DAD'S 85th BIRTHDAY

We went to the Brookside Inn in Benzonia for an "all you can eat spaghetti" dinner
Anna and me

Dad and Anna

Mom and Dad

love

Yesterday Dad showed me how much he loves Mom.

She was very confused and didn't know who any of us were-at one point, while Dad was cleaning the inside of the car for us, she walked outside and then took off toward the pole barn. He was very concerned and said,"What are we going to do with her, Susan?"

Even in his own dementia he knows she is losing ground. I said that one day she may have to go to a nursing home-Dad said,"Then I will have to go with her-I would never let her go alone."

This is love-until death do us part, in sickness and in health.

Mom and Dad are happier together these past few days. We have had to administer some medications to help Mom from being so fussy at Dad-and it seems to be working. She has been much calmer and Dad, of course, is happier. Today he seemed to understand that we had to help her as she was very confused not knowing who Dad was. She looks so pretty with her short white hair and trim figure-Dad is still proud of her and always complimenting her. We love them.

Sunday

Today we all went to church at Bible Believers Baptist Church in Mesick. Mom has not been wanting to shower and I still could not get her to bathe today, but she said she had washed her face!!!!!
They have visited with the pastor, Ben Townsend, a number of times and they like him.
However, when it was noon and he was on his 3rd point and we knew he had said that he had 5 points to cover Mom began to get quite loud about her opinion that it should be over. I had to slip her a note saying that it was better than sitting in the living room doing nothing-she looked at me and nodded her agreement.
We always have a Sunday dinner potluck at church and we wanted to stay-Mom and Dad went and sat in the car but Doug was able to convince them to come in and eat. Mom loved the desserts and the fellowship. We left Anna at church to visit with her friends and we headed home.
Dad had to stop at the gas station to use the restroom and while there he bought 4 doughnuts and a 24 oz. can of Bud light. Since Doug and I do not drink they have not had much in the way of beer lately. As soon as he was in the car they popped open the Bud and brought out the doughnuts!!!! Remember they had just had a huge meal and a lot of dessert. "Oh, this tastes soooo good-would you like a sip, Doug?" It was gone by the time we got home 15 minutes later-
A nice day for them-a good message at church-and hopefully a restful afternoon for the rest of us.

WEDDINGS

Doug, Anna, and I went to Lena's wedding this past weekend. We had a caregiver stay with Mom and Dad. She is 25 years old and brought her 6 year old daughter with her - and her puppy!

It went very well. They played checkers with Dad and did puzzles and colored some big posters.

We were very glad that this worked out-we can feel good about doing it again. It makes Mom think of her wedding. Usually she will look at her wedding book and not realize that it is her in the pictures, but today she knew everyone in the old photos. We have had a really good day so far.

A SHIP WITHOUT A RUDDER

Dad is so bewildered by his memory failure. He told me he is as a ship without a rudder. When you are sailing the rudder is what steers the boat, without it you just drift aimlessly-trying to go somewhere and yet not able to get there.