Spillin' the Tea at 503

You probably know how the rest of that question goes. But, just in case you don’t, the whole question is: “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” As you are probably familiar with, because you are a highly intellectual audience, the age-old question of whether a falling tree makes a sound when there’s no one around to hear it exploits the tension between perception and reality. There are many possible answers and many possible consequences. But, that’s not what we’re doing here. More about falling trees later …

“Hello? Is there anybody there?” That’s how Dad has been asking for help lately when he wakes up from overnight sleep or a nap in his chair and doesn’t “see” anyone close by. Remember: Dad is nearly completely blind and his vision is limited to barely making out shadows & silhouettes and the color yellow. All of which make him the perfect candidate for a drivers license in the State of Florida and a Driver’s Ed instructor in New York … if they existed!!

Back to our latest observations – Sometimes, we find him sitting on the edge of the bed, rationalizing to himself where everyone must be when no one answers him right away (On a recent morning, it was “MaryAnn must be at church”). When that happens, Mom is in bed right next to him, but his back is to her and he can’t turn to “see” her. We show up to help him get to the bathroom, loudly announcing our presence because he doesn’t have his hearing aids in yet. Once he’s on his feet and moving to the bathroom, Mom will wake up. Mom is also without her hearing aids at the moment. The ensuing shouting match is loud and epic and you can’t help walking away with a smile …

March has been a hot / cold / mild month so far this year. We were sitting at the kitchen table one day last week and Dad repeated a phrase that Mom’s father (“Pop”) used to say about the month: “March would double-cross it’s own mother! March is deceitful”. That is something that I can hear Pop saying. Funny that Dad recalled that out of nowhere …

A new CNA nurse was assigned to Dad last week. Matthew took over for Abby, who took over for Shayla, who quit about three weeks ago. And no, she didn’t quit because of our family (I know you were thinking that!) … it was quite a long haul for her to make three times a week – an hour each way – and together with the fact she’s about to have a baby, she decided to move on. Anyway, here’s a picture of Matthew and our very extra special nurse, Kim, tending to Dad on one of Matthew’s first days. Kim is the most patient, caring and compassionate nurse I’ve ever met. Just look how happy Dad looks!

I think we’re putting down roots here – literally (another reference to trees)! Trish picked up some “over-the-railing” planters for the back deck, Dave was kind enough to secure them to the railing and Mom and Trish planted some flowers this past week. They look great … and so do the flowers!

Additional evidence of roots being planted – we picked up a composter, put it together and it’s wonderfully displayed in the back yard! Mom was ecstatic with the placement!

Believe it or not, Mom actually laughed when she saw it there. Once she stopped laughing, she said “You’re not keeping it there, right?” We moved it to its unseen resting place behind the shed …

At 0419 Sunday morning (3/29), Mom knocked on our bedroom door – Dad had fallen down getting back into bed from the bathroom. He had gotten up by himself, went to the bathroom and fell down on his way back. He was at the foot of the bed when we found him – nowhere near the area where he actually enters the bed!! How he got there is a mystery.

Mom said she woke up when she heard moaning (?) and discovered him on the floor. She immediately decided she should go to the bathroom first, before alerting us for help, so she stepped over Dad and headed for the toilet! After about 4 minutes, she came out and went to our room, knocked on the door, didn’t wait for a response and went back to her room.

We got up and discovered all of the lights on in their room and Dad on the floor. After determining he wasn’t in any pain, Trish and I lifted him to a standing position at the end of the bed and had him sit for a moment on the bed. After a couple of minutes, we put him back in bed and went back to our room.

At midnight that night, once again Mom knocked on the door and scurried back to her room, yelling “Dad has to go to the bathroom and I need your help getting him up!” This time, we helped him get to bathroom, waited for him to finish and helped him back in bed. All of that was in a 24 hour period.

Another unusual day – which seems to be the norm, these days! This morning, April 1st, he woke up angry – didn’t want to get out of bed, but wants to go home (to Scranton) again. After a trip to the bathroom, we brought him out to the kitchen for some coffee and breakfast and as he finished up, Matthew arrived for his shower. After his shower, he was a different person – he rested a bit and he and I went outside to take advantage of the beautiful day! We talked about selling insurance, picking rocks and growing up … after an hour or so, we went inside for lunch – which he ate! It’s now 3:45PM and we just put him in bed – he’s likely down for the night.

Yesterday, both Mom and Dad had foot doctor appointments. At one point, they loved these appointments – raved about them – and counted down the days between each appointment! However, these days, it takes a few people to gather them up, get them in the car, get them out of the car, into the doctor’s office, then into the exam chair. Of course, the whole thing has to be repeated for the trip home after the appointment. However, yesterday, we took a detour to Bluffton, SC and the nearest Rita’s! They thoroughly enjoyed the drive – and the Rita’s custard!

Oh, back to the “trees” and the “forest”: Anne and I had just finished a 3-mile walk around he neighborhood on a really windy day and we heard a loud explosion. We turned to look in the direction of the sound and saw an electrical transformer atop a pole explode, with a second loud explosion, and watched the overhead electrical wires fall to the ground. Seems an old, dead tree collapsed onto power lines about 50 yards away and the pressure snapped the lines in a couple of places, causing a small fire and dangling electrical wires! The whole neighborhood lost power and emergency crews were on site within 10 minutes. The power company had electricity restored within 4 hours. Just goes to show you: if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around, it will, in fact, make a very loud exploding noise or two and you will likely lose power!

Every day is different here; nothing is routine. The only thing routine about living here is that we expect every day to be different …