Sunday, March 14, 2010

Honest, well behaved men


♥ If you have a wonderful husband that works hard to take care of you and would do anything just for you and your family, then repost this as your status to give the honest, well behaved men out there the recognition that they deserve. Because great men are few and far between, and I have one of them ♥

When I read the above comment on a few of my Facebook Friends' status, at first I was tempted to copy and paste it on mine as well, but then reading it again I realized that to be fair, a lot more needed to be said, otherwise I would be terribly unfair to all the men that took advantage of the Women's Rights movement to bring themselves to a higher level.
When women fought for their rights, they were not just getting their independence, they were in fact giving both, men and women, the opportunity to bring themselves to a higher level, where men are no longer just a "pay cheque" and women have the freedom to choose their future.
When one looks at a country like India, with all the spiritual gurus, one kind of wonders why they still have the "arranged marriages"!
I personally find it contradictory.

As a 21st Century woman, I think it's important to recognize the men that support their women through good times and bad times, the ones that have taken house chores so their women could have careers, the ones that take care of the kids while their women are in school and even the ones that have no kids because they chose to better themselves first and by the time they were ready for kids it was too late...

I consider myself a lucky women that got herself one of those good men, because he has been supporting all my craziness with a smile and a kiss... he gets up at 7:00am to take me to work when he could be in bed sleeping, he cooks dinner when I'm working and he drives me to professional events and picks me up later without any complaints, he celebrates my successes and he lifts me up when I am down.

It just wouldn't be fair to say that he works hard without explaining the level!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Casa de Saude do Espirito Santo das Irmas Hospitaleiras



When I received the call from my sister telling me that Mother's doctor recommended that she moved from the nursing home to the "Casa de Saude do Espirito Santo das Irmas Hospitaleiras", I admit that I was devastated. That was the place that Mother always asked not to go to. How could we even consider having Mother in a Mental Institution? Although the doctor guaranteed that it was another wing, that it was a nursing home for women, just the thought of going through the same entrance door was getting me worried.... Mother would never accept that and worse she would never forgive us for agreeing to that! My sister was looking for my input and although my heart was saying no.... she can't go there, my mind was saying yes... that's where she will get the care that she needs!
At the nursing home, the staff wasn't prepared to deal with Alzheimer patients and they would call my sister every single time Mother had an occurrence. She was not forgetting... she was being difficult...
Several years have passed... Mother has passed away and to this day, I thank God for the decision that we both made. With that decision, we gave our Mother a much better quality of life than if she had stayed at the old Nursing Home. She was able to get care 24/7 with doctors, nurses, caregivers, nuns... she went on road trips, to the theater, played games, exercises, physicals every time it was required, you name it and she had it.
Two names that come to mind and I want to thank them for all their care and support; they are Sister Encarnacao and the Male Nurse Saul, they were both a big part of Mother's life.

But Mother's favorite time was her Sunday Afternoon with my Sister and Brother-in-law... going out with them was the highlight of the week!
My sister would call me every single time, so that we could talk to Mother on the phone. To this day I still wait for that phone call, every Sunday around 12:00pm.

I have no doubt that the three of us, we still connect at that time every single Sunday!