Update on Dad 4-25-11

Hi, All,

Sorry to be slow getting my blog done. Yesterday was an extra busy day: my granddaughter was blessed at church; we had my son-in-law's family visiting from out of town, and it was Easter!

My update is from a brief report from my sister Christie and a short conversation I had with Dad.

Christie spoke to Dad last week for about 10 minutes--quite a long conversation in my view. She reported that he was responsive and seemed to understand what she was saying.

I spoke to Dad this morning on the phone. The staff member I spoke to first said Dad hadn't gotten up for breakfast and was feeling some pain--no specifics--and that they were getting him a pain pill.

When we spoke, his voice sounded a bit slurred as it sometimes does when he first starts to talk, but he said he was "doing well, very well"--a bit more than he usually says.

I told him that my son-in-law, Michael, gave the baby a very nice blessing despite having such a busy day--he also played for choir practice before church and then had three choir numbers to play for after the blessing during church. (I got a stock answer from Dad, "Oh my.")

Then I told him that when Michael's mother saw the baby, she said, "Oh, she's beautiful! She's much prettier than in her pictures!" Jeffrey, my two-and-a-half-year-old grandson, went over to his grandma and said, "I are pretty too!" (She agreed he was, and he happily went back to playing.) Dad chuckled at the story.

Then Dad tried to tell me that he was "having trouble with . . . ," but he couldn't tell me what the problem was, at first not able to say the word, then saying something that was garbled, then not able to say the word. I never understood. I finally told him that the staff had mentioned they were giving him a pain pill, and maybe that was taking effect and making it hard for him to talk. He said, "Well, I hope so!" (I'm not sure if he meant he hoped the pain pill would help his problem or he hoped the pain pill was what was making it hard for him to express himself.)

As usual, Dad told me how good my voice sounded, I told him when I'd be visiting, and he sounded enthusiastic about the visit. We sent our love to each other, and that was the end of the visit.

I am looking forward to being able to see him in person!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you're getting some nice spring weather. We're finally getting some nicer weather here after a cold, rainy spring.

Update on Dad 4-10-11

Hello, Everyone,

I didn't realize until today that I'd missed a week on my blog--I'm so sorry! My cell phone keeps me on track these days, and for some reason it's lost my reminders to blog about Dad. I've put in a new reminder, so I should be back to blogging every other week again.

My report tonight comes from my brother-in-law Bob (Lucy's husband) who visits Dad weekly, a bit from my cousin who was visiting Dad tonight when I phoned, and my own short conversation with Dad.

Here's Bob's report from his visit to Dad on Mar 27:

"I visited Papa tonight - he was sound asleep; it took more than usual to wake him - he enjoyed looking at the photos of the new great grand child - he looked at them all for a long time and said that Alison will be happy to see these - I explained to him that you were living in PA with them - his response was, oh she is? - it was pretty sharp of him to figure out the connection with you and Evelyn and Christine and Jeffrey. Papa was pretty tired so my visit was short. He looked and sounded good."

My cousin Laurie (Skip) Craig was visiting Dad tonight when I phoned. He told me that Dad looked good and had gained weight since he'd seen him last. Skip told Dad he'd been on a diet of turnip greens because his wife's out of town visiting one of their children. Dad said he didn't like turnip greens, and Skip teased Dad that he wasn't a true Southerner if he didn't like them! I told Skip that Dad does like okra and enjoys the fried okra at Cracker Barrel--Skip said he enjoys it too. I'm glad that there's somewhere that Dad can get that taste of the South right in Springville.

Dad participated more in our conversation than usual. He began by telling me how good my voice sounded on the phone--as he tells me every time we talk. I reminded him that he has a new great grandbaby, and he said, "What's his name?" I told him the baby's a girl and that her name is a combination of my middle name and my son-in-law's mother's middle name, reminding Dad that I had been named for my two grandmothers also. He gave one of his stock responses, so I couldn't tell if he followed that explanation or not.

Dad started to end the conversation with me, saying, "Well, it's good to talk to you even for a minute or two," but I wanted to tell him about my grandson. I told him he's very interested in prepositions right now and says, "Am I in front of you, Oma? Are you behind me? Am I beside Baby Evelyn?" (She's never just Evelyn--she's always "Baby Evelyn.")Dad chuckled.

Then Dad said, "Are you going to be around here?" I told him I was coming in June, and he said, "Well I'll probably still be around here then." I told him that I hoped he would be, but that if he needed to go sooner, I'd understand.

I promised to send more pictures of the baby, we sent our love to each other, and said our goodbyes. It was great to have Dad interacting me. I think he was stimulated by his conversation with Skip. It made our talk much more enjoyable for me--a real conversation.

As always, thanks for reading!