Today is rainy. The first rainy day for a few weeks. I am feeling a bit sad today in regards to my father. Silas and I picked him up on Sunday from Sentry Hill and took him to our house for dinner.
On the way we needed to pick up some juice and milk so we stopped by Hannaford's. When we walked in he lit up and asked, "Kev, do you think we could get some of those things?"
He held his hands in a shape that I immediately knew what he was asking. He loves French Twirls, which we call cream horns. His sugar was higher than desired but I relented and we found them in the bakery section. They came in 4 packs and there were going to be 5 of us, so we had to get 2 packs. He was like a kid and when we got back in the car I told him I was concerned about his sugar and he mischievously replied, "If he were in his truck he would eat them all."
Next we stopped by his house and he seemed so at home. His memory was working as well as I have seen in the last 10 years. He moved around his house knowing where everything was. Then we walked around his yard and he started his truck and then tried to start his tractor. It didn't fire up on the first try and he knew it wouldn't. It had been sitting all winter and the battery was low. He left it alone and said he really wants to get back up here and get things done.
He sits at Sentry Hill with nothing to do all day. Though he does take walks with attendants and occasionally goes out to lunch with others in the passenger van he has been cut off from what he would do if he had a choice. He is not allowed out of the facility on his own.
I thought about this a lot yesterday.
After we left his house we went to my house and had corn chowder. Sandra made it and it was very good. We all enjoyed it and my father and I had two bowls each. Sandra also made some excellent yeast rolls which my father kept complementing her on. He said they were like the ones his mother used to make. When I asked him what it was like at the dinner table when he was a kid he said he didn't know.
Since my father has been at Sentry Hill when he comes to our house for a meal he has been helping to clear off the table. This is very atypical. He never did such a thing when I was younger and do not know what makes him do it now. At Sentry Hill he is served in a dining room and waited on. It's not something he picked up there.
After we finished dinner we had desert, remember the cream horns? They were gone in no time. 300 calories, 260 from fat, ouch!
Eventually my father went into the bathroom. He was in there for longer than Sandra and Silas thought necessary. They both suggested I check on him. I knocked on the door and said, "Dad, are you ok?"
He said, "Kev, get me out of here, will you?"
I opened the door and he was standing opposite the door facing a wall looking for the way out. It was eerie and I felt sorry for him in his unknowing. I helped him out and we went back into the kitchen. We sat back down with Sandra at the table and he said, "What is this, is this your living room?" as he looked over at the sink with unwashed dishes, the stove, pots and pans and everything else that says kitchen to me.
I said, "No dad, this is the kitchen."
A few weeks ago we were taking a drive along the ocean near the Cape Neddick Lighthouse. We were talking about people we hadn't seen in a while and he said there was a girl he would like to see. He couldn't remember her name but he knew her years ago. She was from another state. I asked which one and we decided it was Massachusettes. Then he said she was from Gloucester and then Rockport. He said he would like to talk to her sometime. He said he used to go out with her when he was younger. He was talking about my mom. They have been divorced for 25 or so years.
On the way we needed to pick up some juice and milk so we stopped by Hannaford's. When we walked in he lit up and asked, "Kev, do you think we could get some of those things?"
He held his hands in a shape that I immediately knew what he was asking. He loves French Twirls, which we call cream horns. His sugar was higher than desired but I relented and we found them in the bakery section. They came in 4 packs and there were going to be 5 of us, so we had to get 2 packs. He was like a kid and when we got back in the car I told him I was concerned about his sugar and he mischievously replied, "If he were in his truck he would eat them all."
Next we stopped by his house and he seemed so at home. His memory was working as well as I have seen in the last 10 years. He moved around his house knowing where everything was. Then we walked around his yard and he started his truck and then tried to start his tractor. It didn't fire up on the first try and he knew it wouldn't. It had been sitting all winter and the battery was low. He left it alone and said he really wants to get back up here and get things done.
He sits at Sentry Hill with nothing to do all day. Though he does take walks with attendants and occasionally goes out to lunch with others in the passenger van he has been cut off from what he would do if he had a choice. He is not allowed out of the facility on his own.
I thought about this a lot yesterday.
After we left his house we went to my house and had corn chowder. Sandra made it and it was very good. We all enjoyed it and my father and I had two bowls each. Sandra also made some excellent yeast rolls which my father kept complementing her on. He said they were like the ones his mother used to make. When I asked him what it was like at the dinner table when he was a kid he said he didn't know.
Since my father has been at Sentry Hill when he comes to our house for a meal he has been helping to clear off the table. This is very atypical. He never did such a thing when I was younger and do not know what makes him do it now. At Sentry Hill he is served in a dining room and waited on. It's not something he picked up there.
After we finished dinner we had desert, remember the cream horns? They were gone in no time. 300 calories, 260 from fat, ouch!
Eventually my father went into the bathroom. He was in there for longer than Sandra and Silas thought necessary. They both suggested I check on him. I knocked on the door and said, "Dad, are you ok?"
He said, "Kev, get me out of here, will you?"
I opened the door and he was standing opposite the door facing a wall looking for the way out. It was eerie and I felt sorry for him in his unknowing. I helped him out and we went back into the kitchen. We sat back down with Sandra at the table and he said, "What is this, is this your living room?" as he looked over at the sink with unwashed dishes, the stove, pots and pans and everything else that says kitchen to me.
I said, "No dad, this is the kitchen."
A few weeks ago we were taking a drive along the ocean near the Cape Neddick Lighthouse. We were talking about people we hadn't seen in a while and he said there was a girl he would like to see. He couldn't remember her name but he knew her years ago. She was from another state. I asked which one and we decided it was Massachusettes. Then he said she was from Gloucester and then Rockport. He said he would like to talk to her sometime. He said he used to go out with her when he was younger. He was talking about my mom. They have been divorced for 25 or so years.
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