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.