THANKFUL FRIDAY

My dad has always been that guy who will tell you the same story every time he sees you. It used to be that he would tell you about some event that happened at the flea market and then a month later he'd tell you that tale again. Gradually, the gap between telling the story shrunk. Months turned to weeks turned to days turned to hours turned to minutes. Because this was something we were just kind of used to from dad, none of us really thought too much about it. Sometime in March, Dad was up for a drive and he took me to dinner. He got confused and a little lost on our way from my house to the restaurant up the street. That was the first inkling that any of us had that there was something seriously wrong with Dad. None of us expected such a drastic decline though. The doctors have finally decided that he has advanced Alzheimer's. So here's the part where I dig deep on finding something to be grateful for. One diagnosis for Dad's illness was Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (or something like that). It's basically a human form of Mad Cow disease and if you decide to do any reading on it, you will find that it's a pretty scary brain disease. I am thankful that Dad does not have this. Right now he's in a hospital that is at least an hour's drive for my family. Plans are being put in place to move him to a good facility closer to home. I'm thankful for that. I am thankful that he will get the care he needs.

So that's that. Every day this week has been a physical drag for me (I think I need iron supplements). I am thankful for those evenings when Michael has turned to me and said "let's just veg out on the couch tonight". I am thankful that he has taken the mower away from me. That's been a hard battle. I HATE that chore, but I have been the most stubborn about giving it up. I still feel a little guilty for letting him do it. I'm thankful that he's bold enough to put his foot down and say "you are going to let me do this".

I am thankful for all of you who have given to the Donors choose program that we funded this month. You guys continue to amaze me. I thankful for all the kind words and well wishes for my dad. I am thankful for you.

Here's to a weekend where I get everything together. And a very Thankful Friday.