This weekend was my first visit to see Dad since his arrival at the nursing home about 10 days ago. He was seated in his wheelchair behind the nurse’s station “working” as he is every day at 2PM. They give him a notebook or newspaper and he busily completes his imagery assignment or reading before attempting to return the paperwork to its proper place although his weak arms are barely able to lift them from his lap.
At first I thought he was back at the VA Hospital in his office. But now I think he was at the coalmines in Simpson, preparing the blasting caps for the coalminers. His father was a blaster and dad would play with the dynamite sticks while his father prepared the sticks and caps needed for his days work. The staff at the nursing home had no idea he was referring to the mines when he told them he was going to blow the place up.
I greeted him but he never aknowleged who I was, even after several promptings from the staff he still couldn’t answer them with my name. He was in a complete daze. His speech was slurred and almost impossible to understand, with sentences running into each other and out of sequence. At times he stopped and called out to his “friends” who were present only in his mind.
Our visit lasted about 2 hours and we returned him to the nurse’s station where I’m sure he resumed his “work”. I wonder if he knows we were there.
