The terrible "seventy eights" …

As anyone who is dealing with illness in someone close to them knows, it can be a trial for all involved. Some ailments are as much or more a stress on those beholding it than on the victim themselves. Part of the reason I created this blog was as a way to look at things differently; to see the humor and light side of situations as a means of self-healing as well as making it easier to accept the difficulties we each face in life.

""Sometimes it is better to laugh than it is to cry.

If you are new here, my dad has Alzheimer’s. It is not a pleasant way to go, especially for the family who has to watch it. But from a purely informational standpoint, it is intriguing seeing how the brain works (especially when we see how it stops working). Recently dad has taken to acting like a two-year old child when things aren’t as he wants them to be. And I have to admit, sometimes the results are worth a chuckle.

For instance, the other day, my mom made some lunch for dad. She called him up to the table, but instead of going there he started heading up the stairs to the bedroom area. She asked him where he was going and he said "I have to go to the bathroom!" rather petulantly. Sometimes he thinks he has to go when he really doesn’t, so my mother questioned if he really had to, which annoyed him so he aggressively repeated that he had to go several times. He then walked to near the top of the steps (with me following because I was going upstairs too) and stopped short. I waited for sec, then encouraged him to move, saying "Go ahead into the bathroom dad!" to which he adamantly responded "I don’t have to go to the bathroom!!"

This caused both my mom and I to guffaw.

This morning, I was woken up by the following shouted phrases, one right after the other:

"Take it off!!!!"
"I want if off!!!"
"I want it ON!!!"

I am not sure what it was about, nor could I actually hear my mother’s responses. But I had the sudden image in my head of an exchange between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcqsirmIcwA&feature=fvst]

It seems cartoons do happen in the real world!