We celebrated Louis Dean's 89th birthday this weekend!
His precious granddaughter, Chandy, and her family drove down from Snyder, Texas on Saturday.
She brought her famous enchiladas - both chicken and beef - along with refried beans.
This is Chandy and Bella...
This is Piercyn!
Say hello to Jaxon Dean - named after his great grandfather!
And Chris is Chandy's amazing husband and so much like Louis Dean!!
He's always working and can fix absolutely anything!
He worked on the electric problem I've had in the gazebo and determined it was wear and weather and will be back after the holidays to get it all fixed up for us.
(Good to know that Louis Dean was not at fault! He gets blamed for stuff he didn't do!)
Chris is so much fun!!
Doesn't like having his picture taken so he makes crazy faces.
We love this guy!
The boys have a natural bent toward the piano.....
They made some pretty music!
Granddaughter and Granddad - together again!
Chandy was great and she and Louis Dean talked and visited and just loved on each other.
Memories and magic!
Sunday was his actual birthday and the florist delivered flowers from Amber.
They have a tradition of giving each other roses!
We ordered pizzas Sunday afternoon and then sang Happy Birthday to Louis Dean and ate carrot cake and ice cream!
He enjoyed all his cards and texts and messages!
Chandy played music with him earlier in the afternoon and he loved that!
My handy man Hector was at the front door at 9:00 Sunday morning and while we were celebrating, he was building a new gate!
Louis Dean and I had discussed this but, of course, he didn't remember that.
Hector left at 4:30 and Louis Dean went over to see the new gate and had a meltdown because the gate opened the 'wrong' way.
It can now open in all the way to the right and I thought I did a good thing.
Louis Dean says this is a lefthand gate and he was angry and frustrated - and I can understand that.
Back in the day he could have put this gate up in an afternoon but not anymore.
Hector did a great job and I loved what he did - all in the space of six hours!!
Next Sunday he will be back to repair the fence to the left that is eight inches off.
Hector is a good guy and so is Bruno.
Bruno is coming tomorrow to take down two dead trunks of the Yaupon Holly tree.
Anyway, when Louis Dean melted down and stormed out to the backyard - I said our goodbyes to Chandy and family and told them I needed to go out and calm him down.
I was a little afraid he would try to take the gate down so I stayed with him until I felt it was okay to leave him. He was taking the old gate apart to save the boards when I left.
Which I did and then when I got up this morning and went out to admire that beautiful gate - I discovered Louis Dean had piled up the old boards from the old gate right in front of the new one preventing it from opening!
Life is always a challenge and I stacked the boards somewhere else - not that LD will ever notice.
Things are changing here as Louis Dean's dementia and Alzheimer's disease continue to progress.
I really had no idea just how fragile we both are now.
As much as Louis Dean loved being around family, it was a little too much sensory overload.
Lesson learned.
Life never stays the same.
Change is always happening.
Visits with family are important and we will need to navigate them to be less stressful for Louis Dean.
At 89 Louis Dean is not going to be getting better and things will continue to change.
My purpose here is to take care of him and love him and help him and keep him as happy as I possibly can. I realize I can not make him better but I can continue to love him.
Looking forward to a new week and I will continue with my Christmas decorating.
The den is now officially DONE and I am so excited about it.
I think it's the best I've ever done!!
21 comments:
My friend,
I continue to learn from you. The way you care for LD and learn new things about how better to handle things as his condition progresses, help me learn new things too! I wouldn’t have thought about having the family there would be too much sensory overload, but now I can see that where he’s at right now it is too much.
You are doing so well, but remember to find ways to care for yourself, too. I admire and love you, Linda.
happy birthday Mr. Louis Dean🍷
You take care of him, now take care of you! You both love each other, and clearly he cannot see what is happening to his mind. I know you are the sweetest, most understanding wife in the world. I pray for you all and know that God has got this! Love you, dear Linda!
Happy birthday to Louis Dean. Sorry the celebration was too much for him and that the gate was wrong.
