Dad and sister
Great Falls, December 26
Since I visited in June, Dad's Alzheimer's has continued to progress, if not accelerate.
He was still calm and peaceful, as he was then -- not nearly as tense and anxious as he was a couple of years ago. He still seemed to recognize us -- or at least to recognize us as familiar people, people he was glad to see. He does this thing where he reaches out and touches my chin, and I THINK it's because of the facial hair, which he always disliked. He used to tell me to "stand a little closer to the razor next time." It's ironic, I guess, that the thing he hated is now a touchstone of sorts.
And he still has pretty much just the two words in his vocabulary -- "here" and "yes." Sometimes he tries to say more, but it comes out mostly as a stutter. The doctors have no idea what's going on inside his mind, whether there's something he's actually trying to say.
And physically, he's healthy as an ox.
On the downside, some of the activities he was able to engage in just back in June, he can no longer do. He's down to eating, tying his shoes -- the very basics.
But he was happy to see us. There is that. It's impossible to predict what the next year will bring, but I hope he can hold on to this place for a while -- this place of ... relative peace and contentment. And that I can use that time to make his days easier.
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