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Adventures With Grandpa (tm)
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Edition #008
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C O N T E N T S
008.1: Current Condition in Brief
A quick summary of Grandpa's current condition
008.2: Party of the Century
Grandpa celebrates 90 years
008.3: A Day for Mothers
Grandpa gets out of the house
008.4: The Great Debate
An all-night discussion keeps Grandpa awake
008.5: Pillmintation
The daily task of taking pills
008.6: Colophon
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008.1: Current Condition in Brief
A quick summary of Grandpa's current condition
Grandpa's doing well -- eating regularly and seems in good spirits, though he still sleeps a great deal. He occasionally seems sad that he can't do the things he used to do. Sometimes I can tell he's frustrated by his poor memory. This seem to happen during times of better health -- when his mind is weaker, he's not so aware of his lack of ability. It makes me wonder if the forgetfulness is a blessing.
He goes to the dentist this week to have some abscessed teeth pulled. I am curious if that will help with his energy and mood and even the upset stomach he complains about occasionally. Supposedly bad teeth can cause other health problems, so we'll see if getting them out helps.
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008.2: Party of the Century
Grandpa celebrates 90 years
The weekend of May 7th was a special one for Grandpa. It actually began on Friday, with some old friends stopping by for a visit (they couldn't make it on Saturday). Friday continued the trend with over 40 guests dropping by to wish Wildon a happy 90th. Some stayed only a few minutes, while several stayed the whole day. A few relatives stayed the weekend and into the week!
I was amazed at how Grandpa handled himself. He normally sleeps a lot and I worried the party would disrupt his schedule and he might have trouble staying awake. Nothing could have been further from the truth: the more people came the better he seemed to be!
He was mentally sharp, recognizing people, greeting them warmly, and having great conversations. I was busy with the party affairs and didn't listen in too often, but several people I spoke with were astonished at how "with it" he was.
The party was a great success, continuing until after seven o'clock. I served snacky foods like submarine sandwiches, chips and dips, bread and cheese, macaroni salad, punch, and of course, chocolate birthday cake. This worked well as guest came and went at their leisure. And this time I made sure I didn't overdo it: we had plenty of food but not weeks worth of leftovers.
I knew Grandpa was having a good time when the party had died down to a few relatives and suddenly he realized he needed to use the restroom -- he'd gone all day without it!
Photos: Party Pics
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008.3: A Day for Mothers
Grandpa gets out of the house
Sunday was Mother's Day, so a group of us -- Grandpa included, of course -- went for a fancy dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was impressive. I had the duck, Aunt Phyllis and my mom the lamb, and Grandpa went with the rabbit. The food was good but a triffle exotic for my simple tastes. The desserts, however, were fabulous. My rhubarb crisp (topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) was amazingly delicious: just the perfect combination of sweet and sour. Grandpa had the "lavender" ice cream, mostly so he could find out what it was. I had a sample and it tasted like perfume, like eating a rose. Nice but not my favorite. My mom had the apricot sherbert and it was heavenly -- Grandpa liked it better than his own choice.
On the way home we drove the back way so we could see the countryside, which Grandpa and Phyllis enjoyed. This really is a pretty area. Lots of farms and vineyards, with view of beautiful greenery all around.
Again I worried that all the stimulation might wear Grandpa out, but he seemed to thrive on it, thoroughly enjoying his day out.
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008.4: The Great Debate
An all-night discussion keeps Grandpa awake
One night last week, my cousin Jean-Paul and Grandpa got into a little discussion. It started out as a little debate over self-education versus college. Grandpa's a big college advocate, but Jean-Paul (like myself) is self-educated, and this provoked some interesting conversation.
From there the debate varied, traipsing into philosophy, religion, and other topics. Grandpa's rather stubborn and set in his views and easy (and entertaining) to provoke, so we got him talking. It wasn't a violent debate or anything like that, though a couple times voices were slightly raised in the passion of an argument.
Grandpa did very well, though he had trouble comprehending some of my more esoteric points. But that had nothing to do with his current mental condition -- he and I had the exact same debates when I was in high school twenty years ago and he reacted the same way now! For instance, I brought up a hypothetical about the existence of God: "If God didn't exist, would murder be wrong?" He couldn't answer that because he refused to consider a world where God didn't exist.
Anyone who thinks he's got AlzheimerÕs or dementia is crazy!
Fortunately Aunt Phyllis was here to act as mediator. She stepped in with her two cents worth, soothing Grandpa when an misunderstanding provoked him.
Our little exercise in conversation lasted well into the dawn. I didn't make it to bed until two a.m. and had to work to get Grandpa to call it a night -- he still wanted to argue!
Of course the next day he remembered nothing of the debate (he told me he'd gone to bed at eleven o'clock). That's happened before, so I wasn't surprised. I still think it was good for him: it encouraged him to think and discuss things. It's been a while since he and I have talked like that, so I'll have to "provoke" him a little more often!
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008.5: Pillmintation
The daily task of taking pills
Grandpa likes to have fun with his pills, moaning and groaning as though it's a huge burden and torture, then with a deep sigh of weary despair, he'll pop the whole lot in his mouth at once and swallow them with a swig of drink.
Of course with his poor short term memory, he doesn't know whether he's taken pills before or if he should now, so it's all a bit of a mystery for him.
"Didn't I already take my pills today?" he'll ask in vain hope of a reprieve.
"Oh, so many," he'll say, staring at the little pile.
I try to tell him that all the medical people we've talked with are amazed he's only taking four pills a day (and two of those are a mere vitamin and an aspirin). "Most people your age eat a plateful of pills each meal," I tell him encouragingly.
One day I caught him staring at the pills for a long time, not moving to take them.
"Is something wrong?" I asked eventually, wondering what was holding things up.
"No," he said with a deep sigh. "This is pillmintation."
"Pillmintation? What that?"
"You've never heard of that? Everyone's heard of that."
"Not me."
"Well, I'm in meditation on taking my pills."
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008.6: Colophon
Publication Title: Adventures With Grandpa (tm)
Frequency: Occasionally
Price: $1,000,000 per issue
Publisher: Marc Zeedar
Author: Marc Zeedar
Photographer: Marc Zeedar
Copyright: Contents (photos and text)
(C) 2005 by Marc Zeedar
All Rights Reserved
Telephone: 877-364-5922
Website: http://www.zeedar.com/grandpa/
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