Over the Holidays....

26 Dec 18
20:00 hrs

     This fall a next door neighbour to the Wayward Inn was moved (by his family) south to Capitol City. He had been diagnosed with having dementia and Alzheimer's last year November and it wasn't getting any better. The Couch Monkeys and I were there when his family came north to pack him up. It was troubling to see him decietfully placed in a vehicle with some of his belongings and taken away. This man had been a serving member of the Queens's Cowboys for damn near 30 years and to see him diminished was - and is - troubling to me. Of course for insurance purposes someone must be looking after the residence. I had informed the neighbour's daughter that we would keep an eye on the place for them. She and her brother countered that they would pay me at which I refused payment. That's where our Jr. Couch Monkey comes in. I taught him how to carry out a proper security check of the premises and they are paying him as he needs the monies for schooling.

     The other day I was helping him carry out a walk through and he asked me this question: "If you have dementia is the make-up of your personality still the same? Are you still you locked inside your mind?

     Pretty heavy questions I would have to say.  But it comes to mind as there is a dear friend of mine, the mother of a high school chum, who is also suffering from the same conditions. She and her partner had been married 50 or more years. He was a naval veteran she had been afflicted with polio and had survived. Her early life was a torturous one that I will not divulge but now as the final curtain drains near her husband has passed from cancer several years ago and she is in a care home due to her Alzheimer's.

     It is quite sad really. Whe I was in high school she had been as a second mom to many kids when things were bad at home and her house was akin to the Wayward Inn. Things were prim and proper. Respectful, if nothing else. Oh, one guy did take financial advantage of her good will and later did the same to her eldest son. But for the most part there was never any issues.

     Things are different now. The last time I went to visit the Sages I made a point of going to see her. I may have even blogged about it but I haven't checked. Regardless,  the Jr. Couch Monkey's questions got me thinking about her. I know that I did not send her a Christmas card this year as she would not be able to connect the dots so what was the point in sending one.

      Her son and I have not spoken in quite a few years ever since I had taken it upon myself to chew him out for not being there for his parents. Not that we had been on speaking terms before but ever since my faux pas he has ignored all my  attempts to contact him.

     This brings me back to my Loin Fruit's question as one of the Sages has been going through similar symptoms. Is this individual still the same inside his/her mind? In the discussion with my progeny I used the analogy of a computer wher the subject's brain is the hard drive and the disease is a virus that is allowing the CPU to access the ROM - long term memory - but cannot process the RAM - short term memory. This leads to frustration and angst as the virus slowly eats the ROM as well. Individuals on the outside looking in can only gain access to the ROM when an icon in the form of a scent, a photo or a song snippet makes mysterious connection. All this being said, I think what makes the individual who they are is still they same but they cannot come out for us to enjoy because of the deterioration caused by the affliction.

28 Dec 18
07:15 hrs

     The Oma-nator has been knitting up a storm. Her current task is to make pussy hats. At first she was confused the process so Elric the Stalwart came over to the Wayward Inn to lend assistance. Elric the Stalwart is a Knitting Master and was able to set her on the correct path. Would I wear one of her hats? Not a problem. I care not a wit what people think of me. In fact it's fun to poke their sense of right and wrong. I once had a local Redneck tell me to go back to where I was born when he spotted me wearing a kuffi cap. He had taken offense when he thought the hat indicated that I was a Muslim. I pulled out my birth certificate and showed the mutt that I was born in Saskatoon and as it was the middle of winter I had no intention of moving back to the frozen prairie - EVER!
Fun and games

     Well Dear Readers that's all for now. The New Year will soon be upon us and the only thing I am going to do is wait for the fall out from the Special Council investigation of the Tangerine Tyrant.

     Enjoy!