Don't Quit Your Day Job!

 I was shaving Steve this morning and he started to laugh at me. 

  It's true.

 

 I asked him what was so funny.

 

"You shouldn't quit your day job."

Funny guy.

Why, yes, I can read just fine.

 

Dear Sweet Rebekah sent Steve another card.  I had to edit part of it because

it was too long but here is most of it.

 

You are really making his day Rebekah!

Older people can't learn ... um, about that.

Someone said recently (and this is an exact quote), "Older people can't learn.".  She is a narrow-minded so-and-so.  I would like every person over the age of, oh, say, 65 to give her a call with what you learned today ... this week ... heck, let's go with this month!

Here is what Steve is learning.

First step to learning how to use a new unweighted
big grip fork?  Give the guy learning his favorite
dessert.  CHEESECAKE!

Second step.  Don't get your hands in the way
while he scarfs down said cheesecake!

And then give him a palate cleansing bowl of
applesauce.
Looks like learning to me.

Never Too Old To Have Fun

The Tech Museum has a new exhibit.  It is blocks that are placed on an 'electronic' board that lights up and connects them to speakers and play a variety of music types and beats.  The docent was fun, helping Steve move and connect the blocks. 

Being Alive is a Good Thing!

Hilarious

I wish I had a 360' camera. 

You would see Tylor dancing with his

hat the same as Steve's above.

Tylor asked Grandpa how he liked his look.

This was Grandpa's response.

Hilarious.  Seriously.

You're Never Too Old To Steal Someone Else's Girl

Scene:  Shaving Steve while sitting on his bed.  Sunshine streaming through the windows.  Steve is pensive but interjecting an occasional thought.

Steve:  Will you marry me?
Me:  Uh, what?
Steve:  I've always wanted [a] girl like you.
Me:  I may have to talk to Jim about this.
Steve:  Oh.
Me:  Jim might be upset if I ditch him.
Steve:  Okay.  Don't [want to] upset him. (laughs)
Me:  Yeah, this might.

I laughed so hard I almost peed myself.  The man is hilarious.

So, I'm thinkin' about it... here's my possible ring choice.  What do you think?

What's A Selfie?

 Steve and I were sitting watching pre-season baseball yesterday.  I was reading text pictures on my phone.  Here was the conversation:

Steve:  What's that?
Me:  My phone?
Steve:  No, what are you doing?
Me:  Looking at selfies someone sent me.
Steve:   What's a selfies?
Me:  It's a picture you take of yourself with your phone.
Steve:  Show me.

Here are the results.  He was laughing at how it worked and seeing himself on the screen. 

 Living is fun.

We're Walkin'...or Waitin'.

Steve and I went downtown yesterday because the kids were starving and I never have food in the house that they want to eat.  What is that all about?

We ordered pizza and were told it would be 20 minutes.  We decided to walk around outside since it was such a nice day.  We came back and the pizza wasn't done yet.  So, we got a Coke and waited. 

Steve was looking at the placards on the wall.  It was mostly Sharks stuff.  He was reading all of it and commenting on going to Sharks games with Linda once.  Nice memory.

Reading Aloud

Yesterday Steve received a sweet card

from my nephew's wife, Rebekah West.

He was surprised and smiling as he opened it.

 

He read every word very clearly.  Then he asked,

"Who's Rebekah?"

Me:  "My niece."

Steve: "This is a nice card."

Me:  "It is!"

Steve:  "Am I going to get another?"

Me:  "Maybe."

 

He was tickled.

 

Thanks Rebekah!!



Kondakova: A Little Light Reading

Years ago Steve bought two Kondakova lithographs that hang in his house.  They are beautiful.  When we bought our lithograph we received a coffee table book of her works.  I brought it out yesterday and Steve spent a leisurely hour enjoying the pictures and reading the titles to me.  He was humming to himself when he wasn't talking.  It was a lovely hour.

 

This is the picture we have in our living room.



A Little Mexican Dish ... and Dessert

Grandpa was seriously in the mood for a Modela, aWet Burrito and a Casadia.

Oh, and an ice cream sandwich while reading the newspaper.

Aphasia - Is That You Talking?

Something that really bugs me is how most people think Steve is incapable of understanding them since he has dementia.  Eve started talking over and around Steve several years ago and it bugged me then.  Steve understands most of what is going on around him.  But because he can't always verbalize what he wants to say they think, "Well, he can't talk.  He can't think.".  People are stupid.

Expressive aphasia (non-fluent aphasia) is characterized by the loss of the ability to produce language (spoken or written). Sufferers of this form of aphasia exhibit the common problem of agrammatism. For them, speech is difficult to initiate, non-fluent, labored, and halting. Writing is difficult, as well. Intonation and stress patterns are deficient. Language is reduced to disjointed words, and sentence construction is poor, omitting function words and inflections (bound morphemes). A person with expressive aphasia might say "Son ... University ... Smart ... Good ... Good ... " (Wikipedia)

Steve has moments when he gets out very clear sentence but few people hear them because he only speaks clearly when he is calm or happy and not stressed.  He has been stressed for a while.  You also have to listen.  Few people take the time to just ask a question and then wait for an answer.  It can be a few seconds or a minute or more.  Sometime Steve answers a question I asked 20 minutes before - and we have had a couple more questions in between - and I have to go back and think about what I asked. 

I think the aphasia Steve has falls into a couple of categories and at his age no one is going to really do a bunch of testing to see what he specifically has.  Here is what I know: Steve gets what is going on and has become depressed often by conversations held around him, about him. 

We need to remember that people are no matter what state YOU think they are in.  Respect and love will get them and you to a much better place.

