The Funny Farm 2024

Here’s Alene sitting on the back patio on a beautiful morning. It’s quiet, peaceful and just simply lovely.  I think I know why Alene has been a bit quiet since we’ve been here. She hasn’t had much of a chance to talk. Jeanne has lived in this house alone for the last twelve years. She had a sweet dog until three years ago, so she did speak dog talk, but otherwise she hasn’t had a lot of human contact or conversations. Yes, I call her every few weeks and she has a great neighbor who watches over her regularly and one or two other friends who call occasionally. So with us here, she’s like the energizer bunny with a brand new victim to spew her life stories to…and she has, and continues to do so. Jeanne is so appreciative that Alene doesn’t remember most of what she heard from Jeanne yesterday or even 10 minutes ago and Jeanne is delighted to share it all over again when Alene asks her a question!  Alene has been such a good listener as Jeanne's verbose nature takes over. By the way,

Today, Saturday, was a quiet day. We all slept well, DanaRiley and I were out on a walk at 6:30 am and it was so lovely outside!  We took a few short walks during the heat of the day and this evening as the sun was going down, we walked another mile in perfect weather.  We sipped our coffee on the patio for an hour or so as we discussed dogs. Jeanne had two cocker spaniels who were very different, but so much fun!  Throughout the morning, Alene asked about 15-20 times what kind of dogs Jeanne had. Jeanne is very kind and patient with the endless questions and memory lapses.  I took a much needed nap this afternoon, we watched a couple dumb movies and ate dinner. Jeanne is winding down in her bed, I just showered and am ready for bed and Alene is watching the end of another dumb movie before retiring to her room.   I’m really not sure how much she retains of these movies. But all three of these were based on true events where wife kills husband (or visa versa) and is either convicted or

 Finally…arrived at Jeanne’s in Murrieta, CA. The drive from Vegas was gnarley at best. The congested traffic was unbelievable on I 15 and it only got worse in Victorville, down the Cajon Pass into San Bernardino and Riverside. I used to deal with it when I lived and worked here. I couldn’t do it again. Anyway, it’s so delightful to see Jeanne and I think she and Alene will get along just fine.  They spent an hour or so on Jeanne’s back patio visiting while I unloaded the car and walked DanaRiley. We had take-out Italian for dinner and there’s enough for another dinner and lunch. It was delicious.  Alene experienced more confusion today than the last couple of days. She couldn’t remember things, seemed a bit disoriented and we’ve lost her toothbrush. The only place I didn’t check to look for anything we may be leaving behind before we left the hotel this morning, was the trash. Thankfully Jeanne has extras.  So, last night after I posted to this blog, we spent about an hour talking abo

 We left Green River this morning just before 7:00 am heading to Henderson NV, about 425 miles. It was a beautiful morning in the 60’s after a nice rain last night. When I walked DanaRiley in a little park near the hotel, there was moisture in the air and on the ground. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes in a short period of time. Oh well, that was the least of my worries.  Before we left for the walk, I woke Alene and said good morning!  She responded, “Hi! I smell coffee!”  I’d made her a cup to help wake her. I turned on the shower for her and left for a walk.  When I returned 20-25 minutes later, I opened the door to our room and heard the water still running with the bathroom door closed. I thought, “oh shit”. I knocked and asked if everything was okay and she said “NO!” She couldn’t get the water turned off. She did get a shower though. I turned off the water and she did feel better! We both had slept long and well.  The drive from Green River to Cedar City was stunning with the roc

 Green River Utah, first overnight stop and we made it safe and sound around 3:00 pm. We left the house around 7:45 am and made a few stops—-one for petrol, one to get a breakfast sandwich and a couple stops for DanaRiley to eat, pee and poop. That was fine though because it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and walk a bit— not too much though because it’s 100 degrees outside! Alene was a dream to travel with today. She was alert, engaged, curious and talkative! Yes, there have been a few repeated questions like “How did you sleep?”. She asked that maybe 10-15 times this morning.  That’s okay, it stopped this afternoon. She talked about the majestic rocky mountains, the beautiful trees and those that are dying, the gorgeous rock mountains in eastern Utah, roadkill, and different sights along the way. She was almost her old self.  DanaRiley was such a good girl in the car too!   I’m going to go now to pick up dinner from “The best restaurant in town “ according to the front desk cler

