Greetings, Everyone!
Well, Dad seems to be doing well. He told me tonight that he surprises himself with how well he's doing. When the aide was taking the phone to Dad, I overheard her telling him that it was his daughter on the phone. He said, "Oh, which one?" I thought that showed an amazing level of awareness. As always, he seemed to enjoy my stories, and sounded please to hear about our dear friends the Orams in England and hear a bit of news about them. His voice sounded good, and as always, he was cheerful and loving.
The nurse told me that my brother had just visited--I actually wasn't sure if it was my brother John or my brother-in-law Bob who often visits on Sunday. Dad couldn't remember, but that's not anything unusual.
Christie's son Jonathan Seppi visited Dad last week with his sister Maggie and John's daughter Lisa. Jonathan said he didn't think "Pappa Daddy"--as they call him in Christie's family--knew who he or Maggie were. They don't get to see him very often.) But Jonathan thought Dad knew who Lisa was. I think it was hard for Jonathan to see how much Dad's memory's declined.
However, I also spoke to Dad's wonderful home teacher in Springville recently, Fred Huff, and he had a different perspective. The family's been worried that Dad hasn't been getting enough visitors, so my assignment was to call Fred and see if he could arrange for different people in our ward to visit once a week.
For those of you who are not Mormon, you need to understand that home teachers are assigned to visit once a month--well, Fred told me he and his companion visit Dad twice a month, and Fred and his wife visit once or twice a month in addition! They just hadn't been writing their visits down in our visitors book, so the family hadn't realized Dad was being visited so often.
I also said to Fred that if anyone else visited, they'd probably need to be warned that they should plan on doing all the talking and that Dad couldn't really carry on a conversation. Fred said that they have good conversations when they visit, and Fred has known Dad for so many years that he can steer the conversation to things Dad can talk about more easily--like his great Navy stories. We appreciate Fred so much, and he's agreed to sign the visitors' log, so the family knows about the visits.
I also heard that my brother Alan's father-in-law, Darrell Robinette, and Darrell's friend Jeri Charlier visited Dad recently. They weren't sure he'd remember either of them, but when they got there, they were sure he recognized them both. Darrell said Dad couldn't remember something his Dad had told him, and he couldn't remember how many men were on one of the mine sweepers Dad served on in WWII, but those lapses seemed minor. They had a good visit and plan to visit again.
Christie's going to Utah next week for a visit and looking forward to seeing Dad. She's hoping to come up with a way to get a cell phone that can be used to call Dad.
As always, thanks so much to all of you for your interest and your love.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Report on Dad May 9, 2010
Hi, All,
I checked in with my brother John today about how Dad's been when he's visited. He visited Dad with his oldest daughter Lisa recently. John reports that Dad was much the same as he was the last time John saw him, responsive and attentive, but not initiating conversation. Dad said he was feeling well, and he seemed to be in good spirits.
John's wife Elaine also visited Dad recently with her mom, Marian Monson, and Lisa. Elaine reports that Dad enjoyed that visit very much. (Marian is a long-time friend--Dad has known her for decades, from even before her husband, Sam, and Dad taught together in the English Department at BYU, enjoying many years together as friends and colleagues.)
John mentioned that my sister Martha's husband, Dave, had described a time recently when Dad was confused about who the people were in pictures he has in his room.
Lucy sent me a report on a recent visit she had with Dad where he was also confused:
"I went to see Dad and he was sitting in the TV area. He was very chatty although not making a lot of sense. I think some of what he was saying was about the basketball game on TV although he kept calling the teams a group. He told the nurse I was his cousin and when I left, he told me to give his love to Aunt Doll. [It sounds like he was thinking of Lucy as one of his cousins that he grew up with and was close to.]
"Physically he seems in good shape and he's very sweet with the nurses. The one fairly new nurse said Dad had remembered his name, so the memory thing isn't constant. He seems content."
I spoke to Dad briefly twice since my last report. Elaine phoned me when she was visiting, and I spoke to Dad again tonight. He's clearly genuinely pleased to hear from me--whether he knows who I am or not. (I know from when we were caring for him at home that he's unfailingly gracious to everyone who phones or visits.)
As at other times, I told him a couple of fun stories, and told him I love and miss him. I explained that I'd received training as a census worker last week, to go to the homes of those who haven't returned their census forms. I told him I'd be standing on porches saying to the man or woman standing in front of me, "Are you male or female?" He chuckled at that and at my stories about my grandson who has learned to say cookie--which he pronounces "ugh," but which he very much wants to eat!
When I asked Dad how his day had been, he said his days were pretty much the same. I wanted to ask if he'd attended the LDS Sacrament Meeting they hold there every Sunday, but I assumed that by evening he wouldn't remember even if he had attended.
I have a friend who believes that a person becomes more of who and what they are as they age. I'm not sure that's always true, but I'm grateful that with Dad what is left is a gracious, loving man who treats everyone with kindness and good humor.
As always, thanks for reading and caring!
I checked in with my brother John today about how Dad's been when he's visited. He visited Dad with his oldest daughter Lisa recently. John reports that Dad was much the same as he was the last time John saw him, responsive and attentive, but not initiating conversation. Dad said he was feeling well, and he seemed to be in good spirits.
John's wife Elaine also visited Dad recently with her mom, Marian Monson, and Lisa. Elaine reports that Dad enjoyed that visit very much. (Marian is a long-time friend--Dad has known her for decades, from even before her husband, Sam, and Dad taught together in the English Department at BYU, enjoying many years together as friends and colleagues.)
John mentioned that my sister Martha's husband, Dave, had described a time recently when Dad was confused about who the people were in pictures he has in his room.
Lucy sent me a report on a recent visit she had with Dad where he was also confused:
"I went to see Dad and he was sitting in the TV area. He was very chatty although not making a lot of sense. I think some of what he was saying was about the basketball game on TV although he kept calling the teams a group. He told the nurse I was his cousin and when I left, he told me to give his love to Aunt Doll. [It sounds like he was thinking of Lucy as one of his cousins that he grew up with and was close to.]
"Physically he seems in good shape and he's very sweet with the nurses. The one fairly new nurse said Dad had remembered his name, so the memory thing isn't constant. He seems content."
I spoke to Dad briefly twice since my last report. Elaine phoned me when she was visiting, and I spoke to Dad again tonight. He's clearly genuinely pleased to hear from me--whether he knows who I am or not. (I know from when we were caring for him at home that he's unfailingly gracious to everyone who phones or visits.)
As at other times, I told him a couple of fun stories, and told him I love and miss him. I explained that I'd received training as a census worker last week, to go to the homes of those who haven't returned their census forms. I told him I'd be standing on porches saying to the man or woman standing in front of me, "Are you male or female?" He chuckled at that and at my stories about my grandson who has learned to say cookie--which he pronounces "ugh," but which he very much wants to eat!
When I asked Dad how his day had been, he said his days were pretty much the same. I wanted to ask if he'd attended the LDS Sacrament Meeting they hold there every Sunday, but I assumed that by evening he wouldn't remember even if he had attended.
I have a friend who believes that a person becomes more of who and what they are as they age. I'm not sure that's always true, but I'm grateful that with Dad what is left is a gracious, loving man who treats everyone with kindness and good humor.
As always, thanks for reading and caring!
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