Popdaddy is back to his "normal" self pretty much. It is amazing how he keeps bouncing back. He does spend more time in bed than before but is usually up for at least part of every day. This morning he came to the dining room for breakfast--which is very rare now. I really miss those days when we always sat and ate breakfast together at the table on my days off. Usually he eats his breakfast in bed or occasionally in the living room. But there is something special about sitting together at the table. I guess because we are closer together it is easier for him to talk and he always starts reminiscing. We had whole wheat pancakes (made with the last of my grain--time to visit the farm and get more!) and turkey bacon. We lingered over coffee and he chuckled and said he didn't know why things pop in his head but he was just thinking about...
And then he started talking about when he was working on a farm in Marriottsville, Ohio. The farmer's son-in-law was a teacher and he and his wife came and lived and worked on the farm in the summer. Apparently, he was one of those people who always corrects the English of others and Dad was remembering one night at dinner when someone at the table asked if the lights in the next room were lit. The teacher son-in-law replied, "The lights in the living room have been lighted." (Is that really correct?) Dad laughed and said he thinks he says a lot of things that are incorrect. I think he does pretty good with his one room schoolhouse 8th grade education. A lot better than some of our college educated young people today!
Then he started remembering my mom and how she always said what was on her mind, telling (again) the story of how they lived in Punxtawney, PA and the ladies commenting on Mom's southern accent and assuring her that when she had lived near them long enough she would sound like them. (Mom retorted that she hoped she didn't live there that long.) That led to him telling about how they rented a room in someone's house and had kitchen privileges and had to schedule their cooking and eating times around the owner's so they weren't in the kitchen at the same time. The lady of the house also operated the area telephone switchboard and Mom would sometimes fill in for her when the lady had to be out. One day when she was on duty, someone had a call for a vet. The connection wasn't very good so Mom had to be the go between and relayed instructions from the vet on delivering a calf. Of course, that reminded him of telephone party lines. Each home had a special ring but it rang in everyone's home. One day, Mom was ordering groceries on the phone and she could tell that others had picked up their phones to listen, so she said, "I'm just ordering groceries. You can hang up now."
Somehow, that led to his memories traveling to Mexico and the living conditions there. They were told not to give anything to the children who came around because then all the kids would come swarming begging for a hand out, too. He told how they would crawl up on the back of the Airstream and beg Mom to give them her rings. "You know how your mother loved kids and she would just grab them and hug them. She was always saying to them, 'You speak English? You speak English?'"
It was a delightful morning and I just have to treasure the ones I have because tomorrow he could be down and bedridden again. He is getting more forgetful and we really have to make sure he is taking his medications at the correct times. He will insist he has taken something and actually hasn't--so we have to be diligent and observant about that. He does get very out of breath when he gets up and moves and we find that the nurse was right. If he takes a dose of morphine about 10-15 minutes before he gets up his breathing is much better. If he waits to take it after he gets out of breath, it takes much longer for him to recover.
But most days his spirits are up and he is so grateful for any care he gets. When we bring him breakfast in bed, he grins and says he is "living the life of Riley". We should all have such an outlook on life!
