Opa

On the 13th of March, with my mom being out of the country, I had my dad and Erika over for dinner. It was my parents Sunday of having Opa over for dinner, so I told my dad to just bring him over with him if Opa didn't mind.

It just breaks my heart to see Opa struggling with the simple task of walking, even with a walker. He's just been on a steady decline, and working in the field that I do, I see how fast they can decline.

I had made my "Better than Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo" with mushrooms on the side (my dad doesn't like mushrooms), along with salad and garlic bread. While I was finishing up cooking, Opa commented on how beautiful my home was, and had done a really good job. I thought that was sweet of him to say. When it was time to eat, my dad and I helped grandpa to the table. I have a counter height table with bar-like stools. It was a little hard to get him sitting in the chair. He ranted on how good my dinner was, and then after, if you've had Opa over, you know he's ready to leave after he's done eating. LOL. He's ALWAYS been that way, and I just have to laugh every time. Well, my dad obliged, and I helped him out to the car. When he used his walker, it was hard to scoot it across the ground. I decided I would get some "Walker Skis" to put on the back legs of his walker to help it glide better.

Monday after work, I went over to Opa's house to put them on his walker. He was so grateful for something so little. He asks me "How much do I owe ya?" I told him he's done enough for us, and that it was our time to take care of him. (When I was little, I remember going over to "the office," and he would give you a dollar, or five dollars just because.)

On Tuesday, he was hospitalized for his gallbladder being full of gallstones, on top of the bladder infection he's been fighting. We went in to visit him because he was going to have surgery the next day to remove his gallbladder. Everyone knows that, the older you get, the harder it is to recover from surgery. I wanted to make sure to tell him that I loved him, just in case.  While visiting, he says, "Jenna, thanks for fixing my lawnmower, it works great now," I laughed and said, "You mean your walker?" He starts laughing, and says "No wonder it took so long to mow the lawn!" Even in pain, he's so full of life, and laughing.

While visiting, Uncle Mike, Uncle Chad and Jeremy were there. Grandpa kept telling us that Chad was Uncle Jimmy. Both Mike and my dad joked with him that that was Chad, that Jimmy has dark hair, and Chad has blonde hair, and that if they hadn't had so many kids, he could get them straight. Grandpa laughs and says he wouldn't change any of it for the world.

His surgery went well, and he's been in rehab at St Joseph's Villa (where grandma had been, and also where grandpa served a mission) for a little over a week now. I know he'll get great care there because they took great care of grandma when she was there.

Cherstin emailed all of us this morning, and she had been assigned to put together a photo book of some sort so it can jog his memory with his Alzheimers. I think it's a great idea, and hopefully everyone participates. It would be great for grandpa to have all those to keep those memories close.