DEAR NEGLECTED BLOG:

My dear neglected blog,

I am so sorry that I have neglected you of late, but my elderly mother, age 83, was in the hospital for a week after suffering a broken hip from a fall in her nursing facility.  She had surgery to repair it, having a rod and screws implanted to hold the bones together, and was just released Friday.

She has a long recovery ahead, and had already begun exhibiting early signs of dementia, so with all this uproar, she's a bit confused and anxious.  While in the hospital, she was combative and scared, so we did all we could to assuage her insecurities and feelings of helplessness.

Hopefully, I will be coming to see you more often unless she takes a turn for the worse.  Just be patient, relax, and I will see you again soon.

Your writer,
Mavis Duke Hinton