I want to remember every minute of the hour I spent with Dad today. He was so sweet it nearly broke my heart and actually made me cry. I love seeing my Dad happy.

When I first got there he was coming down the hall with a herd of residents getting ready for lunch. Once he saw me, he kept trying to get around the slow old ladies in front of the pack, but he had to wait until there was an opening. With his girlfriend Tabitha at his heels, he finally broke free and came over to hug me. As usual Tabitha said, "She is so pretty. She must look like her mother." Within minutes though, Tabitha's whole family showed up to take her out for lunch for her birthday. She was so moved to see all of them, that she started crying and told me I could take the chair next to my Dad since she will be eating out. She told her family, "That's Dave, he's my boyfriend." And Dad said, "Who? Me?" They crack me up.

Apparently I was the bearer of good news for my Dad who was already in great spirits. I told him that his friend Mike was coming to visit on Tuesday and that Mike was trying to get another mutual friend of theirs to come visit some time as well. Dad has become obsessed with their mutual friend lately and you would have thought that I told him he won the lottery. He was in shock and kept telling me "thank you" and "you did this for me?", and looking at me like I was an angel. Then with tears in his eyes, he grabbed my hand, and said slowly, "I love you so much." Please, break my heart just a little more, Dad.

He went on and on, "I won't spank your butt. I'll probably kiss you..... You are the sweetest girl I ever met in my life.... I'm gonna tie you up and not let you go. No big deal." We also called Megan so she could experience some sweetness and he didn't disappoint.

Part of me is thinking -- I didn't do anything for you to be so grateful, but of course that's not true. Megan and I do everything we can to make him happy, so it was really nice to feel appreciated. And, he has no idea how many people I have contacted and are trying to contact to keep them involved in his life.

Update on The Memory Walk: We've fund-raised about $1000 so far and I know we're still going to do more. Thank you to family and friends who have already donated. I also find it so touching how many acquaintances have been so generous in donating and how many people have donated in honor or memory of a loved one that suffered from Alzheimer's. So many people are affected by this disease. I keep telling people that with a disease that can make you feel so helpless at times, it's nice to feel like we're accomplishing something by fund-raising. I encourage you to donate if you haven't already! Please! You can click on the Memory Walk link under "Helpful Links" to the right to get more information.

Picture above is when Dad told a joke and cracked himself up. Video below is just a taste of how cute Dad was....