Tuesday was a pretty good day…until it wasn’t. . Greg, Alene’s son, came to spend the day and Kylie, granddaughter spent most of the day here as well. I was able to sneak away for a very quick lunch with Jill, my dear friend from Grease Monkey.  Alene was quiet. She told Abbey she didn’t sleep because she was worried about the trip to CA.  There are quite a few flowering plants in the backyard the Alene feels responsible for.  She’d brought up that she needs to water them because that darn Doug turns off the sprinklers to save water—he doesn’t. So even though the flowers are watered am and pm, she went out and watered in the middle of the day for 20 minutes. Once it’s in her mind, sometimes it’s so much easier to go with it.  “Pick your battles” as they say.  Packing was quite the ordeal. Abbey helped her for awhile, then I helped her for awhile. Alene was totally and completely overwhelmed with the task. She needed to walk away from her confusion…and did. She had soooo many clothes si

For those reading this blog, thank you. This is my 33rd post.  I’ve learned from some readers that they are not getting all of the posts. I started posting maybe twice a day. There were 5 or 6 days they I posted 3 times.  Many days there has been only one post. Because of the functionality of this platform, and for ease of use, I will be posting one time per day going forward unless I note it in the blog. By the way, the posts are there, it just takes som searching.   Today has been calm and quiet.  Abbey took Alene for routine bloodwork and to the bank this morning. DanaRiley and I walk about 1 1/2 miles on a trail behind their house  it was cool and lovely outside. There have been coyotes it the open space behind this neighborhood so Doug gave me Mace to carry on the trail walks. Nope, we didn’t see any coyotes. We had veggie quiche and a salad for dinner. Alene was very helpful in the kitchen shredding cheese, slicing zucchini and mushrooms and cleaning up. She needed help with the

DanaRiley and I walked in this cool 62 degree morning for over a mile and it was so refreshing and peaceful. She was so tired, she didn’t move 2 inches all night!   It’s pretty hot outside so DanaRiley and I are staying in for the most part. Greg and Lisa brought their Great Dane / Irish Wolfhound mix named Hurlee. She is such a sweet dog! They stay outside in the shade with her and everyone else comes in for food and to cool off, then they go back out. We aren’t going to introduce the two dogs because they know, and I know, they wouldn’t get along.  Doug has spent hours trying to fix Michaela’s car-he thinks it’s the thermostat. Poor guy, he’s the only one sweating outside, and the only one who’s got to actually go to work tomorrow. It was hilarious last night; Doug was exhausted and had a couple cocktails after dinner when he fell asleep on the couch. So Abbey put an earring in a hole in his ear that’s never closed up from when he had it pierced many years ago, and Michaela painted h

 Alene’s son, Greg and his wife, Lisa, on either side of Alene. Doug, Alene’s cousin, Abbey, Kylie, and her boyfriend, Dom, and Michaela in the sunglasses. 

We’ve arrived in Denver, actually Highlands Ranch after a 4 stop, 4 hour drive from the FF. we pulled up to the house following Greg and Lisa for the last few blocks. They said traffic from Pueblo to here was bumper to bumper much of drive.  We’ve been here about an hour and DanaRiley is finally settling down. She’s been such a good girl and a traveling trooper! I’ve had nice conversations with Michaela and Kylie. These girls are so amazing…very different, but Abbey should be proud, and of course she is! It was a tough morning getting prepared to leave the FF. Alene was more confused than ever all morning as she’d move things around and then ask me where she’d put them. She changed shoes 4 times, lost her purse, thought she’d lost the money, threw an open bag of trash out the back door that went everywhere, asked numerous times when she’d be back to the FF, opened and closed the blinds 4 or 5 times, and thought we were leaving for CA today a few times. I was going a bit crazy. But we m

