CAREGIVER NOTE:

We listened carefully last evening while he “crooned” to one of the babies that was a little fussy. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Army Anthem sung as a lullaby before! It was precious and a memory that will live long in our memories . He enjoyed being surrounded by family — once everyone had arrived and there was food ready to be eaten. We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with family and it was delightful.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Another day of reflecting on family members who have passed on. We opened his book of genealogy to share some details with him after he asked for some specifics. Although he was sad to be reminded of their passing, he was filled with gratitude that we were willing to sit and listen while he tried to process things. Recent “dreams” have been pretty lucid and the confusion about who he was seeing and conversing with were very real to him and have made him uncomfortable at times when he realizes the moments were either long ago memories or had never happened… but to him they were very real and vivid.

For the first time ever, no anger was connected to this type of conversation — a brief moment of sadness and then ready to talk about other things and family memories from long ago.

CAREGIVER NOTES:

Tentative steps. He’s watched the progress of the deck build with great interest the last 2 weeks. Asking questions, offering advice from his huge bank of wisdom of his own building knowledge. However, yesterday, there was a lot of hesitation about taking that first step out onto the deck. There’s no step down on to the landing. It’s handicap accessible now and the deck flooring is level with the threshold of the door. He’ll be able to access using a walker or the wheel chair if that becomes necessary in the future. I wonder if it has to do with the memory of having something to hold onto when he stepped out previously and now there’s no railing for him to hang onto as he had to do previously with just the landing and steps down into the yard. Hmmmmm….

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He decided to take a walk yesterday. He was very disoriented by the time he got to the neighbor’s driveway about 20 yards away. He says he doesn’t need to use the walker — it’s better for his hip. Umm, not quite the truth… but he did agree he can’t leave without the walker in the future and he can’t go unaccompanied. He’s not particularly happy about the latter. We did have a good talk afterwards when he was back in the house and looking out the back window.

The deck build is in full swing. We poured the concrete for the footings yesterday and we have one more area to pour for the stairs. We’re supposed to have a couple of days of rain this week, so we’ll have to wait for the weekend, to take the next steps. I didn’t take pictures while they mixed and filled the tubes, but did a picture of the finished project for the day. FOREVER grateful for the help — every single ounce of energy spent in helping us get this done.

Don’t leave yourself behind…

CAREGIVER NOTE:

We got a walk in yesterday. I’m not sure who celebrated the most, him or me, but it was worth every step! His stamina is flagging a bit and I’m really hoping he’ll be good with another walk albeit a short one, later today when things warm up a bit. Fall weather is approaching and the mornings are pretty cool. He’s all to content to just sit in his chair at the moment and let time pass by. Again, most suggestions for activities are met with a no.