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