A scary day.

When I used to do taxes.

One of my plans, that didn't work out, was to  do taxes after I retired. I thought it would be a good way to make some extra money. With it we could travel for the rest of the year. It was good for a short while, and as you all know, it wasn't going to work out at all. 

Like most of the things that I've planned for, or sought to prevent, never happened. For what we couldn't see down this Road to Dementia Town, was the destination we were heading for. 

As of now, I'm glad I tried all that I did, and at the same time, I'm sorry for all the time that I left my Sweetie home alone. 

If I wasn't running out of the house to deliver pizzas, it was either to take a class on taxes, or from December to April to do taxes, or to a meetings. I was always on the move, and that left her by herself. If anything, I'm making up for that now. 

At the same time, I am the one that is being left alone. Not in the physical sense, for she is with me, it is the emotional and spiritual side that is wanting. And there isn't anything we can do to get that back. 

Sunday

With nothing on the calendar, letting her sleep. Knowing that I'll have to put her in the shower when I get her up. 

Last night, before we went to bed, she had another big BM, and I cleaned her up as best as possible, just to get her to bed. So, I knew that was ahead. 

When I went in to get her, she was laying half in bed, and half out. She wasn't ready to get up, so I put her back into bed and left. 

When I did go to get her up, she didn't want to get out of bed. When she did get up, she was a weak as a kitten. Could barely walk, and I had to half carry, half lead her to the potty. 

That is where I found she had another large movement. Things were not looking good, as the shower goes, but for the movements, it is a good thing. Messy, but good. 

There wasn't anyway I was going to get her in the shower at this time, and she was very droopy on the potty to the point that I didn't want to leave her by herself. 

Talking to her, telling her I was going to get her some water, she seemed to understand. Quickly I retrieved a glass, and made her drink it down. 

Got her clean enough to put her to bed, again. I let her sleep. 

Next time, late in the afternoon, I got her up, and she was better. Not her old self, but better. She was good enough that with much help and encouragement, was able to get her in the shower, and non too soon. 

Clean, dressed, we sat on the couch and watched movies. She sat and napped the whole time. When she would wake up, I had a glass of water, with a straw for her. She drank it dry. We also had a sandwich and some cookies. 

Every time she needed to stand up, she needed help. After sleeping through a couple of movies, it was time to put her back to bed. Again, she seemed to have just enough energy to make it back to bed. Helped her crawl in, and she was out. 

I stayed up for awhile, and when I went to bed, she was laying there, awake, and happy that I was joining her, and with holding her hand, we went to La La land. 

It was a scary day for me. I thought Sweetie was going to be getting out of the car. I wasn't sure what was going on with her. Driver just kept His eyes forward, as we drove down the Road to Dementia Town. I felt that at anytime He would pull over, and let her out. It was then, I realized, I wasn't ready for her to leave me. She didn't and she stayed in the car till the evening came. With all the stress of the day, we were still able to Keep Our Shiny Side Up. C'ya, Luv Ya, and God Bless. Arthur.      

 

Houselight hunters.

Sweetie loves lighthouses.

 When we were planning our vacation to Oregon, the one thing that excited her more than anything, were the lighthouses. She wanted to see as many as she could. We became lighthouse hunters. When we were there, they were easy to find. And I do believe that we found all of them. 

Some of them were well preserved, and they were tended by Snowbirds from Arizona. Seniors that wanted relief from the Arizona hot summers, and they would volunteer to watch over them. 

It was a misty dream, that we would do something like that, but that never happened. You needed a big motor home and planned to stay the whole summer. That was one of our many plans of what to do when we retired. 

Saturday

It is my first freedom day in two weeks, and I'm ready for it. With loosing one of my caregivers, I quickly found out how precious these days are. 

My lady likes me to leave Sweetie in bed until she gets here. That way she can potty and bath her. This morning Sweetie had a better idea, she got up all by herself. 

I quickly got busy and put her on the potty, knowing that Lady was coming soon. 

