FRIENDS OF ARTIE MENDES - UPDATE FROM ALWYN JULY 2014

Dear Friends of Artie,

I was hoping to do this more than once a year, but as they say better once than never.

Here's an update on how my Dear Mother is doing, and I thought at the same time I'll take advantage and send you pictures of my immediate Family too.

        Artie as you know, lives in an Old Age Home and seems very comfortable and Happy with all the Love Care she gets from the Staff there, My Mum has a personality that Cheers People Around her, and she was given an Award for her Contribution in Assisting others on the Floor she reside on. Artie uses a Walker and I was interested to know what did she assist others to get the Award, so we found out that she helps in Translation of other languages to English for some of the Residents who can't speak English very well.

Of course Artie knows English, Swahili, Konkani, Hindi, some Gujarati Kutchi, Portuguese, and if you ask her, she'll add Spanish, claiming she Spoke to Castro in Spanish when he visited Zanzibar.

        Every Year Audrey and Tony have a BBQ at their Place around the First week of July, Mum's Birthday is on the 8th, and this year she turned 86, we can notice that she is slowing down, and i  not so steady on her feet in spite of the walker, and soon it will the wheel chair, and at the mention it, there's a strong resistance already. Mum is suffering from some sort of dementia as she'll repeat a question she asked 5 minutes earlier, other than that, she can recognize and remember all her friends that visit her occasionally, we had a sing-a-long at the BBQ, and much to my surprise she remembered the words of all the songs we sang, got her to do some Portuguese Numbers which of course none of us knew so it didn't matter, but she sang solo Tom Dooley, Spanish Eyes, and Give Me a Kiss to Build a Dream On, and remembered the words that I'd forgotten.

        We can see that she is now really beginning to Miss the Old Man, and is giving up on herself. I continue to visit her every week and have a quick Lunch and head back to work. Audrey and Avril spend a fair amount of time with Artie on the weekends, Anston and his Family do weekly Visits, Arnold goes whenever there's Electronic issues with the TV or the Phone.

Then we call every day to make sure all's fine with her.

        We Celebrated our 5th. Grandchild's Baptism today, so there are Pics from that event. Ava Marie is a real Doll and is always Happy. In the Pictures named Ava Marie, there's My Daughter Michelle and Her Husband Anthony and their 2 Kids Thomas who's 12 and Lauren who's 9, then there Mike and Melinda, with Aliya who's 7, Anthony 5, (Named after Pop) And Ava Marie 9 months.

        On the Pics tagged Mo Mummy name given by Aaron (Audrey's Son) as a Kid growing up he called his mother Audrey Mummy so his Grandmother was Mo Mummy and Pop was known as Mo Daddy. The Names have stuck to this day. Then there are Pics of the Siblings Less Ashley, Aaron's and Melanie's Kids, (Audrey and Tony's Grandkids), Natasha, (Avrils Daughter). Anston Ingrid and his Family, there a shot of Arnold and one of Tony. And the rest are Friends.

        I guess I could go on and on, but I'll end, with Best Regards to you all from Mum, as I do mention all of you when I visit her. Take Care and Keep in Touch.

        On a side Note: Jo I haven't given up on the SJCS Reunion, and Happy Birthday Mabel, Hope I have Benny's email address correct. Does anyone have Father Al's email address that you can forward to me please.

        Cheers,

        Alwyn

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Hi Alwyn,

Many thanks for the update of your mum Artie. Please convey our belated birthday wishes and congratulations for all she does encouraging other folks at th Home and for winning the special award.

As a token of rememberance of your family I have added your message to your blogspot which remains in my collection and you are free to share with your friends. 

Best regards to you and your family.

Benny & Betty

ALWYN'S PHOTO COLLECTION