Hello. I am sitting here eating a bagel. It’s one of those that’s called an “everything bagel”. It is littered with all this stuff on top such as sesame seeds and other things that are unidentifiable yet, really good. I have a block of cream cheese in the fridge, but it’s not in a tub and would take a while to get soft enough to spread, so I have just opted for butter. I think I made the right move. I could ask for a vote on this but, really? The bagel will be long gone and I probably won’t care one way or the other about the poll outcome. I mean except for YOUR opinion. Oh, and YOU!
Anyhow, I thought I would fill you people in on what’s going on with Pop and his possible case of Alzheimer’s. I wrote about it some time ago and really, I am too busy typing and eating a bagel to go find the post and link up. (Hu, I knew all that bagel blather would be useful somehow…)
So when last I wrote about it Pop was in the beginning stages of some sort of dementia problem. The thinking was possibly Alzheimer’s but, there were no guarantees since, as it was explained to Mither, Alzheimer’s is really only 100% diagnosable by autopsy. The doctors are saying now that they think he has vascular dementia. This is a disease that progresses just like Alzheimer’s and they are both treated the same way, (with very little effect).
So time is creeping forward, (unless you have a baby or toddler), and Pop has gotten progressively worse. His biggest problem has been his change in personality. Or, I guess I should say everyone else’s problem. He flies into rages that are truly terrifying at times and always at Mither. Or me, when I was there, but nothing like the way he is to Mither.
He scared her so badly the other day that she just sat and didn’t say a word while he ranted and even used the “f” word at her.
Now take a minute and realize that they have been married FOR-EVAH, and she has never heard that word from his lips. He is 73 and from the deep south. Gentlemen just don’t talk like that in front of women. Go ahead and ask him. I dare ya. 😉
The reason she didn’t respond to anything he was saying was that she was afraid he was going to go and get one of the many, many guns in the house and shoot her in his rage. I am not dramatizing here. Seriously. For the really’s.
So, when Kessa and Gilbert went to visit them Mither took those two aside and explained what they had to do. In order not to make a scene with Pop, they were to get their happy asses down to his gun range and shoot up every. single. round. of ammo in the house.
That is one huge job. Pop, has a lifetime’s collection of guns that were handed down to him, bought by him, used in Vietnam by him, given to him, etc. Many, many different kinds and shapes and sizes. (ALL PERFECTLY LEGAL, THOUGH. I mean we DO live in Texas.) What this meant is that there were dozens and dozens of boxes of ammunition in every caliber you can think of. OK, almost.
Those two spent hours trying to shoot up everything when he would be gone for one thing or another. Gilbert had a huge bruise on his shoulder and his wrist was sore. Kes didn’t shoot that diligently, but was tired of it all as well.
They never did finish. They brought home a ton of ammo that I sat in the floor and sorted by caliber and entered into evidence bags put in zip lock bags.
And then there was the guns they found that Mither had them take with them. A loaded shotgun and 9mm Luger in his pickup. This is not like the Pop I knew from my childhood. It is way overkill. Plus the gun in the top of the closet that had to go. Loaded as well.
He still hasn’t discovered the missing ammo or guns yet. Mither says that when he does she is just going to explain to him how frightened she was when he was raging at her. I really don’t think he will remember doing it though, simply because he would have apologized to her for it later if he knew.
Anyway, my house could be an arsenal, now. I have been thinking about trying to earn extra cash doing something… wonder about being a “hired gun”…? How would I work that out with H’s poopy diapers? I could take her with me as my pithy sidekick! Only she has never had a pithy word fall out of her mouth… Hummmm. I’m going to have to think on it.
I have identified some of those other seeds on the yummy bagel! Poppy and rye! Very good bagel. Think I’ll go have another.
13 comments
Comment by DeNae on February 3, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Wow, Krissa! You’ve got your hands full over there, haven’t you? My dad died suddenly at the too-young age of 66 last September, and one of the few positive thoughts that kept my mom from falling to pieces was the fact that HIS mother had a long, slow slide into dementia that really took its toll on everyone, including my dad. I know it was something he really dreaded, and I guess there is mercy for him in that he passed before this became a concern.
And thank you for dropping by my place. That JennyMac, she’s such a matchmaker! Great. Now I’m going to be singing “Fiddler on the Roof” all night. Nice to meetcha!
.-= DeNae´s last blog ..My Wrestling Cape’s at the Cleaners =-.
