Saturday - Steve & Rita Leave

(Note:  I think I fixed the settings so comments can now be added.)

The Gang Green in Savannah is getting smaller by the day.  Steve and Rita left after our late breakfast.  Rita was the Kitchen Queen cooking and cleaning nonstop since she's been here, thank you very much!  Steve was wonderful with Dad, helping with every little thing, attending to his personal needs, listening to his stories and providing much needed comic relief.

Dad's night was too short last night, waking up at 4 AM then every hour until about 7 when the rest of the crowd decided to stay up.  Libbie and Steve went WAY out of their way to drive to McDonald's to get Dad his favorite sausage cheese biscuit.  They were half way home when they discovered the order wasn't right.  Back they went, reordered, and came home.  Unfortunately, Dad's sausage and cheese was on a McGriddle instead of a biscuit, but Dad ate every bite.  It was a lot of time and effort on their part to give Dad a special breakfast, which was very gracious of them!

Dad took a long nap after breakfast, and Libbie and I took a 3-mile walk.  Then we had showers, did catch-up work on our computers, and it was lunch time.  Dad woke up.  He complained of chest and back pain, which is getting to be a more common complaint.  We gave him a shot (by mouth) of his liquid morphine booster.  For the first time in ages, I gave him a lunch without asking what he wanted.  He started talking about peanut butter and jelly, but I already had a hot dog and mac & cheese on his plate.  He was perfectly happy, especially when Lib gave him a bowl of ice cream with the last brownie (from Rita) for dessert.

Then, surprise surprise, a box of oatmeal cookies arrived via FedEx, courtesy of Mom.  These cookies were shipped from St. Louis, where Mom and Dad used to get them during their high school days.  Dad was thrilled!  He asked for a malt to go with his first cookie.

It was football time - Dad snoozed on and off in the afternoon, possibly due to the extra morphine, and at one point wanted more ice cream but had peaches and jello instead.  He was wide awake and hungry again by 6.  We had salads and spaghetti bolognese.

Dad was ready for bed by 8:30, but we managed to keep him up for another hour.  He did very well in the transfer from big blue chair to wheelchair, wheelchair to bed, and sitting position to sleeping position.  He took all his pills without complaint and happily settled down for the evening.

He was very complimentary today of all his family and all we do for him.  He had some imaginative moments, handing me an nonexistent remote to put on the table, for example, but nothing major.  Most of his conversations were right on target.  It was a calm and easy day.

Libbie leaves tomorrow, and I'll miss her.  Besides being good company, she laundered all the sheets on the beds, did all the towels, washed a ton of dishes, made salads, kept me walking fast on our route, gave us an hour to visit some returning friends, and jumped up whenever Dad needed something.  She'll be here with Dad tonight while Dave and I go home, but she has strict orders to call if she needs help.  I hope Dad, and therefore Libbie, sleep well!