Monday, 31 January 2011

...Hi Dad, It's Me...

outside temp:  -2c
blooming cold & frosty

My dad, Dennis, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2001 and has been in a care home since Oct '06.  He's quite happy there and thinks he lives in a hotel where all he has to do is ring the bell & someone brings him a cuppa - even though the staff says he rarely rings!

me + dad  --  Christmas Eve 2010  --

I phone him most weekends & yesterday was no exception.  He answers the phone without problem -but hasn't called any of us for years- and we 'chatted' for a few minutes.  I say chatted, but mostly I listened while he 'rambled' about the skip outside the building - the home always seems to have one there - and why was it there with all that rubbish?

Then in mid-sentence he stopped talking and there was silence - I said
'Dad, are you still there?' to which he replied
'Hello, who is it?'

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...I tell you - Alzheimer's is a horrid, horrid thing ...