I cannot believe the circulation this website is getting. Thank you all. It is true, my father touched a lot of people. I read all these comments from family and friends, and everything is dead on. He is and always has been one of the kindest men I know....and among the many things I have learned from this experience, is that there are a whole lot of people in this world that could use some of that side of my father, including myself.
As you may have guessed by now, my posts reflect that of the previous day's events with my Dad. Yesterday we had a bit of both good and bad news. The facility that he is in, has in fact, released him as we feared they might. I am at a loss for words here....I really am.
The good news was that the nurses managed to get him out of the bed and into a wheelchair, heavily assisted by them of course, so that he could get a bath and a fresh shave. By the time I got there, he was resting, but soon opened those beautiful blue eyes to entertain me yet again. My father and I share a love of poker, so I thought I might try to bring in a deck of cards to see if he could recognize these cards and maybe call out their name. I wish I had videotaped this.
I started with a pair of Kings (also known as Cowboys), as this is his favorite two cards. He instantly smirked, and raised his hand towards me. I placed the two cards between his thumb and his index finger so that it looked like he was holding them in an actual game. He was glowing!!! I held up the Ace of Hearts, and asked if he knew what that was....he managed to get out the words "Aaaa o Hearrr". I about lost it laughing, and congratulating him, and he tweaked his smile one more time.
Then we put the cards away, and I held his hand firmly as I do from time to time. Kind of my way of 'feeding' him strength, I suppose. Our hands were wrapped as if to arm wrestle, and just out of curiosity, I began bouncing my thumb around his as if we were playing a thumb war....and he did not miss a beat!! His thumb slowly danced around as well, and when I slipped mine under his, he pinched down hard!! I told him, "Nice work DAD, you beat me!!!"
Again, a smile.
We watched some of the Olympics, and he fell back into his deep sleep.
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2 comments:
Hey John! This is your old friend Linda Baker at United Drugs. Do you remember the time we were all having lunch at the office and we started laughing about something and a little piece of food you were chewing flew out of your mouth and into my purse?! We laughed so hard! Those were the days, huh buddy? I love thinking of the funny times. I also think a lot about your sage wisdom. After talking over a problem with you, I was convinced we had solved all the worlds problems... including mine. I still need your wise advice, so kick this thing that's got you down. Stay strong! There are a lot of folks out here who love you and are rooting for you.
Love to you, Claudia and the boys
Linda
This is so touching to read these accounts of triumph John is acheiving from day to day. I love to hear how his is improving with his movement and even with the small steps in speech. Keep the accounts of success coming!
Buzz
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