Greatitudes

no words

CAREGIVER NOTE:

His interest is peaked in the process of a deck being added to the house at the back. We started with the tear down of the old landing yesterday. He is intrigued by the steps we’ll be taking to build the handicapped accessible deck he’ll be able to use while he’s ambulatory or even in a wheelchair. He checked on the progress several times yesterday afternoon. We showed him the drawings and the discussed the next steps several times throughout the day and evening. He was wanting the next step to start ASAP, even though it was dark outside during our last conversation. He is excited, but nervous about what the birds will do when we have to move the feeders when we hang the supports next week. I told him we’d figure it out so he wouldn’t miss out on seeing the birds at the feeders and maybe even being able to watch the workers putting up the deck.

What song will you choose?

CAREGIVER NOTE:
As we were watching TV yesterday, a choir began singing. He recognized the music, the song within the first few notes and begin humming along. After the song ended, he stopped, but then picked up with an old sing-song rhyme from days gone by and added a few new words with a different tune… He had us all laughing – when he said, “That wasn’t quite right, was it?”

Autumn is a second spring

…where every leaf is a flower.  Albert Camus

CAREGIVER NOTE:

The mountains to the east of us are showing off their fall colors. He’s amazed at how quickly the leaves have turned into their beautiful colors…. it’s time to start clearing the garden and prepping it for a winter’s sleep. He’s remembering his garden at the homestead and days long gone. Most of the memories are good and a gift to his heart… he’s also missing his family a lot and yesterday was wishing for some companionship from someone closer to his age. Not sure I can pull that one off.


do your best to be your best.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Confusion about what day, year and season is part of our every day life at the moment. He still can dress and feed himself and occasionally make a sandwich for a snack or meal. He makes his bed every morning and keeps his room tidy. We still try to focus on at least 3 positives that happen in his day — even if most of them have been memories of days long gone. He’s at a loss at times when he realizes he is the last living family member of his generation — He can’t grasp it at times — but then for a moment, it sinks in and the tears roll down his face. We’ve talked about his posterity and the legacy he has created for them. We have a visual idea to share with him. Hoping we can pull it together in the next month or so.