"Get out of here! You're the dirtiest one of the bunch!"
We went to visit Grandpa last night, and as we approached his door, he was coming out of the room, with his belt coiled in his hand. Upon seeing Vince, he raised his arm and threatened him with these words and with a whipping motion of the belt. Thinking he was joking, we come up close to hug him and distract him. Got the belt away from him. Got him calmed down, and back into the room. I was bringing him a new cordless razor, and since he needed a shave, I got him to stand quietly with his eyes closed while I shaved him. He almost fell asleep standing there. Then, got him to brush his teeth... which he refused to do at first, then refused to stop doing.... and got him tucked into bed. And brought the belt home with us.
On the way out, we mentioned his behavior to the night nurse Mo, wondering if he was this way just with us or with everyone. Turns out it's pretty common. "Yup", he said. "That sounds like him".
Interesting how his sudden flash of emotion made him very articulate with his words.
That's a bit disturbing to read. Growing up with him, there are many a time I have seen him coming down the hallway at me very angry and with belt in hand, teeth clenched to 'straighten me out' for whatever transgression I did. Usually it involved making tons and tons of racket in the room with or fighting with Jerry. Whoever yelled the loudest got Dad coming down the hall... Sometimes we laughed, sometimes we ran away, sometimes the belt was just a prop, sometimes not.
ReplyDeleteStill sad to think about his decline.
Yeah, I had a flashback of the same horrible memory when I saw him coming at us with the coiled belt. :(
ReplyDeleteHe got into a kerfluffle the other day with another male resident. No one knows who started it. An attendant heard the noise, ran to the room and saw the two men close together, now with their arms around each other instead of hitting each other. Grandpa had gotten a bonk on his cheek. Apparently it was over as soon as it started, they forgot what they were mad about!