October 7th - Hang in There

I didn't arrive until a quarter after seven and Dad was already in the dining room.  He said the aide came in and got him dressed in thirty seconds flat.  The consensus was that Rosewood is a little short handed on Sundays and they were getting everyone to the dining room early.  Dad tried some orange juice and scrambled eggs.  He added a bit of apple juice.  They didn't have any clean bibs - I think laundry is short handed too - and everything Dad had eaten came right back up.

We headed back to the room to get cleaned up.  He was really disappointed.  I put the clothes in his dirty laundry bag.  He wanted a different pair of shorts.  I held up a pair that looked small and he said, "You should take those home.  I can't fit into them anymore", so I put a note on them for Tom.

After we cleaned up, I asked what he wanted to do and he said. "Let's go somewhere."  It was fairly cool outside, so we did a couple of up-and-downs of the hallways before settling in the Rose Room.  We rolled up to the big sliding glass door so we could pretend that we were sitting outside and still stay warm.

He had related to me how disappointed he was in the morning, "I woke up feeling  good, had some orange juice, I don't know, maybe I had too much, but then it all came back up.  I don't know what's going on."

We sat there for awhile in silence.  Dad's comprehension of words is diminishing.  Dad has said "I love you" to me a couple of times.  It's usually when I leave as a way of saying good-bye.  This morning he broke the silence by saying, "I love you, John".  I told him I loved him too and, after a few minutes went by, asked, "If you were sitting where I am and I was in the wheelchair in the same condition you are in, what do you think you would say to me?"  It was a complicated question, I know, and I had to go over it three times, but I could see he finally got it when he looked into my face, stopped a second, and said, "I'd tell you to hang in there, son."

We moved on to softer topics.  I asked if he got to see the grandkids, "Oh, yeah, that Rob sure has a nice family."  He went on, "The kids were having a great time playing with that thing.", as he pointed to the amplifier.

Cate came in and we had some warm moments before his stomach started making grumblings again.  We thought it better to head back to his room before it erupted in the dining area.  It settled down some and he used the bathroom and went back to bed.  I can't tell you why, but I don't think he was particularly tired.  As I sat at the side of his bed, he grabbed my hand and once more said, "I love you."  I sat there a moment and just soaked it in, kissed him, and waved good-bye.