An Update On Dad

Thank you all for your concerns and asking after my dad, Gerry. Again I say, these are questions of true love and interest in him and us as his family, and it shows what kind of man he truly was, consistently, through all the years of his life.

He's always been Dad to me. Yes, he worked for 3 decades at Boeing. He had many roles in his life, from his love of ushering at our church to the landscaping of a lakefront near our home in Maple Valley. And through all of those times I wasn't around him, he was always the Good, funny, kind, caring Gerry Lott that I knew at home.

So, lately here's what's up with dad.
He's been at a place in the South Bellevue area for about a year. He's in a wheelchair now, much easier to get around with him, and we'll swing by and take him out for a wheeling 'round the neighborhood he's in. He can't speak to us, and it makes me wonder if the dreams I have of him, healthy and dressed in a suit, where he DOES speak to me about how he is doing are his way of talking to me, or just a delusion of mine that accept and embrace. I miss our conversations a LOT, especially as I swim wildly through the somewhat calm waters of my first years of marriage.

He gets to watch a lot of the Golf Channel, which I'll go watch with him while I chat about whatever's going on in my life. If something strikes him a certain way, he'll look as though he's about to cry, but that's common among some with dementia. It never progresses to crying, but it's as close to laughter as many can get. I know that crying and laughter can coincide, especially if you watch my early stand-up videos. Eeeeesh.

The fact that he's now much closer to us is great. Still I don't see him as much as I feel I should. It's now just about honoring him. I don't know if he can understand us, what he feels, nor what he wants to say. All I know is that I have a lot to apply in my life about how to always comport one's self.

Also, a big Thank You to Rozi and Mike at Rozi's home. She is the caregiver who watches over 4 residents, and has such a compassion and empathy and love for those in her care, she is really an angel in our world. Those who dedicate their life to the care of others, for the sake of seeing they get the care they deserve, surely hold a special place in the Ben & Jerry's Hall Of Names, and should have ice creams named after them.

Thanks for checkin' in!