Something More Fun

First of all, I must tell this to those of you who have e-mailed, called, written, or taken time to talk with me about my dad after reading these posts or hearing the news:

It means so much to me what you have shared, that you have allowed me to share, and that you made yourself open and real to me through your stories, ideas, and kindness. I don't know how to repay that. When I know I can, I will. Until, I thank you from the deepest part of my soul. You have made it much easier to deal with on days I didn't want to deal at all. Life isn't fair, but you each showed me that's okay, and that we all have to keep going.

Okay, back to the crap.
Here's a funny story. Christmas Eve, my family is at church, all of us, even my fidgety dad. I counted in one minute he touched his face every 8 seconds on average, and when he did, it was usually in 4 places. I thought he was giving the youth pastor the "bunt" sign.
Near the end of the service a kid is playing a slowed-down guitar solo of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" while the offering plates are passed around. Prior to this my sister and I had been trading remarks about how one member of the church staff seems to have a certain smugness about their role in the service, as if their presence dictates whether or not it goes off harmoniously, when we get to sit down, etc. If you're from the MVPC and you're reading this, it's likely not you. And don't act like church-going people don't talk about their brethren. Now you have to forgive me. I read that somewhere.
Anywho, the guitar solo's going smoothly until the soloist starts gettin' fancy, trying a couple of pull-offs, which is when you play a note then pull your finger off the string you just picked, like snapping your fingers. It makes a nice little effect for the audience to vibe on.

Part of my dad's condition is that his speech filter is pretty much gone. If he thinks it, he's likely going to say it. Can you see the trouble we're dealing with? The soloist flubs a note, really misses it bad, dead-note mutes the string but his finger slips to another note that's off-key. And the whole church is likely thinking the same things: 1- The Jesus picture's frowning at me, and 2- Whoa, Guitar Jones, did you even practice?

The note goes BLBLP and my dad says "Twank."
I nearly pissed myself holding in the laughter, because he said what we all thought, but with absolutely no malice in his heart about it. It happened, he reacted, and we went on with our day. Aaaah, to be as free as the Dementites.

I love my dad and my family. We're doing the best we can to honor and protect and care for him, but it's taking a serious toll on us. My mom is at her wit's end, and I fear that she hesitates to make decisions based on what other people may perceive. So I'll say this to anybody who thinks ill of my family in this: The only punishment you deserve is to have this happen in your family. You lose your spouse of 34 years, but you still have to care for them. Your kids lose their parent, but have to watch them decline and deteriorate. And there's nothing you can do about it, except pray and do all you can to stay at peace and sane and healthy every moment of every day.

And if you can't laugh at how seriously f*cked Life can be, you aren't worth a damn anyway.

For the rest of you, please re-read the first part of this post.
Happy New Year To Each Of You. Can't love you enough.