Report on Dad 7-25-10

Hi, Everybody,

Well, two weeks have flown by, and it's time for my report on Dad. This week it consists of my conversation with Dad tonight and an excerpt from my brother Alan's letter--he and his wife Janice have been in Utah, and they visited Dad several times--and at least once with Alan's grandkids who really love their Papa-Daddy. Alan sent some more pictures for me to post. 

Dad and I had a nice visit tonight. I told him Jeffrey's fully into his independent stage--he had two melt-downs at supper tonight because food on his fork fell on the floor and because his dad got him out of his high chair--he wanted to do it himself, of course! He's saying all kinds of words now, and Dad laughed when I told him that I'd promised Jeffrey a walk but had to finish something first. Jeffrey stood at the door and pounded on it, saying, "Wa, wa!"

I mentioned to Dad that his 94th birthday is coming up soon (August 5th, to be exact). He said he couldn't believe it and then asked me how old I was. He was amazed that I'm now 56. I told him that John, the youngest of his kids, is now 51. Dad also chuckled when I told him that now that I'm leaving my hair natural--lots of white like my mom's hair--I get offered senior citizen discounts and have to tell people it will be 9 more years before I can collect on them.

I also told Dad I'd be coming to Utah in August--I don't think he'll remember, but he seemed happy to hear it at the time. Like Alan, I think Dad seems to be doing well.

Here's what Alan wrote about Dad:
 I actually think my Dad is doing better than before.  I don’t think he remembers getting visited for more than a few minutes after someone leaves, but he enjoys the visits, and they are good about getting him up and getting him to eat and be part of things at the center.  We had been told that he had fun roasting marshmallows and so we made sure to bring some to the gathering.  Not only did he roast a couple with the great-grandkids, but he happily ate a “smore” that we made from one. 

 They limit him to thickened liquids, but seem to have no other restrictions on his diet and even though they had fed him supper just before we arrived he had watermelon and part of a pulled-pork sandwich, as well as the “smore.”  There have been times when he didn’t seem to know who his kids were when they visited, but he seemed to know exactly who I was all three visits.  He did ask me how old I was three times in the first visit, and I don’t think he really understands who any of my grandkids are (my guess is that he would enjoy a visit from any group of children equally well). 

 Here's Dad roasting marshmallows with a couple of Alan's grandchildren and enjoying a smore. 

Well, that's all for tonight. Thanks for caring about Dad and letting me know you're reading. Best wishes to all! Alison

Update on Dad 7-11-10

Hi, Everybody,

Sorry I didn't get anything posted last week--I was out of town for the weekend and without internet access.

My report today on Dad comes from my sister Martha and from my phone conversation with Dad and my brother-in-law Bob today.

Martha has been working for over a year to get Dad the veteran's benefits he deserves from serving in the Navy in WWII. This last week, she met with a man from the Veterans Administration at the care facility, so he could meet Dad also. She said Dad stayed sitting up in his chair for most of the time the man from the VA was there.

Martha reported that Dad was able to tell the man that he served in the Navy aboard a mine sweeper, but when the man asked Dad where he served, Dad said, "On the West coast." When Martha said he served in the Aleutian Islands, Dad said, "Oh, yes!"

Martha had also seen Dad's wonderful home teacher, Fred Huff, recently. Fred says he's able to carry on a conversation with Dad when he visits--of course, Fred knows to ask Dad about things that Dad's likely to be able to talk about.

Martha says that with them, Dad often gets partway into a sentence and then gets stuck, but that sometimes he does better. She says when Maggie (Christie and Duane's daughter) and her husband, Colt, visited recently, Dad sat on the side of the bed and visited well with them.

Martha also told me that the care facility had a fire pit built outside and invited the residents to a marshmallow roast. Dad came to it and roasted his marshmallows very expertly, the staff reported. My friend Nancy Valdez whose niece works at the facility sent me a picture of Dad enjoying a marshmallow. I'm going to see if I can add it to the blog--something I've never done before.

 Seeing the picture of Dad makes me miss him more! But he certainly seems to be enjoying the marshmallow!

I phoned Dad tonight while my brother-in-law Bob (Lucy's husband) was there visiting, so Bob called me on his cell phone, so I could be on speaker phone and we could all be in on the conversation. At first I thought Dad was going to be pretty unresponsive, but then when Bob asked me about the heat, and I told about trying to ride my bike home from my taekwondo class, getting lost three times--trying a new route home--and finally calling Christine to come pick me up. Dad really laughed, and then said, "Oh, my" when I told about how much water I drank after the ride.

I told Dad and Bob about how much my grandson, Jeffrey, is talking now. I told them he says, "backhoe" because the street beside our house has been dug up and re-dug up and dug up again! Jeffrey's the only one who will be sad when they stop.

I told Dad I see lots of groundhogs here in Pennsylvania, and I've remembered an old folk song Mom used to sing:

In comes Poppa from the plow,
In comes Poppa from the plow,
I want some dinner and I want it now,
Groundhog!

I tried to sing it to Dad--though I can't really remember the tune. I asked him if he remembered it, and he said that when I sang it, it came back to him.

I think Dad enjoyed our three-way conversation that allowed him to listen as Bob and I did most of the talking, with him interjecting comments now and then.

Bob mentioned that Alan is coming to visit this week, and Dad said, "Oh, yes" when I asked if he was looking forward to seeing him. I'm sure Dad will enjoy seeing Alan who lives in the Washington DC area, so they don't get to see each other often.

That's my report.

Love to all of you who love my Dad, and thanks for reading!