Hello everyone
Its been a while since i have written about dad but last week when i visited i asked him if he had any stories to tell me and he flatly refused as he stated to me that I tell everyone on the internet and it can make trouble for him here when residents read my stories and get the wrong idea.

I wasn’t too concerned as he is very forgetful now so eventually stories will come out of dad sometime in the future.

So he rang me this morning desperately wanting a digital clock and asked me to take him to big W to get one .
I told him that I think mum had ordered one but ill check with her and come and take him out for lunch.

You need to remember that he is legally blind and also really deaf so i think then that living in a retirement home, that time is still important to the residents.

So i checked him out of the building with the staff and we headed off to big W and we were welcomed there with a nice friendly greeting from the lovely Michelle on arrival.

We found the clock section with a bit of help from the staff and we looked at the available selection.

There was a clock with a built in diffuser ,
I showed dad and said it would smell like roses 

 in his room with that one.
He screwed up his face in an objection with that suggestion ,
and we found a ripper with big green numbers on its display.

I held up three different clocks with different colour number displays to see which one he could see ,
He picked out the green one.

Lunch
Off to Connell’s bakery for a pie and a coffee.
It is amazing just how slow that dad eats nowadays, and how slow he walks , and things starting to change more rapidly
But he is old .

First came over an old mate of Dad’s , Aussie to say hi to Dad ,
Dad didn’t even recognise him.
Then came  Eric and Nola to say hi and Dad remembered them .

You know i just had a thought as we age that when it comes to forgetting people we should forget our enemies first ,
that would actually just make our futures brighter.

Max my respite mate is now living in Rose Lodge full time as well ,
as his Parkinson’s disease and his Lewy body dementia punishes him hard and unfortunately he has now lost his body function.
I manage to get a bit of a sly grin out of him  
but he is a little unsure of just who I am.

So after lunch dad asked me if I had a hacksaw and a file in the car?
This raised my eyebrows.

I asked him what was his plan and he explained that the management gave him a new toothbrush and it’s a bit too long for its case.
Can i cut it off?

Sure dad ,
So i left him standing outside at the entrance of Rose Lodge while i parked the car with a hacksaw and  a metal file in his hand .
We must have looked a bit sus when we entered the building and i quickly told the nurse at the front desk that it’s not at all what it looks like .

So back in dads room he got out the  new toothbrush and i cut it shorter by by pressing it on his dinner table like a work bench,
Lucky for me
It fitted

Brilliant

I tried to set the time on his new clock for him and it was frustrating as i had left my glasses behind in the car and the instructions were so tiny.
In the end i said Dad do you want to see a modern day trick?

I took a photo of the instructions on my phone and then i expanded it and hey presto the clock was set .
Dad was impressed.

After I set the time i asked Dad what the time was ?
He picked up the new clock and held it so close to his eyes and to my surprise he got the time right.
And he thinks he could ride a scooter lol

We then went to the internal Rose Lodge cafe for a coffee.
There was a lady sitting there already with a small pet ,
A furry penguin and she gladly showed me her pet .
Another lady wanted to pull mu hair ,
so she did
Another old friend of dads and mine is also turned up there and he is
Ron Gilmore,
they were  both mates in the Cape Patterson lifesaving club as young men and they won
reel  and line competitions together.

Ron joined us for coffee and I said great you and dad can chat about the old days together and it doesn’t matter if you talk about the same thing every day because you have both already forgotten what you said last time ,

They both laughed at that and they agreed with me that that is really the case ,

I asked Ron if he had stories that he wants go tell me sometime as dad wont share them with me anymore?

He is more than happy to tell me sometime some local history
So thats cool .

So i left them both chatting about good old times and contemplating life ,
love family and friends.

We are only here for a short time ,
to learn these things, Because thats what its all about.
Before you know it we are our parents living in care and the show is soon done.

So i hope that everyone can be happy and fulfilled in their own lives and spread love and hope to others that may be in a worse situation than us .

Cheers xxx
Curlyg