Dad's Birthday Celebration Part 2

You can't have a party without gifts. What do you give the man who may not have everything, but has everything he needs? (or it gets lost in the nursing home laundry) I had a senior picture of Dan that I got back from Mom's apartment. I already have that exact picture on the wall in my living room, didn't feel I needed another of the same. So, I gave the picture back to Dad. I also gave him the picture of Mom and Dad that we used for Mom's obituary. When he opened the picture of Dan, he looked around the room, kind of seemed to be looking for who was in the picture. Then he grunted. Not really sure what the grunt meant. He opened the other picture and didn't really react much to it, but boy he loved the paper. He spent the rest of our time there playing with the paper from the gifts. I took it at the end of the day and put it in his activity box. He obviously liked the feel of the paper.

All in all, it was a very good day. I hope there was a little glimpse into Dad's mind that we were there. I hope he felt the love that we have for him. But if he doesn't, it doesn't really matter, just honoring him and spending time with him is time well spent.

I love you, Dad. Can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Dad's Birthday Celebration Part 1

Leila and Mike came over this past weekend to visit. Leila thought it was a good time to celebrate Dad's birthday. He turns 79 on April 18th. Renee was going to come up too and join in the festivities.

Ike Timm called earlier in the week and said he was thinking about my mom and dad this week and wanted to go see my dad. He heard about the party and asked if he could join us. Ike is the pastor who performed the service for my mother, his dad and my dad were close friends years ago. I told him that would be great if he would come, it would be an honor to have him join us. I took their picture and then realized we had--"Mike and Ike" with us. (Two preachers got together to talk)

Angie also joined us. I had posted an invite on Facebook, she called and asked if I was serious. I was serious and we were very excited to have her join in too. She stood in the picture for Kathy, since Kathy couldn't be there. Dad was none the wiser and really, Angie was like one of us anyway--we have shared many memories together. Angie lost her first husband 10 years ago and Dad came up from Missouri to have his funeral. Angie said Dad said to her, "Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning..." Dad had a great gift of offering comfort to the hurting. It is an honor now to offer help to him knowing how much he did for others.

Dad LOVES ice cream. I fed him his own ice cream and cake that Tim (Michele's husband) had made for him. We also had Dr. Thunder, Dad's beverage of choice. After I finished feeding him his cake and ice cream, we were just sitting there chatting and laughing. Ryan had decided he didn't want his ice cream so he pushed his plate to the center of the table. Pretty soon, Dad reaches over and pulls Ryan's plate in front of him. I gave him a spoon and he finished Ryan's ice cream (I had to help a little). He obviously could not get enough!

Dad

Jim and I went to see Dad today. It was one of the best days I have had seeing him, it was really hard to leave. I think if Jim hadn't been with me, I would have ended up staying most of the afternoon. Dad was awake and playing with his "toys" from his activity box. Mom had arranged for him to have stuff to keep his hands busy when he got antsy. I gave him an ice cream bar I had taken along with me. He "yummed" while he ate it. He was chatty and trying to tell us something. He even tried to sing. I have not seen him like this since he has been in care. It was rather enjoyable.

One of the funniest moments though, Jim told him, "Hey, Andy, I bought a Ford!" Dad got a huge smile on his face when he looked over at me. It is the one and only time I did not have my phone with me, I would have loved to taken his picture when he smiled like that. It was as though he knew that Jim was finally converted to Ford!!

I know that Dad does not have cognition of who we are and what we are doing there. I am just so thankful for the time I get to be with him. I cannot believe how much it gives me pleasure, it used to hurt so much to think of where he is at but now, my visiting him means more to me than it does for him. It is as though now I can tell him everything I want and it won't matter if it is good or bad, he doesn't get upset with me. I love him, he is a wonderful dad, I can't wait until we are all whole and spend eternity together.