![]() ![]() Not only did we all witness the culmination of 60 years of love and commitment through all of life’s struggles and joys, for a moment we had our Dad and Grandpa back again. At one point, I simply took it all in and tears rolled down my cheeks. ![]() Julie: It was so moving to see our kids and nieces and nephews interact with Dad and listen patiently to his stories of his early days with Mom. And because he had such a great day, Mom had one, too. He was able to stay all day and just enjoy his family being all together again for the first time in three years. He chuckled when our nephew’s dog wanted to hold Mom’s hand. He was happy and smiling, actually carrying on conversations with his kids and grandkids. But the day of the party, we received a great gift. Dad had several bad days in a row the week leading up to the big day, so we were all holding our collective breath. Julie: None of us knew how things would go the day of the anniversary party. At age 82 and in poor health herself, Mom just can’t do it anymore. But with his recent wanderings, turning the stove on, etc., it has become a safety issue in addition to the physical challenges of advancing dementia. He will be even more confused than he already is, and we judge the move will accelerate his memory loss. We know this will be gut-wrenching for Dad, who wants to be by my mom’s side constantly. While 60 years together is an incredible accomplishment, this was clouded earlier in the week as my mom had to make the painful decision to look into moving my dad from living with her in assisted living to living alone in the memory care building on their campus. ![]() John: It was actually bittersweet to celebrate my parents’ anniversary. Those are impressive numbers! This got us thinking about what life might be like for us if we are fortunate enough to celebrate these milestones in our own lives. Julie: It’s been a party kind of month! First, we celebrated my dad’s 85 th birthday, and then the following weekend, we celebrated John’s parents’ 60 th wedding anniversary. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |