#7 – Under Pressure
The other day I was driving my Dad to the lecture series he attends at a nearby senior centre and a rap “take” on Under Pressure came on the radio. Normally, I always change the station to CBC when we get into the car together, but this time I hadn’t done so. Anyhoo, Dad turns to me and says “there are some good lyrics in Under Pressure”. I almost slammed on the brakes and caused an accident! “Indeed” I said calmly. I told him that Queen and David Bowie originally created the song together. He knew who they were!! Another “almost accident” moment for me as I swerved wildly in my mind. I asked if he would like to hear the original when we got home and he said yes. Screech! And finally, he suggested that perhaps he needed to take another good look at the lyrics since he feared he had misjudged that song initially. Bang, crash!
While I managed to not swerve or slam on brakes or hit my head against the steering wheel in a whiplash moment or even drive into anyone in my shock, I was completely taken aback and completely grateful for the moment.
Sometimes, my husband and I will talk quietly in the front seats of our car while my Dad is a passenger in the back. Often, he doesn’t seem to notice….except when he does! I have recently realized that there is nothing wrong with his hearing. Instead this is just dementia deciding when he can focus and when he cannot. How wild.
Seatbelts are another issue too. He sometimes forgets to put his on and we must remind him. My Dad always takes the reminder with grace and good humour. Cool.
Well perhaps I need a seatbelt for my mouth…..I’ll tell you more about that next week. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, my father performs with Forte Plus tomorrow night as a bass, Jacob Marley and a “townsfolk”. He’s really good. And he enjoys it.
And me? I think part of why we are on this earth together is to do this exact thing together. To sing, to perform, to elevate, to think, to ponder, to work together, to help each other, to bring more into our lives and hopefully for others.
And for as long as we can. ….because….why wouldn’t we?
