purple plaid with gold threads running through it, and the red shirt he is wearing in his recliner, a purple western T-shirt with a beautiful wild horses image running across the front, the new hat band, a new key chain that is a miniature spur that spins!, a new buckle with a star on it (he has a brand new buckle and belt that he has from Christmas that he is saving). Charles has always worn rather quiet clothing, but WOW has his taste changed! He had a wonderful time at the store, and when he was so worn out he couldn't go another isle, we took him home.

He took some pain meds and got in his chair. We all set together, and looked at his cards, and we read them to him, and he would just listen, and look at the images, and he kept saying "from your friend", or he would tell Jeannie, "from work". He meant from her job, where she is well loved. (She is the payroll clerk for a school bus company). He knows I paint, and make art and that I "get online" and talk to people.

I am not sure that Charles will ever wear the new clothes that he picked out, but sis and I have decided that those are his "special clothes" that he will wear when the time comes, and they were bought with love, kindness, and the money that all of you have sent. I can not express to you all, how wonderful I think you are for "being there" for my brother. I just thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will update my blog again when I get back in town, and I am sure I will have more photos too. I love to do my art projects, but it has taken a back burner lately, and I was looking for a new place to live, but all of that can be done later, but I can't make up the time that I would loose with Charles, if I am working on something else. Art is very important to me, and it has helped me to work through some past bad experiences, and I know I will return to it when I can.

Well, it is late here, (3:53 AM), and I know I have to get up early so I will say goodbye for now. God bless you and your families, and I will write again soon.

It's Friday!

Hello to everyone that has been dropping by. It has been a very emotional week for me, but a good one. So many of you have written to me, and it has so lifted my spirits, just reading your words of strength and concern. Charles has had a good week too. He has been for some blood workups and I am waiting to hear back on those. Sis and I are going to see him this weekend. I doubt we will spend the night. We have just been driving down early in the morning and coming back that night so we don't have to pay for a room. Gas is bad enough! When will it level off! I hope to get some new photos of Charles, and I can't wait to see what cards he has received from all of you this week.
I was telling someone the other day that we are hoping that Charles will make it to June, and I would love for him to continue to receive cards until the end. I know that is asking a lot of you all, and if you can't send another card, of course I understand. It doesn't have to be anything that you buy. You could just draw something, write a note, send a joke, he really wouldn't care what it is.
Well, at the top I have a scan of a mingle that I managed to complete this week. These are ATC size cards called Postage People, and you have to use a real stamp with a face. They are so fun to do. I hope you will try one. I didn't have any old face stamps so these are new from the post office. My favorite one is of the man. That was a photo of Charlie Chaplin (I think), and I cut off his arm and turned it around, and then I cut the hand and cup from another picture. I had fun doing that one!
As you can probably tell, there are a lot of things missing from my blog. I was going to change templates last week, and almost lost my whole blog. I am slowing working on putting it back together. I will make a new slide show too. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend, get some rest, and have some fun. I will update my blog early next week when I get back from San Antonio.
One last thing, thank you all so much for being so supportive, and so good to Charles. I am overwhelmed with all of the goodness that is out there that I never expected. Hugs to you all.

Weekend with Charles

My sister Jeannie and I spent the weekend with Charles in SA. He was happy to see us and to show us what he had. He has received several card (they are in his lap), and dollars too. Someone sent him the hat he has on and he wore it all weekend. He asked his house mom to hang up his cards, and she was going to get some bulletin boards, and when those are full, then we will get some more. When we first got there, we thought we would take Charles out for chicken fried steak, but he wasn't up to going. The next day he did want to go to Denny's for breakfast so we did, and he ate pretty good, and we all had several cups of coffee.
As much as I hate to admit it, I could see this time that Charles was more tired, and weak. I think that he will not be leaving the house much more. His home bought a new recliner for Charles and he loves it. The home does not want to isolate Charles back in his bedroom until it is absolutely necessary.
I can see that I haven't gotten any comments lately, but I know that once the word gets out about my wonderful brother, that some of you will want to send him a card. They bring so much joy to him, even as he was showing them to us. For you that have sent a card already, thank you, and I hope you are keeping Charles in your prayers that he won't have any pain. He doesn't now, and I pray that he never will.
Remember to email me for Charles' address if you would like to send him something. I have had a busy day working on my A B RR book, so I am off to bed.

This is Charles!