 Beef burritos for dinner, they were delicious!  Alene helped by frying up the ground beef. She also kept the kitchen clean and “Alene organized”.  She feels very good to be useful. In this environment, one that she’s accustomed to, she can be, and is, helpful - with supervision.  She’s been quite confused most of the day. She thought we were leaving for Denver today. She thought the house showing was today. She thought we were seeing Greg today. She was running around her for a few hours until it finally “stuck” that all of this is tomorrow. I must’ve been asked 20 - 25 times if the showing was today. “No, it’s tomorrow afternoon.”   She told me her mind has too much in it that she can’t keep things straight. Crunch crunch.  The other day, Alene’s friend Kaye, said she knows Alene hasn’t met a dog she doesn’t like or love. She’s very good and loving with DanaRiley and talks about Ducky, Michaela’s dog, all the time. I think she’s resigned to not getting another dog while Ducky is arou

It’s overcast now, but earlier the sun was shining and it was about 65 degrees-perfect for a morning walk. That is until we had to avoid the huge ‘mini lakes’ in the road created by last night’s storm and then we came up to Yukon’s house and I heard that big bark coming from the porch. Nervously, DanaRiley and I continued walking. I kept looking over my shoulder and then realized Yukon was tied up. Whew. Still, I’m not sure it’s safe to keep going that way. Too bad because that’s the only decent walk we can get around here.  Alene is bright and cheery this morning! I believe she must’ve slept like a baby. She’s asked me 4-5 times already if I’m ready for breakfast, so she must be hungry, even though she says she’s not yet, I think just to agree with me. We’ll have breakfast soon, I’m sure.  Breakfast is complete!  I asked her if she’d like a yogurt and she said yes, that sounded good. She opened the Yoplait, and asked me if I was having yogurt. I told her “no, I don’t care for it.”  Sh

Alene was a bit out of sorts today; tired and quiet. I don’t think she slept well. We put in a dvd this afternoon and she slept through most of it.  She told me also, that she’d finished her book- the John Grisham one. Her bookmark was at about the 2/3 mark so I know she didn’t finish it. I did finish my book today and she asked to read it. I know she won’t because there’s all these Russian names that I had a tough time following. The book bounces around from years past to the present day which may be confusing for her. Oh well, she can try, right? There wasn’t any conversation about Dan the mower man or the money for the trailer. However, The a/c repairman, Mo, came today so she pulled out her wallet to pay him and I saw the envelope that holds the trailer money. As long as she doesn’t decide to move/hide the envelope, it will make it to Denver and she and Abbey can deposit into Alene’s account.  There are many things I’ve noticed this trip with Alene that are foreign to me. One thing

 DanaRiley and I saw Steve and Yukon on our morning walk we just returned from. We met them the other day when Yukon, an Australian Shepherd, charged us on the dirt road that we walk on. We were on a mid day walk and here she comes, barrelling right at us. I went into panic mode and DanaRiley went into killer mode. Yukon started circling us inching closer and closer. I know this breed are herding animals. I’m holding DanaRiley tight on her leash and she’s not making it easy. I hear someone calling the dog but she’s not paying much attention to him. I finally see from the corner of my eye, another human. I got my feet tangled doing these circles and I want down, flat on my back. I held onto DanaRiley as this elderly man approaches and admonishes his dog. He grabs my arm and said “Let her pee and then I’ll get her away.”—which she did, and he did. I sat up and caught my breath, then stood. I was a bit shaken, but okay. I only had one scrape on my leg. We said our goodbyes and came back t

