Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Night and Day

Some of you know that I have an aunt who is blind.  Joyce is absolutely adored by all of our family and certainly by me.  She lives with my sister in her own apartment now that she has retired.  That's right....retired.  For many, many years she managed a cafe/sandwich shop in a federal building.  She also owned some rental property and managed it herself.  Her daughter lived with her until her death about 4 years ago and until last September she lived alone.  Joyce believes there is almost nothing she can't do and she's not afraid of the devil himself.  She often travels alone - plane, train, bus she loves them all.  

While Joyce is in her own home my sister takes care of getting her medications set up in her daily and weekly pill minders.  Unfortunately Joyce has to take quite a lot of medication.  She has COPD, had back surgery a couple of years ago but still has some residual pain, and has other issues that require some monitoring.  When she travels it's a bit harder to make sure her meds are accurate.  She now has a machine that is like a scanner that can read the prescription bottle and tell her what's in it, what it's for and how to take it - isn't that amazing?  She's been carrying them all in a big bag that I made her several years ago divided into two ziplock bags...one for night and one for day.  That's a bit cumbersome for her so this week I made her some new ones.  The bright yellow one is for the daytime....yellow like the sunshine.  The navy blue one with big white stars is her night one...the stars come out at night.


What's up with that you say?  She can't see the colors?  You're right, but she can feel the buttons I put right at the bottom of each strap.  I used round yellow buttons for the sun, and white star buttons for the nighttime stars.  The bags will feel the same to her until she feels each one for the buttons and then she'll know which one she has!



I think she's going to love these - I can't wait to give them to her next week when I go to visit.

21 comments:

Lori @ Back Porch Ramblings said...

Your aunt sounds like an amazing lady! An how ingenious of you to do the buttons like that. I'm sure she will love your thoughtfulness.

Quiltgal said...

Wow you Aunt sound like a real go getter. How thoughtful of you to make her such useful bags

Ray and Jeanne said...

What a wonderful idea - to use the different buttons! Your aunt sounds like an amazing lady and very independent! ~Jeanne

Createology said...

I so admire your aunt and others who do not let adversity slow them down. Your bags are brilliant and she will love them. Blessings...

Needled Mom said...

What an inspiring story!!! She sounds amazing and I love her new bags. Isn't it amazing what they have for the blind nowadays?

Belinda said...

What wonderful nieces she has!!! And what a great idea with the buttons. It's rare to find someone as brave and determined as your aunt. I salute her!

Kathy MacKie said...

What a strong and amazing lady your Aunt is, we could all learn from her and she'll be tickled with your thoughtful gift.

Julie Fukuda said...

Sometimes the clues are right there under our noses and it only takes a challenge to make them visible. Those are great bags!

Catherine said...

Clever and thoughtful gifts. You are blessed with a special aunt. She is blessed with a wonderful niece.

Michelle said...

You are amazing. What a wonderful thing for you to do, and your idea is brilliant. She will love them!

Jeanie said...

She may not be able to see the colors but she can certainly feel the love that you put into making these bags. She sounds like an amazing woman!

Josie McRazie said...

We were recently at a health fair. (Our Lillian takes mess 3 times a day) one of the more interesting booths was on they sent personalized boxes with medication to their clients. If there was morning and evening you got 2 boxes and each was prepackaged with whatever the client took for mess!! (So if they took 6 different pills in the morning it was in one easy to open prepackaged pouch!!!) It was a pretty cool system!!! Not for Lil because some of her mess are liquid.

Michele said...

That is such a fabulous idea and I'm sure she will be grateful for them every single day.

Anonymous said...

She will certainly know the love you feel and hours spent stitching from heart and hands. Love the button detail! Perfect choices.

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

How cool that she is so very independent. Our local pharmacy will set up pills into blister packs for $2 per week. Morning, noon, dinner, and night time. We are thinking about doing that for the Ancient ones to make sure they are taking what they are supposed to be taking at the right times.

Karen said...

So wonderful!!

Rosa said...

Great idea and sure your aunt would be delighted with them.Have a fun week!

Kyle said...

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful inspiring story. Your bag idea is terrific and it gives your Aunt just one more way to continue her independence.

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Those are great bags and that is a brilliant idea.
She will love them.

Thanks for sharing that little story about her. She sounds like an amazing, strong and beautiful woman.

Nancy said...

What a wonderful and thoughtful Niece you are! I know your Aunt will Love them and the process that went into your creativity. I love hearing about other women who don't let life's obstacles get in the quality of their lives. So inspiring....both of you!! ;)

Huggs, Nancy

BarbCarol said...

So, what was Joyce's reaction? Or, does everyone in the family just expect you to always be so thoughtful and clever?