Dad Remembered He Has A Hard Time Remembering June 19, 2010

June 19, 2010

Dear Family,

Today was a good day! Mom had the cataracts removed from her second eye, (almost a month earlier than planned.) She should be able to see really well, now.

When I brought her home from the doctors I stayed to visit for a few minutes. Linda and her daughter Allison were there, too. Dad was having a hard time figuring out who everyone was. He wanted to know who Bridget (Alli's little girl) was, and when they told him he wanted to know who Alli was. Then he couldn't figure out who Sharon's girls were. They explained who everyone was three or four times, and finally I said something about everyone changing and growing up. Dad looked at me and said, “I know who you are!” Suddenly it was like a light went on in his mind, and for the next few minutes we visited almost like old times.

“I never have been able to remember people's names,” dad told me finally. “I sure wish the family could all get together again.”

“Well, guess what?” I said. “Julie and her family are coming to visit next week!”

That really made him happy, but he asked, “Will you make sure to have people tell me who they are?”

“Maybe we should all wear name tags,” I teased, but he really liked that idea.

Dad seems to have more energy lately, and he isn't shuffling as slowly these days. Mom says he is nearly always happy, unless he gets anxious about something.

“Dad spent yesterday afternoon pointing out of the windows, telling me about where we are,” mom told me when we were by ourselves. “He thinks Linda's house, across the street, is Alma School, and the land in front of our house is where his grandparents homesteaded, down in Mesa. I just let him talk away, because it made him happy. It's only when he gets anxious about something he's got stuck in his mind that he's hard to deal with.”

I sure hope that when I get old, I will be like mom and dad. They have spent a lifetime practicing kindness, and cheerfulness, and now it is just the way they are. I sure do love them!

I love you all, too. Thanks for being my family,

Love,

Aunt Gale