Comment by witchypoo on February 3, 2010 at 10:13 pm
I don’t understand why they had to shoot the ammunition. Can’t you turn it in somewhere? Or take all that crap to a gun meet?
.-= witchypoo´s last blog ..Funeral Potatoes =-.
Comment by tattytiara on February 3, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Sounds exactly like my dad’s collection, from the pieces fired in the service right down to the gun on top of the closet. These are really difficult transitions, but it sounds like you guys are doing a really great job staying on top of things. A truckload of blessings on your family, hon.
.-= tattytiara´s last blog ..Everybody’s going to see this title, aren’t they? =-.
Comment by Krissa on February 4, 2010 at 12:41 am
To Witchypoo:
They were going to be there for only a few days, I don’t know about the “gun meet”, thing. Never heard of one of those around here. Besides, why not hone your shooting skills while doing a good dead? You probably can’t relate, but it’s fun to shoot at targets… Competitive.
Comment by Mither on February 4, 2010 at 12:57 am
Well, I find that I must correct my child. They did not shoot while Pop was gone. They wanted him to think they shot up all the ammo — therefore they shot so that he could hear them. Then they took the extra ammo home with them. They left the empty boxes here so that he wouldn’t notice that all of it was gone. He has already found one empty box on top of the tv cabinet. He remarked that “those kids are going to have to start buying their own ammo, they have been using an awful lot of it!”
Comment by Quixotic on February 4, 2010 at 2:14 am
It sort of blows my mind that it’s so normal in America to have guns in a house. We had a rifle on the farm where I grew up, it’s a necessary tool for protecting your stock and sometimes sadly for euthanasing injured stock, but in Australia it would be weird to have a gun. Unless you were a gang member or something :o)
I remember my Grandad teaching me to use the little Winchester rifle on the farm, and my Dad took me to a shooting range once to teach me how to shoot a handgun too, but I was pretty intimidated by it, although not the rifle… weird…
Comment by Karen on February 4, 2010 at 8:52 am
Mither – always a mom, huh? I love that Pop thinks the kids were there just having a good time. Maybe next time they visit they can bring some of his unused ammo back to shoot. Two birds!
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Win, Lose, Draw =-.
Comment by noe noe girl on February 4, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Sorry to hear this about your Pop. I know this is hard for you. Lock up that amo. Better yet sell it! It’ll buy plenty of bagels. Take care chickie.
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Comment by Nan on February 5, 2010 at 10:08 am
A new friend of mine here was telling me, with tears in her eyes, how awful it was when her dad first began suffering with Alzheimer’s. His personality changed, he was awful, and they just didn’t know why! She said that later on he was back to his old self, but it was scary for a while.
.-= Nan´s last blog ..Photos: The Wedding, The Rainforest, The Return! =-.
Comment by Hyphen Mama on February 5, 2010 at 2:41 pm
See, I was thinking the EXACT same thing as witchypoo said… then Mither’s explanation made perfect sense. If he thinks they used it all up… no fuss. If it magically disappears, then there’s a fuss.
So sad that Mither has to endure this. I’m sure I’ve mentioned once or a hundred times that Mr Hyphen’s grandmother finally had to be put in a nursing facility when her Alzheimer’s got so bad and she was MEAN. MEAN MEAN MEAN.. she had been her whole life, but amped it up a couple notches when Al set in. After several nursing homes kicked her out, the last one kept her on Zoloft + whiskey and that’s what made her happy. It scares the bejeezus out of me that my husband could inherit this disease.
And OMG, Krissa… do you read any of the Sweet Potato Queen books? I was laughing myself silly the other night reading the “God Save the SPQ” book thinking of you and Henrietta.
.-= Hyphen Mama´s last blog ..Dear Mrs Scatter, =-.
Comment by Hyphen Mama on February 5, 2010 at 2:42 pm
p.s. I have to tell you that I’m still getting mental mileage on the Jazz Hands. Sorry H… it’s just that funny.
Comment by Red Hamster on February 8, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I sure hate to hear that Mither has to bear the negative effects of Pop’s health problems. Neither of them deserve this after a life together. You’d think with all the medicines out there, the doctors could come up with something to make Pop’s golden years more golden, and less explosive.
.-= Red Hamster´s last blog ..Friday essay assignment =-.
Comment by Roger on February 9, 2010 at 6:51 pm
At least you will be ready when Texas decides to leave the union. 🙂
.-= Roger´s last blog ..When All Else Fails =-.
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