The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 445: The Story of George, 22

February 12, 2018

Realtime with George took a downturn today. He didn't wake up for breakfast, even though he said he slept well during the night. We arrived about eight-thirty. Judy woke him gently, and he dressed himself in a timely manner. He was ready by nine just as Joel, the physical therapist, arrived. Joel took George through a set of exercises for about forty-five minutes, which also included to walking laps down the hall and back. George is complaining of a sore hip, which is aggravated by tight and weakened muscles. Joel wants us to repeat the exercises twice a day. This increases our care giving time in a very proactive way. It's just another click on the circle. Right now the future is uncertain, so Judy and I are swimming around like goldfish. Every time we swim down the the bottom, we see the castle and say, "Wow! When did that get here." We're trying to anticipate the unexpected, but really we just deal with whatever reality faces us each day. We left George in good spirits. He ate fairly well, and he was even laughing when Judy told him he looked so handsome in his Sunday suit that he could be called in as a guest preacher. Vina chimed in that she'd take the offering on that day.

Nineteen guys in George's high school class joined the same one year Navy program that George did. It made boot camp easier for them, and as George says, "It kept us out of the Army." It was a good time to be in the service. There was no danger of combat, a real and important mission that was quite easily accomplished, and the power of being a "Man in Uniform" was real. The boys felt good. Looking at a picture of George's boot camp days makes me realize that in many ways, he's lived a good life. That's part of what makes his current life such a challenge. In his book Being Mortal, Dr. Atul Gawande talks about preserving a person's independence and self-esteem for as long as possible. We very much want George's life to be as much of his own as possible, which is why this current "bubble" period is uncertain. We're not in control of the time line, yet we're faced with deciding when, where, and how to move George's life forward. I've got this feeling that George wishes he could just sleep things away. At other times, like when he was laughing about being a guest preacher, he seems as alive as anybody could hope for. For now, we've committed to the care giving, which means we'll become physical therapist assistants for the foreseeable future. Who knows what the next click on this circle of life will be?

I found this amusing. George has jars, boxes, bowls, and drawers full of "stuff". He's always had these collections. the amusing part is that I tend to have these kinds of collections as well. Genetic patterning?