Lifting you both to our Heavenly Father as you walk by faith … love and prayers
Linda, I think you’re dealing with these unsettling changes in yours and Louis Dean’s lives with so much grace. I watched my engineer dad slowly lose his battle to Alzheimer’s and it’s a terrible disease. I wish my mother could have handled things differently at times, but she was coping the best she could. It’s hard to remember in the meltdowns that they don’t remember!! Take care of yourself. RHill, TX
This is a real challenge. I so admire your attitude and love for your husband...happiest of birthday wishes to LD....take good care!
Time and time again I see how the Lord is with you and leading you. I contiue to be blessed by you and pray for wisdom, courage, strength and comfort for you and blessings for you both. Happy Birthday LD.
its official here that Bob used to have meltdowns and I did not, now I have meltdowns and he does not... some weeks a meltdown every day and I can tell you that gate is wrong and it would make me meltdown.. ha ha
one thing that never changes with our lives is it never stops changing just like yours is. we are better than we were, I am controlling my meltdowns better, and we had 4 nights in a row of sleep.. yay
LD looks so happy with Chandy, and I know mood swings are part of the disease. love the smiles over the roses from Amber. Bob loves pizza, carrot cake and ice cream and would have loved it on his 89th birthday but his birthday turned out to be the worst ever and not even sure what he ate. he and bob were born same year, 1 month apart.... bob would be so much better but he has no walked since March 28 of this year, almost 8 months and he is losing weight rapidly, not eating, not drinking no matter what I give him.
Happy Birthday to Louis Dean! May he enjoy many more! Looks like he had a great time until he didn't. It's hard when our lives keep changing daily! Bless you both!
Happy belated birthday to Louis Dean. Mood swings are a part of it. You have such patience. Not an easy job to be a caretaker of someone you dearly love. Bless you.
Happy Birthday to Louis Dean. You are a good loving wife and exactly what LD needs at this time. God bless you both as you journey these uncharted waters.
You’re doing a wonderful job with LD, but please remember to take time for yourself as burnout can creep in quickly.
Oh how I wish I was there to give you a great big hug.
These are such challenging times for you and Louis Dean. I think you are handling them with such grace and compassion. The melt downs sure can catch one off guard and thankfully LD won't remember them.
I love the photo of Chandy and Louis Dean. That's pure love. It would make a wonderful painting.
Love the tradition of roses for his birthday. 89 years ... Treasure each day.
Sue
Happy Belated birthday to Louis Dean, and big (((HUGS))) for you! It sounds like a beautiful celebration with his dear granddaughter and her sweet family. I guess the gate incident tipped him over the edge, and I can imagine how sad that made everyone else. But these are the things that happen at this stage in life, and perhaps your granddaughter needed to understand that as well. It's so hard to see them changing like that, and I think we are all learning from your experience. Thank you for being so open with us. We pray for you, and we also learn from you. You are an inspiration to us. God is with you, and He will never let you go. Just rest in His love and grace. (((HUGS)))
Your last quote is so funny!! Well, at least Louis Dean recognized the gate as a left-handed one! I am so sorry he is progressing like this. But he is still enjoying life and loving you and family! Piercyn is cute as a button!
Belated birthday greetings to Louis Dean and it looks like the family celebration was a good time, but can understand how it could have been an overload for him. Life is challenging and ver changing, yet you seem to be able to handle things with much grace and kindness and love are very important as you well know, Linda. I am sure you also have some meltdown moments so do take time for yourself when you can do that.
I hope I pass before any serious illnesses catch up with me but should I live a long time and have dementia, it would be a blessing to have someone as loving as you taking care of me. It is stressful and of course you worry, but know that you are doing a GREAT job and Louis Dean could not have a better wife. Just remember to give yourself a little break at times too. From Maryellen
Happy birthday to your special man! Looks like so much fun with all the happy faces!
happiest birthday to ld. your love for each other is so evident, as is the joy you share with family. growing old together, doing it with grace, tolerance and love...i am happy to read that you have so much support from your family!!
Almost burnt down the Christmas Decor huh? LOL That's a true statement for some. LD sure don't look like 89. Well whatever 89 looks like in my mind.
My heart goes out to you both. The journey is rough. Love how all your family gathers together.
Hugs
Post a Comment