I’m a HUGE football fan, college mostly. Don’t hate me for being a graduate of The Ohio State University. I went there because it was close. I had no affinity for it and barely enjoyed football at that point in my life, which was my early 40’s.
This was also the last Saturday for the foreseeable future when my calendar isn’t stuffed full of soccer, softball, and baseball games. So what did I do with it?
I worked, of course. I work a lot. Mostly because I’m trying to get one business off the ground so it can sustain me, instead of the other business I have that currently sustains me. That means they both get a lot of my time. It’s those activities – footall, baseball, softball, and soccer, that become my refuge.
Saturdays around here aren’t different from any other day most of the time. Everyone gets up and goes about their typical day.
Yesterday, however, my brother, Mark, and I went down to COSI, which is a local science museum. They’ve had a King Tut exhibit there since May. We all went a few months ago – Mom, Dad, Mark, and I, and it was this side of disastrous. It was when we realized that Dad can no longer do those types of events.
He has arthritis in his neck and spine and walking any distance for him is a trial. Had I realized how much walking there was, I would have nixed it before it even got started. It wasn’t fair to him. He enjoyed it, but he didn’t because all he wanted to do really was sit down. Had we gone without him, he wouldn’t have known the difference.
The end result of taking him, however, was that we were all distracted by keeping an eye on him. He wanders off, probably to find a place to sit, which didn’t exist in the exhibit. Mark went after him, but by then we were all distracted by his need to sit down and a fear of losing him.
So, Mark and I went back yesterday, and I’m happy and also sorry to say that we enjoyed it more because we didn’t have that worry of losing Dad. We were able to wander it at our own pace, which was similar and we were both good about patiently waiting for the other when needed. We spent a couple of hours there, including having lunch, which was unusually good for a place like that.
The next event we usually go to is a local Greek Festival. There’s no way Dad can go. In fact, we’ve only taken him once in the last few years. Mom and I enjoy the dancers and wandering the craft area. Dad just wants to eat, and quite frankly, we have better Greek food less than a mile away.
I’m not sure Mom can do it this year, though, because of her foot, so we’ll see. I think we missed it last year due to bad weather, so it might fall off of our radar altogether. The weekend or two after that is the German Festival! Dad enjoys that one and we can usually get a little golf cart person to drive us from the parking lot to the food tent.
But last year, I lost him and it scared me to DEATH. He wanted a beer while I was waiting for his bratwurst in a different line. I could see him for a long time as the booths backed up to one another, but then, he was gone. I panicked! I told the girl at the brat booth I’d be back and then set out looking for Dad. If memory serves, he finally found his way back to Mom, who texted me to let me know.
This year, I’ve made her promise to stay with him while I get the food for everyone. I can’t go through that again. I was terrified that he would wander off and we’d never find him. That event is packed full of people and it’s at the same fairgrounds that they do the Ohio State Fair, so it’s HUGE.
So that’s Saturdays without football. A hodge podge of events mixed in with nothing. Either is fine, but as they both become more challenging, the events are starting to wear me thin. We’ll see what this year brings!
Do you struggle with someone who has memory loss? How do you manage taking them places?