Dad's Week, Sept. 22nd-28th

Dad's had a week where he's gotten up more, looked at the paper, watched some TV, sat outside on the porch, and had some enjoyable visits and letters--and gained weight again!

Martha got Dad out on the porch again this last week for a little fresh air, sunshine, and a chance to look at the outside world.

Dad's enjoyed visits this week from his nephew Laurie (Skip) Craig and his wife Pam, and from his home teaching companion, Les Flake. (Les now comes and visits Dad at least once a month now that Dad can't accompany him on his monthly visits other members of our ward--our LDS congregation.)

Dad received a "letter" this week from his great-granddaughter Ella, age 2 and 10 months. (She's Lucy's daughter Britta Schroeder's girl, for those of you who know the family.) Ella wrote the letters by herself, Britta reports, writing "Papa Daddy i love you Ella," and she drew a picture of a dog and a cat. Dad was tickled by the letter, chuckling as he read it.

Here's some of Dad's humor for the week--he finds himself counting: "forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight," but he never knows what he's counting. He catching himself doing it and laughs.

All of this may sound like Dad's improving; however, there are other things that show he's still slipping away. He's used gestures rather than speaking this week at times. He seems to "zone out" more than before. His feet (and hands too) are cold almost all the time--and this with his feet inside wool socks and down booties! (I saw Henry V at the Utah Shakespeare Festival this year, and Dad's cold feet remind me of Sir John Falstaff's cold feet as he's dying.)

Dad seemed to have some kind of seizure yesterday as I was helping him back to bed from being in the livingroom--he would have fallen if I hadn't held him up, and he was unresponsive to me as I tried to get him to sit down on the seat of his walker. Then he seemed to "wake up" and was able to walk into his bedroom without further problems--this same thing has happened once or twice before. When he was back on his bed, he couldn't suck through a straw (a new wrinkle)--not even when I tried to explain to him how to do it. But later in the evening, he was able to drink with a straw again.

Several people have commented on a picture we have displayed in the livingroom of Dad in his WWII Navy uniform. Bill Majeska, a member of our ward who is also a WWII veteran, had to keep after me for a year at least, but I finally got him information about Dad's service to be included in a WWII database with a picture to go with it. Here's the URL showing Dad's information and his handsome picture: ttp://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=2227097&popcount=1&tcount=1. (There's an "it" in the description without a clear antecedent, but I haven't found time to get that changed!)

That's all for this week. I hope this blog helps you feel connected with what's going on with Marshall. Please feel free to ask questions, make comments, etc.