Author: Jensen

I join Don at the kitchen table for a breakfast of cinnamon French toast. One of his favorites.  Kristy: Now that it’s been more than a week since I fell down the front porch stairs, I am getting some feeling back in the left side of my backside. At least I can touch that area…

Sounds slightly pornographic, but what I felt was the fracture part on each step all the way to the ground. I had set an alarm for 6:15 a.m. on a cell phone and placed the phone in a holder right next to extra pillows on my bed. Cats are due at the vet clinic at…

My welcome home from Mexico this morning was from Don at 11:45 a.m. when he put his non-microwaveable travel mug in the microwave and melted the rubberized non-skid bottom to the surface. Not the rotating plate, but the actual surface of the microwave. Forget the delicately sweet Arabica bean coffee partnered with a creamy froth…

Don was right on schedule for his early to bed routine last night. At least he stretched it to 5:30 p.m. He woke up briefly at 10 p.m. I heard him shuffle into the kitchen and quickly back to bed. I go to check on him and make sure he actually got back in bed…

I remove slippers and socks and clip Don’s toenails. Not the most pleasant of chores, no matter how closely connected you are to a person. I remind him he needs to take a shower today, so do not put your socks back on before taking a shower. We all know what’s next. The timing, however,…

Today is one of those days where physical, emotional and mental health are compromised for me.  We are all familiar with the stages of grief and recovery from a tragic or life changing loss. Death and divorce always at the top of that list. We can also add loss of a home or business from…

I find Don rummaging through the kitchen on the hunt for a plastic bag so he can go fishing. Then he moved on to the bedroom to search for his wallet as he needed to find his fishing license. Now, I’ve never been much of a fisherman, but I couldn’t ever remember a plastic bag being…

… The Cuckoo’s Nest … and landed at my house. Today Don’s delusions include seeing 30 people in the living room. Don: I need the address of my house so I can go home. There’s too many people in here. Kristy: You don’t even know your own address, yet you think you should go home?…

Although this is no Karate Kid story or lessons learned in Kung Fu, I will steal some applicable language to emphasize the simplest of cognitive skills. Don flooded his bathroom sink again and water ran down inside the cabinet and onto the floor. I cleaned up and suggested he try to remember better next time…

Don: Is anyone else going to be running around the house today? Kristy: Not today. Hunter is coming tomorrow. Don: He’s alive???? Kristy: Did you think he was dead? Don: Yes. Kristy: How did it happen? Don: A fire. Kristy: Where? Don: At his work. No, his furniture warehouse. Kristy: Well, then who’s coming tomorrow?…