Best Christmas Gift of 2017

Over the Christmas break our family had the wonderful opportunity to spend a morning with Dad. This February will mark the two year anniversary of Dad moving into the senior care center. It was most definitely a needed move but hard on all of us.
-Mom promised she would never put dad in such a facility but she also didn't know what life would be like as his health continued to decline. Being a caregiver is exhausting in every part of life. For mom's health, she needed this help.
-For the at least the first year, every time mom saw dad he asked her to take him home. These were the times I started to see mom really break. It was hard for her to say she couldn't take him home. Dad's hallucinations and confusion grew making it impossible for him to live at home. However, there were (and still are) times that dad thinks clearly. Knowing you are losing your ability to care for yourself must be tragic.
-For me, I felt like dad should have been moved into a nursing home months before mom finally caved to the facts. However, it was also so hard to see dad make that permanent transition. With the exception of this week's visit, every time I see dad he has declined from the previous visit. I miss dad so much!

Back to the blessing of seeing dad this week. The girls didn't love leaving the house at 6:45am, they usually have another 3 hours of slumber. However, the early departure allowed us to get to dad's place by 9:30am and have two quality hours together. I was pleasantly surprised to see dad wide awake watching Andy Griffith Show. And then came several beautiful moments, first dad knew me and knew the girls were his granddaughters and second during our conversation he laughed several times. Seeing his genuine smile was heartwarming. Most of our conversation was confusing but moments made sense. At one point Dad even asked me if I needed some money. So sweet!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!