Living with Bob and "Al"

Dear. Lord, Your grace still amazes me.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri had learned the hard way that if she was out and about with "the boys", to find a family restroom for "Al". She has, on more than one occasion had to ask a stranger to see if they can guide "Al" out of the restroom. Now however it appears even in a family/handicap restroom, finding the way out is causing "Al" much distress. After what Sheri thought was a very long trip in the bathroom she finally opened the door to find "Al" standing there with is arms crossed in front of him. Sheri said are you ok? To which "Al" replied with frustration in his voice "I couldn't find you."
Sheri hates this disease.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Bob watched Daniel O'Donnell all day Sunday, over and over again. At 4pm when Sheri finally decided enough was enough and turned off the DVD, "Al" looked up from his beads and said " What happened to my music?" Sheri replied "well, its over." "Al" looked at Sheri with big brown puppy dog eyes deep disappointment in his voice and said " but I wasn't done yet."
Heavy sigh.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri took Bob and "Al" to the Minnesota Arboretum yesterday. Bob and "Al" slapped their way through 4 hours of live music, they had a wonderful time. Although Sheri thinks she may have put the boys in music overload, because Bob was whistling "it's a Grand old Flag" in his sleep :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri has been trying to live in the moment, but in doing so she forgot that all the dishes in the sink and the laundry can not move to the next moment ... without her :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Well it looks like "Al"added professional snow plower to Bob's resume. When Sheri picked Bob up from "work" (code for Adult Day Center)  yesterday she asked Bob how his choir concert was and "Al" replied, "nope, no choir today... but we worked hard clearing all this snow and widening the streets"  :)
A man with such versatility :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri was trying to get the TV to work yesterday, when "Al" offered up the remote to Bob's magic chair. "Al" reached toward Sheri with the remote that is attached by wire to the magic chair and said   "Here, this should do it."  Sheri was actually quite impressed since Bob as not been able to turn on ... well anything for at least 7 years  :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri is humbled to have another article about her sometimes crazy life,  published the The Caregivers Voice web site. Sheri knows that there are other caregivers in the trenches of some form of dementia , that get no recognition, doing things way more difficult then she is, so she is dedicating this effort to bring light to the challenges all caregivers face to her comrades in care-giving everywhere. If you are reading  this now, leave a comment  on the blog by clicking on the word comment below the post, with the relation of the person you are caring for and state or country you live so we can show the world this disease has no boundaries.
Click here A Day in the Life of a Caregiver
Thank you for all you do.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri was so touched to receive so many condolence cards about her Mom's, passing.  One of the cards was from some dear friends Sheri has never met. They were friends with Bob in high school. Sheri and Bob met and married when he was 45 so she really did not know much about him in his youth, these dear friends included some pictures they had of Bob, quite a handsome fellow. This really made me smile, Thank you for sharing Janet and Jim. :)

Pardon the white blob, did not want others names to appear with out their permission :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri finally got one of those medical ID brackets on Bob, he was not happy about it at all, until she told "Al" it was a present from Sheri, Bob had a big smile on his face and said  "Oh... Thank you, thank you" Sheri just has to be creative. :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

While at the hotel in Texas "Al" struggled with the different environment. Even the different bed was a cause of confusion for him, as "Al"chose to lay horizontally across the bed instead of vertically. This of course left Bob with a good chunk of his 6'4 frame hanging off of the bed. Which if it were Bob's legs it would not have been quite that bad, however it was his head , neck and chest that Bob was struggling to hold up on his own.:)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri's note to self. "When using a scooter thingy to get around for broken foot, a pant leg stuck in wheel will result in an abrupt halt of scooter thingy. :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri is trying very hard to find joy in life each day. Sometimes it is simply breathing fresh air and realizing as she breathes, some one is taking their last breath. Or recognizing she reached her  destination safely, when others perish in senseless car or plane accidents. We are only given one life and the journey we are on is our own, gifted by God.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri has been trying hard to clean out the remaining clutter of her life. She was going through three bookcases filled with books hoping to donate some and scale back to at least 2 bookcases full ( my version of scaling back:) She came across a 90 day bible study that she and Bob did in 2011 right before they lost their house to what Sheri calls "Alzheimer foreclosure." Sheri and Bob would sit outside on the swing in her garden each evening and do a chapter together. They had learned to use a highlighter to remember which parts they thought were important. When Sheri picked up the book and opened it yesterday, she laughed as she remembered that in 2011 Bob must have really been very impressed with this bible study because "Al" had highlighted 37 CONSECUTIVE PAGES worth of sentences :)