No, I haven't forgotten you. In fact, I regularly have guilt about not having kept up my blog. I'm hopeful now that the kids are back in school (and both of them are there all day now) that I can set aside a time during my day to just write. I am starting to get the hang of my new schedule. Carly has Karate Monday and Wednesday and Jono has Gymnsastics Tuesday and Thursday. We have a playgroup on Friday. Also, I'm helping in the kid's classrooms this year--but just for an hour a couple days a week.
Our grandson turned 3 months old a week ago! We miss him a bunch. They are moving closer at the end of this month. Instead of being twelve hours away, they will only be about 3.5 hours away. We are really excited to have him closer. Oh, and his parents too. Lol.
And maybe one of the real reasons I've put off writing is that whole river in Egypt thing. You know, De Nile or is it Denial? Yah, that. It's hard to feel like writing cheery updates about things being fine when you are starting to watch them begin to slide a bit down hill.
Mom usually reads this to Dad when I write, but I've asked her to skip this part so I can give you an honest update that won't upset him. For the last several months, he has been getting thinner and weaker. He hardly eats enough to keep a bird alive. I never knew this about Parkinson's, but it is a mean disease. It makes everything you do more difficult. The simplest tasks become monumental challenges, i.e. eating, drinking, swallowing, walking, talking. It steals your voice, it stiffens you and makes you ache. It makes you quake. Writing, holding objects, carrying anything--become near impossible. The great thing is though, my father has all his faculties. He is alert and aware. He has a better memory than I do. He gets up almost everyday and works away at his desk. He writes you, he writes Washington, he gets up every morning trying to figure out what he can do that day to make the world a better place. I love that about him. He is still working hard and still has the ideals and values he taught me as a child.
The part I haven't wanted to face is that I don't know how long I will get to keep my Dad. Parkinson's makes it hard enough for him to walk, but on top of that he has Post Polio, so his legs really are on their "last nerve." I haven't posted any pics for awhile. I think the last time was at his birthday party and that may have been only on Facebook. Someone wrote my mom and asked if dad had suffered a stroke. No, thankfully he has not. But if you saw him, you would think he was frightfully thin and he does have a difficult time talking, i.e., getting his voice loud enough, and getting his mouth to form the words his voice wants to say.
But please, keep calling, writing and communicating with him. You are his life-lines. Because he has a hard time walking now, he rarely gets out of the house. He goes out for doctor appointments and the occasional family birthday party. Other than that he hangs out here which is where he is comfortable.
Mom is doing well. She is such an amazing person. She takes such good care of him. She is a great mom and grandma and we all keep her pretty busy--but no one keeps her as busy as grandpa does. Lol. More later.
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