Day trip

Mossy Bank Park

     I  took a small trip to Bath, NY on Sunday to see my father and brother in-law. Dad is in a nursing home and my brother in-law is in a group home. Dad was sitting in the hallway when Ann and I got  there and he was fast asleep.( I usually try to get there before 10am in order to catch him awake.) I got to have a small conversation with him, around a minute. The rest of the time he slept and I just sat and watched.  After a few minutes a resident scooted to us with his wheelchair and said to us "you two look well rested". You could tell the gentleman just wanted to converse with us. He had a plastic necklace on and a straw hat with a colorful band on it. I said I liked his necklace and he said " I think it's kind of ugly. But, it brings up conversation." I asked him if he got much company and he said no, they are too busy and that his wife and him never had children. All the whole time you could see loneliness in his eyes. He also said he liked to fish and at that moment my father sits up and says"let's go fishing!"  I said' let's go! And, he dozed off again. We stayed a few more minutes and woke him long enough to say we would see him next week. I might try to find the other gentleman to talk with him too next time. I figure there are close to 100 relatives in my family to see dad, I can give that lonely man a few minutes of my time.

     We then headed to my brother in-laws home. We stopped by the store and picked up his usual soda. When we got there he was sitting at the table getting ready to eat some oatmeal. He was in his grumpy state, not to us but to the aides. I have learned not to take his grumpiness to heart a long time ago. We stayed for about a half hour, talking about the relatives and who has stopped to visit. we found out why he was grumpy though, he decided he would get up and walk with his walker without help and he fell. The way he was acting he was blaming the aides for it. I just said it was his way of getting the pretty aides attention, he laughed out loud and says "YEP".
     We do find our lives busy and it is hard sometimes to pull away from our schedule to see our relatives and friends. But, we try our best to see them and sometimes thats not enough. I have relatives that are strung up and down the east coast Some I see on a yearly basis and others I haven't seen in years. So, do your best to see a friend or relative, it might mean the world to them.