Fun with Dad

He's doing better. Much much better. At first I thought he was over-medicated (he was coming out of a nap in his wheelchair, and thought the designs on the marble floor or the shadows was poop on the floor from one of the ladies making a mess. Wanted to know what the thing was in his lap (a pillow) and the other thing (a towel.) I asked him if he'd like to go for a walk (me pushing the wheelchair) and he said, "Let's go for a walk." So I took him outside and he immediately got around to his favorite topic: money. He needed to move his money out of the bank, but he couldn't remember which bank. He wanted me to help him remember what the name of his bank was in downtown Houston. That's all he knew. I said, Washington Mutual, "That's a good guess, but that's not it." Citibank? "No, That's a really good guess. But that's not it." Bank of America? "No, but you're getting closer." Republic? "No, but that's a good guess. I'd use Grandson's bank but it's offshore and I couldn't get to it very well." I don't think I know. "It's Blank Blank National in Galveston. I need you to take me to Galveston right now so I can move my money into the other bank. I'll split it three ways, one for me, one for Clear Lake (huh?), and one for XYZ (I didn't catch the last one. Nothing I'd remember). Grandson has nothing to worry about, he'll get his. But I don't want to leave anything to the little girls." Because they put him in a "nursing home?" And who the heck is this pushing his wheelchair and throwing out incorrect names of banks? I told him Galveston would be a six hour drive, and I had no reason to go to Galveston. He tried to bribe me. I told him money was not a good reason. Fortunately the weather was fabulous.

We got back to the house and he wanted to take a nap. According to the caregivers, he's still up a lot at night. As we tucked him in, I made him promise to be nice to the ladies at his home, even when I wasn't there. I made him promise to press the button if he wanted to get out of bed. He didn't promise anything. He just laughed at me and the caregiver for going on about it said he was always nice to everybody.

This was the best visit in a while. Any day where nobody falls or gets hit qualifies as a successful day.