New and Improved!

“It’s like one room. It’s an hour of work, ” my brother texted when I informed him that I would be at Waterford all day.

Ha. I knew better as I anticipated the mounds of paperwork. I wasn’t disappointed.

Entering my father’s room was like stepping back in time. Papers, cards, pictures never hung from when we moved him to Waterford last summer…. it was overwhelming but right up my alley.

“Wow, Michelle. You have a huge job to do,” Amanda, the resident assistant commented. “There is so much paper in here, but we just didn’t know what to do with it.”

I totally understood. Who wants to go through paperwork when you are just struggling to keep the people alive during COVID?

Going through my dad’s papers was like time traveling. Notes from last year, Christmas cards, letters….. it didn’t seem to end. Everything went in the trash. My dad started getting a little suspicious. “Hey, what are you throwing away there?” he asked. “It’s junk, Dad.” I reassured him. He didn’t seem too convinced.

After the paperwork came the clothing purges. I opened up the closet which was full to the brim of his clothing. The rack broke under the weight of the excessive clothing. However, Brian, the maintenance tech was quick to fix it as well as helping with the picture hanging. Progress!

I was most excited about the horse picture located at the home store! However, Dad was not impressed. “That doesn’t look like Tony, ” he commented. Tony is the name of the horse he always mentions. Undaunted, I encouraged him to use it as a writing topic. “This will remind you of horse stories, Dad!”

I still have more work to do on the room, but it will need to take place later.

The day drew to a close rather quickly and we headed out to my brother’s house for dinner. It was great to be able to take him out and drive by my favorite destination, Lake Michigan.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with my father, brother, Hope, Gavin, and Sharon, Hope’s mom-in-law. Both Sharon and my father have now been vaccinated!

The evening ended with my father receiving more I-Pad lessons from my brother. It was a wonderful way to spend a Friday. My dad mentioned the picnic idea again. Summer is coming!