What Are You Thinking

Sometimes when I look at Steve I wonder what he is thinking.  And other times I don't wonder: I know.  We have moments of such clarity that it seems like he is back to his old self.  But I'm not sure I would appreciate what an interesting and caring man he is if we hadn't been given the chance to spend a lot of time together. 

I remember in 2010 I found Steve's brother's obituary.  (see below)  I printed it out and went to see him.  Steve didn't talk about his brother much since their mother's funeral.  When I told him about his brother Steve looked at me and said, "I'm alone."  I thought how sad to be the last one left of your childhood family. 

I think that this was a bit of a  turning point for Steve and my relationship.  We didn't need to say anything to understand each other.  He still gives me those looks during quiet moments when we know what the other has to say without saying words.

And no, you are not alone.

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Dr. Mitchell L. Voydat

Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 12:00 am            

Dr. Mitchell L. Voydat of Malibu, a noted academic and educator, died at his home in his sleep on April 30. He was 85.  He served as professor of education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  While at UCLA, Voydat's influence was notable in assisting Eunice K. Shriver at the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation in the visit of psychologist Dr. Maria Egg. When Ronald Reagan began his term as governor, Voydat also moved to Sacramento when he was chosen as Bureau Chief to lead California's Elementary and Secondary Education Department. A pioneer in the study of continuation education and a noted expert, he was responsible for setting minimum standards for high school continuation education.

During World War II, Voydat served in the OSS, which later became the CIA. He also served under General Patton in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, helping to build bridges in Central Europe and the Rhineland. Four days before D-Day, Voydat parachuted into France to help set up advanced communications systems for the Allied Forces.
He was born June 2, 1924 in New York. He was awarded numerous certificates for achieving a score of 100 percent on the New York State Regents' Math Exams. He was also awarded an athletic basketball scholarship to the University of Mississippi. Voydat received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and an Ed.D from Columbia University.
He is survived by his wife of almost 58 years, Laura; six children: Laura Richardson of Camarillo, Mitch Voydat of San Pedro, Brice Nielsen of Santa Barbara, Nina Weisberg (Dave) of Calabasas, Aimee Handal (Doug) of Malibu, Joseph Voydat (Beth) of Tigard Oregon; 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Feelin' Costco

Here's the thing about Costco... ready?  It's big....  You can't leave mad.  Can't.  No way. 

Steve and I went to Costco on Tuesday for about an hour and a half.  Steve very happily pushed the cart around stopping periodically to look at some new product or an old one he hadn't had in a while.  Here's what Steve found:

Blue Moon Beer - An entire case.  Yup.  Beer makes this man happy.  He's almost 88 and if beer is what makes him smile so be it.

Exotic Tea - Jasmine Honey, Organic Earl Grey, Breakfast Blend (all in very cute silk pouches) - This is the other beverage of choice for Steve.  He loves a hot cup of tea once or twice a day.

Highland Meadows Organic Beef Jerky - This was less for him and more for Jim.  Steve saw it and said Jim would love it, so, we bought it.  Simple gifts from the heart .. or the stomach.

Raspberries - We bought the big package and I was thinking I was going to have to make sorbet out of half of them at least.  We got them home and Steve had about a quarter of them for lunch and another good handful for breakfast.  Yum.  Not enough left for sorbet now.

Hot Dog and Soda - It was only 11 and Steve thought of lunch and asked for a hot dog.  Of course you can.  Why?  Because, "I do what I want!".

It was an excellent day to be alive.

Yowch! Hiachu

Podiatrist help!

How is a hole not a wound?

An appointment please.

Puzzled?

Grandpa asked me for a pen as we were sitting with the paper. 

He found a puzzle.

He worked on it for 10 minutes and told me about

what he was doing the entire time.

Puzzles are hard.

:-)



People People Watching

 
 
 

 This is what you get when you sit and watch people at the mall... two amused people smiling.

A lady just walked by and Steve said, "Not bad."....and smiled.  Bad Grandpa!  :-)

Two Weeks

After two weeks being out of prison - I mean Vasona - things are settling into a semi-predictable routine.  Things aren't perfect but who ever said life would be perfect?  And if they did they didn't have kids, a job, relatives or a life.

First off, I would like to thank Pinterest for helping me solve the bib issue.  I found a post about a too complicated man-bib but I solved that by purchasing a couple of extra large men's shirts and cutting off the sleeves, back (up to the yoke), and collar to make a very good, and stylish, man-bib.  No tucking required!  No sewing required either!

Being more positive and not dwelling on the bad are keeping my head and heart clearer.  Everytime I find myself slipping into a negative place I yell, "STOP IT!".  I did this yesterday while running and scared a guy getting into his truck.  I was a little embarrassed but then I remembered I don't know the man nor will I see him again soon.  All better.

I have discovered an on-line support group I am checking out when I feel I am getting overwhelmed.  I need to not burden my siblings ALL the freaking time.  I am limited to 5 minutes with them and then we move on to happier subjects.  I am hoping the on-line support will fulfill my need to talk about it sometimes and to gather useful information.

I am looking for ways to keep Steve active without tiring him out so suggestions would be helpful.  We currently do these things regularly: walk at the park, go grocery shopping, run errands, go for drives around the neighborhood, have lunch out, and he sits while I garden.  What else?

Thanks friends!

Um, Yes, I do want seafood, thank you.

Steve and I went grocery shopping.  I let him pick dinner.  Can I just say my food budget is bust for the rest of the month!  King crab legs and wild caught salmon are not cheap.  But, oh, are they so good....

Brown butter Salmon
with Capers



Steve enjoying seafood and herbal tea



And, it's good!