A Christmas with Dad

I know a lot of people read this blog for funny things that the twins do. However, the real purpose of this blog is to act like a journal for me... a supplementary memory if you will.

This was our last traditional Christmas at home with my Dad. He has Alzheimer's. If you have read any of the Angel Shelf entries at the beginning of this blog you will remember some of the frustrations and yes, even funny stories at the beginning of his disease.

I remember the first major symptoms was a couple of summers ago. An avid farmer, Dad couldn't remember the word cucumber. This was a huge inconvenience for him because he always grew too many and so always asked everyone who visited, every time they visited if they needed any cucumbers. Hard to do when you can't remember the damned word. He was smart though. He wrote it down on a little notepad and kept it in his shirt pocket. He'd say "Hey, do you guys need any... uh..." pull the notepad out - look at it- "cucumbers?"

As the years go buy, it gets worse, the funny parts get fewer and fewer. On Christmas Day we told him to go help Matt burn trash. There's not much he can do but he gets bored. He told Matt, "If the fire gets out of control, call the Hubungis" hysterical.

Christmas Eve on our way to Red Lobster, he sang Silent Night with the radio. The best present I ever got.

The day after Christmas we had to put him in Mountain Laurel- a nursing home. They seem to really have their act together. I know this wasnt the most well written passage, but I just wanted to document it now. Maybe later in my free time (laugh here) I will edit it.