Hello to you all!
This week my big news about Dad is his move to a new care facility.
Here's the address:
Art City Nursing & Rehab
321 E. 800 S.
Springville, UT 84663
My news about his move comes from my brother John.
He was moved to this facility a week ago Thurs. My sister Martha was with him while they moved him out of the old facility and into the new one. Dad took the move very calmly and seemed unfazed by it--Martha was exhausted afterwards, having spent five hours with Dad during the move. The staff at the new facility intentionally put Dad in a room close to the nursing station because of his tendency to try to get up without assistance.
As far as John knows, this facility doesn't have visiting hours either--it's just come when you like. John noted that the staff didn't seem bothered that the family got there just as dinner was ending on Thursday.
Some of the staff members are the same--they came from the other facility to this one also; Johns says that those they interacted with seemed very nice.
For any of you who want to visit, John says there's parking on west side of building.
John also reported that they visited Dad on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day--John, his wife, Elaine, daughters Marie and Lisa, and Court--Lisa's fiance. My sister Martha and her husband, Dave, and their "local crew." They sang Christmas songs for Dad, and he joined in the singing several times, obviously enjoying it very much. (Singing Christmas carols on Thanksgiving Day is a long-standing Craig tradition.)
Now my own news of Dad:
I phoned Dad's new facility today and was able to talk to him for a few minutes.
Dad's speech today was somewhat slurred. We used to worry about that quite a bit, but it's something that seems to come and go and doesn't seem to indicate anything being seriously wrong.
When I asked Dad how he liked his new place, he said, "New place?" I guess it's good he's not aware because it means he won't have to go through much of an adjustment.
I told him that we'd gotten together in Pittsburgh with my sister Christie and her husband, Duane, along with my brother Alan and his wife, Janice, my niece Britta (Lucy's daughter) from Harrisburg and her husband and two girls, Christie's daughter Ruth and her husband and their daughter, and Christie's son Jonathan. His response was something like, "Oh, my!"
I told him I was coming to Utah to go to Lisa's wedding in December. I had to tell him she's John's daughter for him to understand who I was talking about. Again an "Oh my!" (But both times a quite expressive "Oh my"!)
I told Dad I made whole wheat wafers with my grandson, Jeffrey, today. Dad said, "Oh," and clicked his tongue. I was hoping he'd recognize the name of the wafer, an old family favorite, but it didn't sound like he did.
I told him that I've changed the recipe to make it healthy and less sweet, so it tasted like soft hardtack--he chuckled. But I commented that Jeffrey and I had fun cutting out shapes. He said something like, "Well, that sounds fun."
I ended the conversation by saying I wanted to let him know I was thinking of him, and he said, "I think of you every day." Whether he does or not, he still certainly knows how to be gracious and loving to whoever he's speaking to!
I appreciate hearing from those who read the blog, and I appreciate your love and concern for Dad.
We hope those of you in the area will pop in on Dad at his new address, tell him a story or two, and sign the visitors' book.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Latest on Dad 11-14-10
Greetings All!
I have some information about a pending change to Dad's care facility from Martha, an email from John about a visit to Dad, and I was able to speak to Dad myself tonight.
My sister Martha phoned me last week to let me know about changes that will be happening at the care facility. The facility is going to be expanded (and maybe remodeled--I can't remember that part clearly), so all the residents will have to move to another facility by Dec 1. The choices are a facility in west Provo (a town just north of Springville), one in Payson (a bit further south of Springville), or a different facility in Springville.
Martha has already discussed the move with the siblings in Utah, and I agreed with her that the one in Springville is best in terms of location, so Dad can continue to be visited by people in his ward in Springville; it will still be close by for Martha and her husband, Dave, to get to; my sister Lucy's husband, Bob, can still go by and see Dad on Sunday nights after working that evening at the Springville Art Museum; and it will still be the same distance for my brother John and his family and for Lucy.
Martha's going to visit the other facility and make sure there's nothing that would make it unacceptable, but it's likely she'll decide on the Springville facility. As soon as I know where Dad will be, I'll put the name, address and phone number on the blog, so people will know where to visit, send cards, and telephone.
Here's John's report on his most recent visit to Dad:
"Dad seemed to clearly know who we were (we did not, however, ask any embarrassing questions) and he participated in the conversation quite fully.
"At one point, I made a rather outrageous comment. Dad leaned my way and said, 'What did you say?' I repeated it. He rolled back on his back and after a dramatic pause said, 'I thought that's what you said'--we all had a good laugh. I mentioned having gotten greetings from Sally Perry [a dear family friend in England] and he seemed to know who she was.
"He followed our descriptions about wedding preparations for Lisa [John's daughter] and Court--including talking about how many cupcakes we'll need (if everyone takes one), the fact that Ruth Seppi Hamilton's [my sister Christie's oldest daughter]dress is going to work (hurray we don't have to buy one--although the financial arrangements with Ruth are TBA), and so on.
"We told him about Marie's [John's younger daughter] band trip to St. George to compete with bands from around the western US and he seemed to be following it. Including Elaine's saying that it seemed a bit hard to be "playing" against your arch rivals (that would be Timpview High in Provo) every time.
"Dad certainly seemed comfortable and alert. Generally when we get there in the 7:15 range or so, he's asleep. He was awake and very alert last night. It was a fun visit."
Now here's my report on my phone call to Dad tonight:
I phoned while Dad was eating supper. They took the phone to him in the dining area and interrupted his meal so we could talk. I apologized for calling in the middle of his supper, and he said, "méiguānxi" (sounds like "may gwan she"), "it doesn't matter" in Mandarin Chinese. It's something Dad used to say all the time, but it's been a year at least since I've heard him use it.