Hello friends. I want to tell you about the angel in my life. It is my brother, Charles. Charles is 58, and mentally challenged. He lives in a home with 5 other "family" members in San Antonio. It was his choice to move to SA many years ago to be near some of his friends. Charles is always so happy and outgoing, and he was always busy doing something all the time. He has loved the jobs that he has had. He has worked in the shelters before, but he really wanted a job out in the public. So he got a job with a What a Burger, and he worked hard there cleaning tables, and keeping the parking lot clean, taking out the trash, and any thing else that he could do, he did it. Some customers came back again and again to see Charles and his smile, his good nature, and how hard he worked. He won Employee of the Year at his store, but then to his surprise, his home was able to find his "dream job". The car wash!
Like I said, Charles loves to work, and he really loved his job at the car wash. He would do back breaking vacuuming of the cars, and drying the cars all day long. It didn’t matter if it was near freezing, or 105, he was on the job, and doing his best. His boss said that Charles is an inspiration to everyone that he comes in contact with, and that he has taught all of the new hires not only how to do their job, but how to be at work on time, clean and shaven, with a smile on their face everyday, and to do a good day’s work, and that you don’t leave early, but stay until all the work is done. I am so proud of my brother. He has never been a burden to his family....instead he is the joy in our lives.
Charles has always been healthy, and living a happy life, until one day in October. We got a call from Charles’ house mother, and she said Charles had broken his arm at work, and that he was on the way to the hospital. So my sister Mary and I jumped in the car and went down to SA. It takes about 4 to 6 hours to get there, depending on the traffic.
When we got there Charles was back home, and really dopey. His hand was swollen, and he had his arm in a sling. So we talked to him and he said he was OK, and not hurting. Then we went to talk to the house mom. She told us that the doctors were not able to set Charles’ arm because the break was caused by a tumor on the bone in his upper right arm. We continued to talk, and my sister and I were just devastated, and trying not to be upset around Charles. We went to our motel and wept over the news.
The next day we went with Charles to see an oncologist. She said that from the x-rays she could see that Charles had some form of cancer. As I’m sure you can imagine, we never expected this would happen especially since no one else in our family has had cancer. We stayed all week, and the doctor did a biopsy on Charles’ arm. She said that Charles has multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the blood, and cancer cells attach themselves to the bone marrow all over the body, especially the larger bones, and it also spreads to the other organs. They found a huge mass on his tail bone and all around it, and that the cancer was already in his liver, besides being in his arm and other bones. It is considered to be one of the worse types of cancer, with many devastating effects on the body. She sent Charles to a doctor that specializes in the type of cancer that he has.
The doctor told us that Charles’ arm will not heal. He ordered a brace that Charles wears under his clothes to immobilize his arm and shoulder, and he still wears the sling to help support his arm. At that time we were told that Charles could not be helped by chemotherapy. They did do 10 radiation treatments on his bones to strengthen them to try to keep any more from breaking. Charles never complains. There is a smile on his face for everyone he sees, and he has never said or done anything bad in his life. That is why I call him my angel, because it is hard to believe that there is someone as good as Charles on this earth. We were also told that Charles only had 6 months left to live. He is on a really good pain medication program, and he is still mobile, but he uses a wheelchair when he goes out.
Charles loves to fly (and he worked and paid for his own plane tickets, his clothes, and anything else that he wanted), but the doctors will not allow him to fly now. Because he hasn’t worked since last October, Charles’ bank account is nearly empty. We try to buy him everything that he wants, but we have the expenses of going to SA so often to see him, and we have to save for expenses later. All of this with Charles living in SA, and us living in Ft. Worth has been so difficult, but we are making it. We are happy to spend our last dollar on Charles.
Charles wanted to come home for Christmas, as usual, so we went and got him, and we made it fine. We had a wonderful old fashioned Christmas with lots of baking and cooking, like it was when we were kids. Then, Charles was still feeling pretty good at Easter, and he wanted to come home for the Easter bunny. I drove down on Thursday morning, picked Charles up, and drove back home. Charles was really tired when they got here. He ate a snack and took his medications and went to bed. The next day he was feeling better and talking about the Easter bunny, and the eggs, and the food. We had another wonderful holiday with Charles, and he got a big basket from the bunny filled with all kinds of snacks, candies, crackers, jerky, etc., and we had a huge ham for lunch and Charles ate and ate.
Jeannie took Charles back on Monday, and again he was so tired, but he was also feeling really weak. Sis and I decided that Charles couldn’t make any more long trips. Since October, we have gone down to SA every other weekend , or sometimes we go every week, and even twice in a week to see about him, or to see his doctors or the people that own Charles’ home. Charles’ hospice doctor recently said that Charles’ liver is completely covered in the cancer, and they do not know how he can still be going. They say it is a miracle, and I say that it is the power of prayer, and God is letting us keep his angel just a little longer.
You may ask why I am writing this about my brother. Well, that is because I need your help, and I wanted you to hear about a fantastic person. First, I need your prayers for Charles that he will never have to suffer any pain, and that when it is his time to go that he will slip away, quietly in his sleep. We did have to tell Charles that he has cancer, but that doesn’t mean anything to him. He knows that my sister lost her husband to cancer, but Charles doesn’t understand about death. We told him that one day he will go to sleep, and when he wakes up he will be with mom and dad, and my brother-in-law, but he didn’t ask any questions. Second, like all small children, Charles loves to get mail, and I am asking you to send Charles a card or a note. It doesn’t need to be any thing fancy, and if you put a dollar in the card he will be the happiest man on earth. He can’t count very high, but he knows a $1 bill, and he loves to have a dollar in his wallet, and he will go with a worker from the home to go drink coffee at Denny’s. He loves his coffee!
Charles is a cowboy. He lives for western movies, and Walker, Texas Ranger, but now he will watch Gibbs on NCIS too. He thinks the Dallas Cowboys are the greatest team in the world, and he doesn’t care if they win or loose, he just loves to watch them. He also wears boots and jeans, a western hat, and a belt with a nice big buckle. Some days he will wear his bolo tie and his sheriff’s badge.
Well, I know this is a long post, but I really wanted you to know about this wonderful man out there that cares deeply about people, and things in his life. He has never met a stranger, and he is a great friend, and he has taught us so many things about life. I just want to say that if you don’t have an extra dollar, that’s OK. He will be fine without it, but I hope you are able to send him a card or a note just to say hi or get well, and if you don’t have the time right now to send a card, then would you please just take a second and say a little prayer for the greatest brother in the world, and if you can’t do that, then God bless you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and please tell your friends about Charles too, and thank you so much for the prayers, the cards, the money, or whatever you can do to help Charles have just another happy day.
Please email me at colormary@gmail.com and I will send you Charles address.
Thank you.

