Dad
As some of you gentle readers know my parents live with us.
Dad is 86 and mom is 82.
They live in a garage apartment beside our home seem to like it.
If they did not live there they would be in assisted living somewhere.
I am writing this to put my words in front of me.
Dad is not in his right mind all the time. It is not horrible like dementia or anything.
Some times he is fine, like the man I grew up with.
Sometimes he is not in his right mind.
He will let small things get in his head and cannot let them go.
For instance I had a tree grow up in a drainage ditch in the pasture.
I cut it down and dug up the roots, I drug the stump and the tree to the back of the pasture and put it on the brush pile. For weeks after I did this he was convinced that he needed to hire someone to get the tree out of the drainage.
He called the county and had them come look at the ditch. They of course told him it was fine, this got him all riled up.
I put him in my truck and drove him to the ditch and showed him. I then drove him to the brush pile and showed him again.
It took two weeks of reminding him till he finally stopped trying to hire the job done.
I know that for an 86-year-old man this is ok. It is hard, however, to see this man, who has always been so strong and with it mentally go through this. I also know that it ain’t gonna get any better, ever.
I believe it is my responsibility to take care of my parents as they age. I also know at some point he will die and I will have to deal with this and then somehow support my mother through it all.
Mom is fine mentally. She goes swimming every morning and eats right. She gets out and runs the weed eater. And works in the garden some. But she gets worn down listening to Dad ramble about things some times.
I am not going to do anything about this. There is nothing to be done. I just listen to him and try to make him comfortable. I try to enjoy him as much as possible. I listen to his World War II stories and wish I could have known him back in those days. He was 46 when I was born.
Getting old sucks there is no doubt about it. But in most cases it beats the alternative.
Snagley out
Dad is 86 and mom is 82.
They live in a garage apartment beside our home seem to like it.
If they did not live there they would be in assisted living somewhere.
I am writing this to put my words in front of me.
Dad is not in his right mind all the time. It is not horrible like dementia or anything.
Some times he is fine, like the man I grew up with.
Sometimes he is not in his right mind.
He will let small things get in his head and cannot let them go.
For instance I had a tree grow up in a drainage ditch in the pasture.
I cut it down and dug up the roots, I drug the stump and the tree to the back of the pasture and put it on the brush pile. For weeks after I did this he was convinced that he needed to hire someone to get the tree out of the drainage.
He called the county and had them come look at the ditch. They of course told him it was fine, this got him all riled up.
I put him in my truck and drove him to the ditch and showed him. I then drove him to the brush pile and showed him again.
It took two weeks of reminding him till he finally stopped trying to hire the job done.
I know that for an 86-year-old man this is ok. It is hard, however, to see this man, who has always been so strong and with it mentally go through this. I also know that it ain’t gonna get any better, ever.
I believe it is my responsibility to take care of my parents as they age. I also know at some point he will die and I will have to deal with this and then somehow support my mother through it all.
Mom is fine mentally. She goes swimming every morning and eats right. She gets out and runs the weed eater. And works in the garden some. But she gets worn down listening to Dad ramble about things some times.
I am not going to do anything about this. There is nothing to be done. I just listen to him and try to make him comfortable. I try to enjoy him as much as possible. I listen to his World War II stories and wish I could have known him back in those days. He was 46 when I was born.
Getting old sucks there is no doubt about it. But in most cases it beats the alternative.
Snagley out
