I live with my Mom and Dad and their weimaraner "Spencer". My Dad has multi infarct dementia

We all come from Vermont and we grew up during the 60's and 70's. One of our favorite things is cooking and so we try and stay sane by writing about cooking. I have an old cookbook from Rutland VT called "Out of Vermont Kitchens that we are going to try and cook from and see what the food tastes like.

The cookbook has some prepared foods in some of the recipes. But we will try and adapt them perhaps to modern cusine.

We also try other recipes but will dive into our Vermont roots as often as we can.

Marion Ballou Smith
The daughter of Orris and Margaret (Mageen) Ballou, Marion Ballou Smith grew up in Rutland, Vermont, graduated from Mount Holyoke College (1914), and taught botany and mathematics. In 1927 she married Esme A.C. Smith, a businessman in Rutland. Active in local business and civic affairs, Smith was the co-compiler, with Alice Chaffee Bowker and Ruth Sutton, of a fund-raising cookbook entitled Out of Vermont Kitchens, published in 1939, to benefit the Trinity Mission of Trinity Church in Rutland, and the Women's Service League of St. Paul's Church in Burlington, Vermont.

2.28.2009

Learning to adjust

My Dad's behavior becomes steadily a study to watch. He is awake all day. He can do only one task at a time now. The ability to comprehend is going away. I have to repeat myself very slowly each time I answer his repeated questions. I am now the adult which is a bizarre twist that I cannot readily digest in one chunk.

We watch him continually now. He sits downstairs by the woodstove and tries to watch TV because he thinks he must guard the stove from both of us. My mother waits until he goes for a short walk outside on the driveway and she brings the fire up and lets the flames burn good to clean out the chimmney. We act as conspiritors now in coping with my Dad. "You go upstairs and get his evening cocktail together (a watered down sherry) and I'll talk to him downstairs." We hide his jugs of cheap California sherry under the reading table's skirt by my Mom's bed. This is how we get through the day.

We are going to try Xanax if his doctor agrees that he should try it and see if it works better than his current med, a more common anti-anxiety drug.

My sister says her daughter's boyfriend might be able to help us. We can pay him under the table to help with some projects that need to get done this summer. Still need a guy to do chainsaw work. I have to learn how to use the tractor. My Dad's status is defined by his tractor and other male toys and he won't allow me on them. I'll have to tackle this in a few months.
Posted by Kimberly at 12:28 PM

2.22.2009

Taking the Car Away

My Mom and I are not allowing Dad to take the car anymore. We have to drive him when he wants to go for a walk in town. He is restless after lunch and a quick nap. He thinks he wants to go on First Street for a walk or down to the YMCA for a few laps around the indoor track.

He hollers "Wheres the keys!?" from the garage. The neighbors can all hear him. He can't hear us respond because he is deaf.

We talk about him alot. My Mom tells me about the times when they were young. Even then she says he was strange. Different than the rest of the kids in their town.
Posted by Kimberly at 2:16 PM
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