Her timing was right on. Brought her up to speed, and was out of there. 

Heading for the course, wondering just how well, if at all, I was going to play. Still in pain, but livable levels. 

It is a beautiful day, cool, but not cold, light clouds, with a great deal of sunshine. A good day to be out on the course. Played better than I thought I would, did manage to protect my par per game streak. Took me to the 9th hole to get it, but I did get one. 

I have a chore to do. I told my buddy that I would get him some chocolate and a card for his Valentine. He is so much of a controller, and I know that about him, and when he didn't get what he wanted in the time he wanted, he was on the phone. I told him it would get done today. No biggie for me. 

Got Sweetie, made it to the mall, got the box of dark chocolate, a card, and wrapping paper. 

Now for the fun part. I left the card, wrapping paper on the car, and drove off. Upon arrival, I discoverd what happened. Told him, and went to get other card and stuff. Found a sweet card, and when I read it to him, he liked it. Yea!

Part two, or three? My radiator covers were delivered, and with that, we were off to son's house. He and I planned on working on Tweety together, to install the covers. 

It took us almost 3 hours to get the job done. Sweetie didn't want to go into the house, so I let her stay in the car. Where she took a nap. It worked out for the best, that way I knew where she was at all times. 

Home again to finish the day. First thing I did was give her some Happy Medline, and potty her. 

After that, it was dinner time, used the soup from last Sunday. Then dessert, and watched "Up" again, and "Monster's University". Then to bed we went. 

Found a position that relieved my pain, and the next thing I knew, I was out. What a great day it was. 

We got on a long good stretch of Road to Dementia Town today. Driver got us going today. A fun day, and day of challenges, of getting things done, a day of accomplishments. All the while, we were Keeping Our Shiny Side Up. C'ya, Luv Ya, and God Bless. Arthur.  

Footsteps.

Used to be a crewman on this bird.

While I was in the Navy, I was assigned to a helicopter squadron, Helicopter Combat  Support Squadron 1. It was here that I volunteered to be a Rescue Air Crewman. I felt that I was following in the footsteps of my Grand Pop, and Uncle, who were aviators during WWII. 

How did I get to where we are today? Is it time that brakes you down, or does it prepare you for what you are going to be. 

My caring for Sweetie didn't come naturally, or did it. I do know that when we noticed her decline, I was at a fork in the road, as they say. Back then, I had a chance to run away, to get as far as I could from her and what she would go through, whether I was with her or by herself alone. I chose the former. 

Trust me, I did have that decision to make. 

I chose her and the struggles we would have and to face them together. Once I made that decision, there wasn't any way of turning back. We would face what was ahead together. You know, once I made that decision, it felt good and the way became clear. 

Friday

After spending much of the night sitting and sleeping on the couch, I awoke with a additional ache, a stiff shoulder. Just great, another pain to deal with. 

With the pain up around an 8, I was determined to do something about it. So, I started my stretching, and rowing. Not much, just enough to allow my muscles to get warmed up. 

As the morning goes, it is time to get Sweetie up, just because I know she is awake, and she needs to eat, and be with me. 

That is about what the day was like, up and be with each other. As we sit, and watch, I am content. She fills me up with her presence and I am not alone. 

Remembering how my choice in movies upset her, I made plans to watch fun movies. So, we watched "Big", Tom Hanks earlier movie, then "Hotel Transylvania". Sweetie liked both of them, and then it was time for our game shows. 

Being that it is Friday, and we have a meeting to go to, we had dinner earlier then normal. Which meant we had dessert before we left. 

We had a wonderful time at the meeting. 

When we got home, got prepared for bed, and under the covers we went. Sleep was soon upon us, and it was welcomed. 

Another day, and some more miles down the Road to Dementia Town we went. We are having our little bumps along the way and we take them in stride. For after all there isn't anything we can do about the road conditions. As long as we can Keep Our Shiny Side Up, most of the time, is all that we can expect. C'ya, Luv Ya, and God Bless. Arthur.