So this week Wake Forest has galloped ahead from cool to hot, from early spring to early summer, and Monday saw 80-degree temperatures to go along with all that lovely pollen saturating the air!

It also meant I could get dad out and about to explore his new neighborhood and get his bearings. He was very happy to see the beautiful yellow field (see more pictures) and we bumped across the rough terrain to get the best look we could.

This transition into assisted living has gone well – the staff are caring and professional – but it is hard for dad to grasp the big picture; and it is even harder for mum to be on board with the assessment that this is the right intervention at this time.

So we head out there a couple of times a day, I do my best to make sure my parents stay well connected and positive, and then I do damage control in the evenings when mum isn’t feeling quite so good about the situation.

I can tell this is going to be a challenging leg of the journey.

Fun with idiom:

On a lighter note, I have been reminded how important it is that we communicate clearly, especially when idiom can be so unique and the person speaking may have lived their formative years in another culture – maybe the United Kingdom!

Yesterday, when mum was reading with dad in his room, he expressed the need to use the restroom (another idiom). Mum went into the kitchen to alert one of the caregivers. “David needs to pass water,” was all she said.

A minute or two later, not sure of who was going to be passing water to whom, his caregiver came in with two glasses of H2O for them to drink – one each.

Monday evening my mum got a phone call from assisted living. “David wants to talk,” the lady said. But dad acted confused and really had nothing to say. Mum was distressed.

The next day I figured it out. I asked one of the caregivers: “Did dad say something like, ‘I’m busting to make a call?'” I asked.

“That’s right,” she said. “So I handed him the phone right away.”

“I’m busting to make a call” really means, “I badly need to go to the bathroom.”

Good to know. Fun times. I am sure there are more to come!

Peace – DEREK