No Grandpa!

I've mentioned before that my grandparents are in that hazy stage of life where they forget things like taking their medications, what day it is, and what in the world is going on. My mom visits them in their retirement facility regularly to ensure the important factors of living are attended to, but when she can't visit she has to settle for calling them and checking up on their well-being.

"Mom," she bellowed into the phone, "tell Dad his bath aid will be there tomorrow to help him shave and pick out clean clothes."

After repeating that about six times at continually louder volumes, she hung up only to have the phone ring one minute later.

"Hello," she said.
"Chris," my grandpa said loud enough to be heard from across the room, "what is this I hear about someone coming tomorrow?"
"Yes, your bath aid is coming."
"And I'm supposed to go down to the front door with no clothes on?"
"NO!"
"So? How can you say, 'so' to that? No clothes? It seems wrong."
"I said NO! No, please don't do that!"

Poor bath aid.

Locationally Challenged

"Makenna, where have you been?" I asked my daughter as she walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. "I've been calling for you."
"I climbed out my bedroom window and fell asleep on the roof," she answered.
"Silly me. I didn't think to look for you there."
"It was really warm up there," she explained, as if that answered all my questions.
"Well, do you know where Emery is? It is almost time for supper."
"Yeah, she is sitting on top of the chicken coop reading a book."
"Well, I know that Josiah is at a band practice at school, but I'm almost afraid to ask if you know where Drake is."
"Drake is on the top of the living room chair."
"You mean is is sitting in the chair?"
"No, he's on the top of it - gymnastic like."

And he was.

Why can't anybody be in a reasonable location?

Special

Most of life is mundane: laundry, meetings, organizing, oil changes, etc. Every once in a rare while, something comes along that is special - a moment in time that rises above others and is unlikely to be forgotten.

When you combine that special moment with some special people, it is magical.

My church puts on an Easter Egg hunt for the kids in our city who have special needs. These children have a hard time participating in such activities for several reasons: they might have a visual impairment so they are unable to see the eggs, they might have a mobility impairment so they are unable to crawl around and find the eggs, they might have a disability that makes it challenging for them to be in loud crowds, or they might simply be unable to compete with children who are faster and more nimble.

We want these kids to participate in an Easter Egg hunt where those concerns are not limiting.

I cannot describe the feeling that overtakes your heart as you watch kids in wheel chairs use a magnetized wand to pick up eggs with a magnet inside. Everything inside of you changes a little bit when you watch kids who can't see crawl around and use their hearing to search and find eggs that are beeping. The pride on their faces for having completed the challenge all by themselves is more beautiful and touching than all the art hung on the walls of the Met.

An event like this takes a year of planning and hundreds of volunteers. I was humbled by the generosity of our church, our community, and those who gave up their time to participate. But what really brought tears rolling down my cheeks was watching the teenagers who volunteered selflessly and gladly served wherever they were needed. They stuffed eggs, served food, cleaned up, answered questions, laughed, but, most of all, they treated the egg hunters the same as they treated their other friends - normal.

It was special.

Grandpa Said?

Memory loss is a terrifying and frustrating thing. But, it can also be hilarious.

My mom got a phone call that went something like this:

"Chris, talk to your father. He doesn't recognize me." Then she waited while there was much muffling the phone and shouting about who should hold it.

"Hello?" Grandpa finally barked into the receiver.
"Hi Dad. What's the problem?"
"Who is this woman?"
"It's Mom."
"Is she here to give me a haircut or something?"
"No, it's Mom."
"Is she a nurse?"
"No, she's your wife!"
"Oh, that's a relief!" he sighed. "She was in my bed, but I guess it's all on the up and up."