This one is from Bill

Sunday was Bloomsday. Over the last several years, I have looked forward to this event as a great time. I’ve also looked forward to it with a bit of anxiety, knowing that I would need to be in shape to try to stay up with my mother.

On Monday, we checked the race statistics. According to their records, Mom has done Bloomsday 27 times. She has walked with many family, friends, kids and grandkids, and she has made a lot more friends along the way.

Mom could have had more fun on most of the walks, but she did Bloomsday just like she has done her life-- not as a race, being concerned with where she placed, but more as a journey to connect with family and friends. To be part of a parade, not to be in front, but just to be with it.

On Sunday, she had visitors from her husband’s side of the family, the Williams family. I haven’t spent much time with Ron, Ingrid and their kids in the recent past, but I got to be there for some time while they visited Mom. They had many fun stories and memories of spending time with Mom and Jim at their Asotin home; it was great to hear about all those good times.

Grandma Rita and Grandpa Jim were legendary for their welcoming, kind treatment of kids and grandkids at their Asotin home. It was a tradition every summer to take the kids across the street to swim in the Snake River, to fish and to have picnics.

Grandma never let the fact that the "fish weren't biting" dampen a kid’s joy of bringing in the big one.

One such summer day when grandson Chris was disappointed at catching nothing as he, Mom and Jim fished in the river across from the house, Grandma Rita snuck back across the street to the house and pulled one of Jim’s fish from their freezer. While little Chris wasn't looking, she slipped it on his fishing line, threw it back in the water, and then yelled with joy, "fish on, fish on!"

Even a young kid knows that you don't pull fish from the Snake River frozen, gutted and all ready for the pan. But it was fun, and the memory of Mom’s kind joke still lives. Just like the Bloomsday race, it wasn't about the race or the finish, it was about the experience.

Hearing this fish tale recounted again with Rita in her hospital bed brought laughter from everyone in the room. And there was a gleam in mom's eye, knowing that she was able to impact us in those ways throughout her life.

From a medical standpoint, the last few days have been tough. Fluid has started to build up in her lungs, which is somewhat common during chemotherapy. Mom’s heart is not pumping as rhythmically as it should, while the demands on her heart are greater than normal for an 88-year person’s heart.

She remains in the hospital. Her blood statistics, which were the medical issue that first brought her in, are in decent shape. The priority now is to deal with the fluid build-up and retention.

She is noticeably weaker physically as she fights the fluid retention.

Her spirits are guarded. When family and friends join, she smiles and jokes with what energy she has, but she is easily tired. Her room is well decorated with cards, scrapbook pages, and mementoes and memories from family and friends. And she continues to harass and hassle family and friends with the glow and smiles she is famous for, even though the glow is dimmer and the smile is not quite as big.

Rita sends her thanks and love to all those who have reached out, and she gratefully accepts your faith and prayers as she walks a tough section of life’s "Bloomsday."