Alene is very bothered that I accepted the money from the kid who bought the trailer. I needed to count the cash, which she admittedly couldn’t do. I told her I’d give her the money in Denver (I wanted witnesses).  She brought it up several times and when I explained, she seemed okay with the plan. Then tonight, Dan the mower man, shows up on his riding mower and she quickly grabbed her wallet to give him money. I maybe shouldn’t have, but went outside and intervened. She was going to pay him more. He even said, “You’re giving me more money?”  I asked what he charges to mow and what she owed him after today. He said she owed him x amount and then changed his mind saying he’d owe her. Frankly neither of them could balance it out. He asked for a beer and she asked me to go get one for him. We have none. I left them to talk and came inside.  Alene came in and said she feels sorry for Dan. Then she talked about the kid yesterday who bought the trailer and again couldn’t figure out why he g

 It’s a beautiful morning! The temperature is 54 degrees now, but it was 48 when DanaRiley and I walked around 6:15 am. There wasn’t any wind so it was perfect walking weather. We actually got about a mile in and it felt so good! It’s supposed to be cooler today so we’re going to make some pork green chili. I use my brother Mark’s recipe and it’s delicious. Also, it’s something Alene and I can do together. I cooked the pork roast yesterday so it just needs to be shredded and then we can prepare the remainder.  She wants and needs to feel useful. However, there are many things in the kitchen she shouldn’t do without someone constantly watching her. She left a gas burner on the other day and it scared me a bit. Abbey told me that one day she melted a microwaveable dish on the gas burner. It’s a good thing Abbey was home! Alene has always been a wonderful cook, but now she struggles to follow a recipe. So when we made the quiche last week, I gave her one thing to do at a time and she did

 The 5th wheel trailer is gone! It sold to a nice 21 year old named Jareth. He’ll be very happy living in this,  I’m sure.  It’s been a pretty good day. There’s been the usual endless questions about the age of DanaRiley, where I got her from, how long I’ve had her, how often do you feed her, what is todays’s date, what are we having for dinner, do you have a favorite sibling, which brother is the oldest, and many, many questions about my parents. There’s the many repeated stories about she and her sister Carol growing up, how her mom and dad had tough lives, stories about her husband Jerry, her kids Greg and Abbey, her sweet granddaughters Michaela and Kylie, her cousin Doug, and then there’s Ducky, Michaela’s dog, who Alene adores.  As Abbey has said, it’s exhausting.   I thought for a long time that Alene wasn’t doing too bad with her dementia. I’d talk to her on the phone for 15-20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week and she seemed pretty normal. Yes, she’d repeat herself some, but, okay,

It’s a very blustery morning! It’s one of those days when you walk you feel like you come back covered in dirt. Also, the tumbleweeds are flying around and it brings back memories of my childhood where tumbleweeds were a part of life. I haven’t seen them in many years and certainly not out east where I live now.  Alene had a tough evening last night. Late afternoon she asked me if I would come live with her at the FF. I said, “no, I have a home. I love where I live.”  She asked me if I’d come spend the winter with her at the FF. again I said no.  She began making her emotional appeal and asking me again and again. She gave me all the reasons that made sense to her for me to live here. She begged me not to say no. My answer didn’t waiver and she began to pout first and then cry. I’ve read that you shouldn’t argue/disagree with dementia patients-that you should “just go with what they’re saying”.  I’m not sure if this particular occasion applies, but I could not give her false hope. My h

Tonight she’s 63 - 64.  She said “holy shit! I’m 76?” when I told her.  “Geez, blow out the candles!” She exclaimed! Wondering her age…  

  We talked this morning about dementia, “nursing” homes (as Alene calls them all), and some life and death stuff in general.  She doesn’t want to go into a facility as I’ve mentioned. She doesn’t want her money to be depleted because she wants to leave it for her kids. She doesn’t want Abbey to have to come visit her in a home and she doesn’t want to be a burden. I asked her what she’d want if she became a burden at home? I asked if she was to be less of a burden in a facility, would she be willing to go?  She said yes, but firmly said she’s not there yet. She really believes she’s a big help to Abbey at the house doing the laundry and cleaning blinds. She knows she’s a lot of work. She knows her brain is dying slowly. She said again she feels it crunching occasionally. We joked about that even though it’s not too funny. She said she knows she should remember things, but it’s just not there anymore—-she tries. She knows she won’t get any better and knows she’s getting worse.  She thin

