We did it! We managed to get Dad to Winnipeg for the weekend. whew!
My aunt seems to have no short term memory left anymore but she knew who we all were so YAY. That calls for a celebration in my book. Actually, we actively celebrate anything positive as much as we can. Totally works.
Dad was still very convinced that we would be leaving after 2 hours….no clue where he got that from…..so even on the plane heading there we had to keep assuring him that we were there for 2 days, not 2 hours.
It’s amazing what his word search puzzle book can do for him. I literally hand it to him and he immediately starts in on it. Kept him busy on the flight there and the flight back. (now we got him a German one which he really really likes!)
I put 4 or 5 “signs” up all over his hotel room so that he knew where we were and what time we would knock on his door for breakfast. Of course, I totally forgot that his watch doesn’t reset itself to a new time zone anymore so…..hahaha. Anyhoo, once we convinced him to not use his pyjama top as a shirt, it was all good.
I easily encouraged my aunt and my dad and my uncle to sing a bunch of old German hymns together on the second afternoon. Nice! They all sing in tune….even my 92 year old aunt! Amazing voices in all of them.
Dad seemed a bit tired on Monday but, otherwise, we just hope he remembers this trip for as long as he possibly can. He said he felt sorry for his sister because of the tiny size of her apartment but I assured him that she’s hardly ever there – HAH! She goes “visiting” throughout the place.
At choir on Monday night, he sang everything again – amazing! Then he has to hang around and wait for Cleo to finish so he woke up quite tired on Tuesday morning. But with So Noted learning their songs so quickly (!), I might just reduce their rehearsal by 15 minutes and then start Cleo earlier and end them earlier! Bet everyone will love going home a smidge earlier.
He was completely surprised that we do readers theatre on Wednesdays but happily came along to it. Yes, he read well. And I think he sang everything. Huge thanks to one of our younger So Noted singers (who was there that day) for helping him find the right bar number at the right time.
OOH – We now have a nifty ramp for Dad’s walker so he can walk out of his back door and just wheel it down onto the sidewalk easily. YAY!
