give thanks

Have an awesome day!

CAREGIVER NOTE:
Seems that driving was on his mind yesterday… so we talked a bit – he still isn’t sold on hiring a driver to take him around or to using the walker when he does go out. He’s still craving independence and autonomy — I don’t blame him. It’s not safe for him to be behind the wheel – but at least there wasn’t the big blow up I had thought might expand when he wasn’t getting too far with getting ahold of the keys and such.

Postives for the day:
He enjoyed spending some time out on the deck watching us pick peaches and clean up the area under the fruit trees.
He tried some new foods last evening and seemed to enjoy them. They were filling and he didn’t want a bedtime snack before calling it a night.
His sense of humor was spot on even when he got terribly confused about what the controller for his lift chair can and cannot do. I’m not sure how many times he tried to change the channel on the TV yesterday. 😉

Keep going.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He’s gone outside for 2 days in a row now. He took a bit of a walk yesterday, rather than just sit in a chair on the deck. He was pretty shaky by the time he got back onto the deck and wanted to come directly back into the house and veg in the cooler air of the house for a while.

He slept a little better last night — and was only up once. He’s been getting up a little earlier for the day and that’s been kind of nice. He was open to watching some Finding Your Roots – and watched 3 episodes last night. He seems to like that and we’re now finding ourselves at the end of the series, having watched all 10 seasons. It’s interesting he does remember lots of bits and pieces from some of the episodes — and he’s hoping we’ll find a link or possible window to find more information about his great grandfather. I think we’re hoping for that as well. So far, all the information we’ve been able to gather through the years still leaves us at a dead end in the 1860’s in Kentucky. We’re not able to go back any further on one of his lines.

Yesterday’s positives:
Genuine interest in what everyone was doing for the day
Enjoyed a few minutes outside in the sunshine
He thinks the dog likes veggies (she does not and definitely turns up a nose at all things green!) She would much prefer to have any meat he has on his plate and he generally takes a couple of bites before giving her the rest of his portion …. unless it happens to be ribs – which he won’t share with the dog.

With deepest gratitude….

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He enjoyed nearly a half hour out on the deck. The temps have moderated a bit – it’s felt like the end of summer at least for a couple of days. But the heat will be back in another day or so. He enjoyed eating a few blackberries that had been picked and I plan to make a berry crisp with the remaining berries for dinner tonight. They are very good!

No sundowning yesterday, lots of smiles, laughter and joking around. He had a couple of great one-liners that had everyone laughing. Those days are pretty awesome!

Be kind.

CAREGIVER NOTE:
Lots of stories last evening… lots of mingling of details, but he was talking and sharing and contributing to a multi-hour conversation. It all started when we were sharing a story about the importance of an education and how different that was for some people. He went into a lot of details of some of his experiences — very interesting. He didn’t attend college, but all of his sons did and most have advanced degrees in their engineering, medical and other fields of expertise. It’s been fun to hear about his educational experiences — and how they impacted his life and that of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.