I had chosen two things to tell Dad--that my daughter's having a baby girl in March and a story about my grandson, Jeffrey, of course. He was excited to hear about the new baby, responding with a sentence or two, so I was encouraged to tell him a bit more.
Today Jeffrey told his mother that he's going to be a sister, so she explained to him that he'll have a sister and be a brother. Dad seemed to enjoy the story, so I told him more.
Yesterday I babysat a baby of some friends from church, and Jeffrey was very cute with him, making me feel he'll make a good big brother. Again Dad seemed to follow and enjoy hearing about Jeffrey.
I finished with the story I'd planned to tell. The other day, my daughter told me, Jeffrey was put in time out for deliberately doing something he'd just been told not to do. (When he's in time out, his mother talks to him about why he's in time out, and if he says he's sorry, he gets out sooner. "Sorry" is one of the few words that Jeffrey still says using baby sign--a closed fist making a circle on the chest.)
After Jeffrey said he was sorry and got out of time out, he put his stuffed animals in time out, one after the other, for "make mess." Each time he helped the stuffed animal sign "sorry" before letting it get out of time out! Dad chuckled at the story.
Then I said something to Dad about how noisy it was at the care facility, saying I assumed it was because people were eating. Dad said, "There's a group here--then he paused for a bit--having dinner." You may not think that sounds like a lot of talking, but to me it felt like we had a real conversation.
Thanks for caring about Dad, thanks for reading, and thanks for letting me know you're reading.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Alison
I have some information about a pending change to Dad's care facility from Martha, an email from John about a visit to Dad, and I was able to speak to Dad myself tonight.
My sister Martha phoned me last week to let me know about changes that will be happening at the care facility. The facility is going to be expanded (and maybe remodeled--I can't remember that part clearly), so all the residents will have to move to another facility by Dec 1. The choices are a facility in west Provo (a town just north of Springville), one in Payson (a bit further south of Springville), or a different facility in Springville.
Martha has already discussed the move with the siblings in Utah, and I agreed with her that the one in Springville is best in terms of location, so Dad can continue to be visited by people in his ward in Springville; it will still be close by for Martha and her husband, Dave, to get to; my sister Lucy's husband, Bob, can still go by and see Dad on Sunday nights after working that evening at the Springville Art Museum; and it will still be the same distance for my brother John and his family and for Lucy.
Martha's going to visit the other facility and make sure there's nothing that would make it unacceptable, but it's likely she'll decide on the Springville facility. As soon as I know where Dad will be, I'll put the name, address and phone number on the blog, so people will know where to visit, send cards, and telephone.
Here's John's report on his most recent visit to Dad:
"Dad seemed to clearly know who we were (we did not, however, ask any embarrassing questions) and he participated in the conversation quite fully.
"At one point, I made a rather outrageous comment. Dad leaned my way and said, 'What did you say?' I repeated it. He rolled back on his back and after a dramatic pause said, 'I thought that's what you said'--we all had a good laugh. I mentioned having gotten greetings from Sally Perry [a dear family friend in England] and he seemed to know who she was.
"He followed our descriptions about wedding preparations for Lisa [John's daughter] and Court--including talking about how many cupcakes we'll need (if everyone takes one), the fact that Ruth Seppi Hamilton's [my sister Christie's oldest daughter]dress is going to work (hurray we don't have to buy one--although the financial arrangements with Ruth are TBA), and so on.
"We told him about Marie's [John's younger daughter] band trip to St. George to compete with bands from around the western US and he seemed to be following it. Including Elaine's saying that it seemed a bit hard to be "playing" against your arch rivals (that would be Timpview High in Provo) every time.
"Dad certainly seemed comfortable and alert. Generally when we get there in the 7:15 range or so, he's asleep. He was awake and very alert last night. It was a fun visit."
Now here's my report on my phone call to Dad tonight:
I phoned while Dad was eating supper. They took the phone to him in the dining area and interrupted his meal so we could talk. I apologized for calling in the middle of his supper, and he said, "méiguānxi" (sounds like "may gwan she"), "it doesn't matter" in Mandarin Chinese. It's something Dad used to say all the time, but it's been a year at least since I've heard him use it.
I had chosen two things to tell Dad--that my daughter's having a baby girl in March and a story about my grandson, Jeffrey, of course. He was excited to hear about the new baby, responding with a sentence or two, so I was encouraged to tell him a bit more.
Today Jeffrey told his mother that he's going to be a sister, so she explained to him that he'll have a sister and be a brother. Dad seemed to enjoy the story, so I told him more.
Yesterday I babysat a baby of some friends from church, and Jeffrey was very cute with him, making me feel he'll make a good big brother. Again Dad seemed to follow and enjoy hearing about Jeffrey.
I finished with the story I'd planned to tell. The other day, my daughter told me, Jeffrey was put in time out for deliberately doing something he'd just been told not to do. (When he's in time out, his mother talks to him about why he's in time out, and if he says he's sorry, he gets out sooner. "Sorry" is one of the few words that Jeffrey still says using baby sign--a closed fist making a circle on the chest.)
After Jeffrey said he was sorry and got out of time out, he put his stuffed animals in time out, one after the other, for "make mess." Each time he helped the stuffed animal sign "sorry" before letting it get out of time out! Dad chuckled at the story.
Then I said something to Dad about how noisy it was at the care facility, saying I assumed it was because people were eating. Dad said, "There's a group here--then he paused for a bit--having dinner." You may not think that sounds like a lot of talking, but to me it felt like we had a real conversation.
Thanks for caring about Dad, thanks for reading, and thanks for letting me know you're reading.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Alison
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