Teasing

Yesterday was World Alzheimer's Day and I would like to share with you a couple facts from the 2010 Alzheimer's Report:

-The total estimated worldwide costs of dementia are US$604 billion in 2010.

-These costs account for around 1% of the world’s gross domestic product.
-If dementia care were a country, it would be the world’s 18th largest economy, ranking between Turkey and Indonesia. If it were a company, it would be the world’s largest by annual revenue exceeding Wal-Mart ($414 billion) and Exxon Mobil ($311 billion).

Wow! I'm glad we're doing our part by spreading the word and fund-raising for The Memory Walk. Thank you again to all who have donated. We're now at $1380.00!!!!!

Megan and I visited Dad today and kept his bad mood at bay. I brought him a box full of pictures and mementos from his 70 years of life. I loved that I could hand him an old photo and he would be able to name the person pretty quickly. He also told us a few stories from his childhood. I think seeing all those things gave him a sense of who he is again and in turn put him in a good mood. Even though he would say "I told them, I'm not staying here anymore," it didn't spoil his mood and we spent a lot of our time today laughing and joking around.

My Mom's name came up and he said, "Oh, Paula. She was mine." Then Megan said, "Yeah, but you're divorced now." And he said, "Oh, you knew her, did ya?" We were laughing and he looked confused so we told him that she was our Mom. Once he realized, he smiled and said, "Dad put out some good stuff."

Sometimes we get a kick out of teasing him a little. Like today when I asked him which one of us is Megan. Smiling, he looked back and forth at us and then chose correctly. Next I asked him what my name was and he couldn't get it until Megan prompted him a little. Then he called me Kristen Lips Kristen. I guess I have nice looking lips?

Before we left, we sorted out all his clothes and took a big basket full of clothes, pictures, cards etc. to the office that didn't belong to Dad. He really racks up the goods. Every time he complains about people stealing from him, I just want to yell, "you're the worst one!!!"

Video below is of Megan and Dad having a good time. I was so happy to get a good picture of the three of us too! Usually one of us has to take the picture!

A Few Boxes of Memories

We're done with Dad's mobile home. My Mom, Blake, and I finished cleaning it out yesterday. Moving the Sego Palms practically threw out Blake's back, so while he lay on the ground with the heating pad, we sorted through the rest of Dad's clothes and piled everything into the truck.

The new owner is moving in later this week and we can close the chapter on this part of Dad's life. It's a little sad. Anything important that he owned can pretty much be condensed to a few boxes. I still feel sad that I don't know more about Dad's life. I've found more newspaper clippings and cards/invitations. It looks like he joined The Air Force straight out of high school (found his complete and official file with every order given while he was in the Air Force) and then got married at age 19. A few years later, my half brother and sister were born. I'm kind of putting the pieces together. :)

I also found my Dad's baby book and under 'remarks' his Mom wrote, "He wasn't very pretty at first but later on he got so good lookin that we realized we had a real good and pretty baby boy." Hahaha. His baby hair is still taped to the book from his first hair cut. It's a blond/brown... kind of like Megan's when she was little.

Then I found a bunch of pictures with nothing written on the back. Not sure if anyone can tell me who the people are in the pictures. It could be my Grandparents or Great-Grandparents, but not sure. Don't know if I'll ever know.

Nervous to go see Dad this week. Don't know what his mood will be.