Some new art

Here are a couple of pieces of my more girly girl art. Well, maybe it is just more of the same. I have some work to show you from a friend's RR book that I will put on later. Tomorrow, I want to tell you about the angel in my life. His name is Charles, and he is my very special brother. I hope that all of you will tell everyone you know to come hear about Charles.

New header and art

I am working on a new header, and some new art that I made at a Play Day yesterday. Oh, what a fun day that was. Eating and playing all day, making art in all sorts of shapes and colors. I will post later today.

My "Untag" Tag Mingle

Well, I have never even heard of an "untag" tag mingle, but it sure was fun! I love shoes, not to wear but to collect! This one so much fun to do, and I know it looks complicated but it really wasn't. If you would like to make one, let me know and I will send you the pattern that I used. I love the bright colors. Not what you would expect for a shoe like this from ages ago!

Oh, Happy St. Patty's Day to everyone. I claim a little Irish in my heritage. I just got to get a green card made today! I'll do it latter, cause I have GOT to do some chores now. Have a great day everyone.

More new art

I have been working on a piece for an Easter Bonnet lottery. This is my piece above. The pink cross is on top of the lid of a tin giftcard can, and the bunny is on the inside of the lid, The woman in the big Easter Bonnet is in the bottom of the tin. I had so much fun doing this tin. I painted it with gesso, and sanded it some, and finished it up with some ink pads. I printed the woman on a piece of cotton and then I started on her really large hat. Gathered ribbons, old velvet flowers that I made from some scraps, and the premade roses. I added the trim, and the gold piece and it was done! I really love the look and feel of this project, and I hope you will too!

Hello Again

It has been quite awhile since I have updated my blog. First I had the flu, and then bronchitis. However, I am feeling better and better. I have been working for a few days on some swaps, lottery, mingles, and ATCs. The pennant above was for a East Pennant swap with one of my groups: An Affair With Art. I really like the way this piece came out. The colors are great for spring I think. Let me know what you think....maybe a little too bright? Nah!

Well I wanted the next photo to appear, but as you can see, it is above the pennant. I will have to investigate how to put it where I want it! Anyway, this piece was for an ATC swap. We all went to this site "Fairy Name Generator". Type in your real name and it will give you your fairy name. This swap was a lot of fun!

Well I will go for now, and I will try to work on some challenges again soon, because I really love doing them, and I loooove to see what everyone else is doing.