me, my dad and dementia #27 – a whirlwind week

On Monday night we had a fab rehearsal which gave us all a chance to see the video clips that “go with” the songs we’re singing. I believe people not only understood them but enjoyed them….not so for my Dad. He had a very hard time understanding what they were about.

He is also still struggling with the “fast” pieces. Overall, he’s singing about 85% of the material fairly decently. But that is not enough for him. He is simply not enjoying it as a result of not being able to do it all anymore.

He’s decided this will be his last show. I am incredibly conflicted but will abide by his decision. In fact, I intend to “retire” him properly so that he can bear witness to what his 30some years of service in the choral community in St Albert has done for so many.

Then, on Tuesday we had our final rehearsal with Forte Plus and Seniors Acting Out Together in the afternoon, followed by a fantastic performance in the evening.

He was quite confused by the whole “why on a Tuesday? don’t we usually do this on a Wednesday?” but after repeated answers from me, he did seem to settle into it.

We drove home after the afternoon rehearsal and I suggested he take a nap. He’s very resistant to naps generally but he understood the reason this time and so agreed. When he got up, he appeared at my place without his glasses. We went to look for them but couldn’t find them. And I mean we looked everywhere! Even the fridge!! But nope.

Fortunately, we had a spare pair albeit with his old prescription. So he could read his script and the music but he couldn’t see distances. And yes, he did really well at the show! I was very happy for him.

We got home and continued the search since he was very upset by the loss of his glasses. And yup, we found them! He had taken his nap on his daybed which is located near his office desk. The day bed has lovely metal decorative swirls on the back of it…..the glasses were hanging on one of those swirls! SO hard to see!! But whew. He was immediately overjoyed and his mood was very lifted. Yeah, I should have hit him up with “wanna keep singing on Monday nights?” HAH (no, I didn’t do that)

Today, he is very upbeat. Just called his sister in Winnipeg. This is always a mood lifter for him. They are both suffering with dementia so they forget how often they talk to each other. But they love it each and every time! Nice.

Now I will go over and work on some balance and stability exercises since he believes his walking has gone “downhill” over the last week. It hasn’t. His walking went downhill a long time ago…..just sayin’…..

Later today, I’ll write a script and order of evening for our 50s pop-up Mother Knows Best show! WHEEE! (and the update is yes, I did and yes, it’s gonna be SO fun)

And it’s only Wednesday!