 I asked Alene this morning, as I do every day, how old she is. She usually says she doesn’t know but she remembers the year she was born. She can’t do the math though to get to her age. This morning she answered the question with, “let’s see, I’m 85”. I told her that she’s 76 and she didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. Happy because she’s younger than what she thought, or sad because she thinks she’s older than she is. She said maybe she feels 85. Although she said she feels good today.  We had a huge storm last night about midnight that lasted for two hours. The wind blew, it rained hard and so much thunder and lightning!  There’s inches of water on our walking path in the dips in the road so we weren’t able to walk that direction and the other direction is laden with those nasty stickers.  My sister in law, Darlene, watched the video of Herman the snake and said it’s a bull snake, mostly harmless. She said they’re good about 90% of the time. Well, what about the other 10% of the

 About 3 pm I decided to come inside from the porch. After the Herman episode and walking in the grass and being outside much of the day, I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and whatever else attacked my arms, neck and legs. I itched all over and needed to shower.  Alene said she was going to clean up the porch before she came in. I told her I would help her before going in and she pleaded with me to let her do this on her own. She said she needed to feel like she could accomplish something on her own. I said okay and came inside.  So she did sweep and hose down the porch and the rugs and cleaned off the double picnic tables, eliminated any cobwebs and lingering dust and dirt and she did a good job. I know she felt accomplished. I felt good for her.  Many endless questions came up throughout the day like how old DanaRiley is and how I rescued her. She still didn’t know how old she is but knew the year she was born. She asks me a lot of the same questions about my parents and siblin

This is a quick post. We were having coffee and I was reading on the porch this morning when Alene said “Diane, look to the right of that big tree on the grass. What is that?”  We both said “A snake” at the same time. Aaaccckk! Neither of us are fond of these creatures and that’s putting it mildly. I texted Abbey and Doug for suggestions. Hmmm…get a shovel was Abbey’s response. Doug had some smart ass comment about it being Alene’s pet named Herman and Alene said she’d go get the riding mower. A few years ago when she was mowing, she accidentally mowed over a snake once. To put it out of its misery, she went ahead and mowed over it twice more.  By the time we considered our options, Herman had slithered his way out of the yard, across the driveway and into the neighbor’s field. Hopefully he doesn’t return especially because of DanaRiley.  I have a couple videos of Herman, the snake, but they won’t load  🤨

 Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in my life! I was close with my dad and during the last couple years of his life, I was his caregiver. Easy? No, but so very rewarding. It’s the best thing I’ve done in my life.  After my mom died, dad was very ill. We got him better and in 2017, I took him on a road trip and we were gone about 6 weeks. I blogged that trip-it was very fun for the most part! This website I’m using now holds that blog titled “90” if anyone is interested in reading- blogger.com. Alene talks so much about her parents now. I’ve learned so much more in the past week than I ever knew about her mom and dad. I think I’d met her dad once before he died. Her mom though, lived with Jerry and Alene for around 15 years so I got to know Lorene. She was so naive and very funny in her naivety!  Alene and I would go to Vegas for many years for a long weekend just to have fun and see shows. We DID have fun!  Well, one year we decided to bring our moms. Lorene and Rosemary were so excit

I’m so happy we had a pretty great morning! Of course, things declined through the day.  However, cousin Doug arrived with a mom and son to look at the 5th wheel trailer. They bought it! Yea! The son will be here Monday to pick it up.  Doug, Abbey (on the phone) and I had a conversation with Alene about money. Even though she complains about money a lot and how people are stealing from her, she was easily going to give the 7k away that the buyers paid. All of us told her the money needs to go into her savings account. She’ll need this money when she needs to move into a memory care unit.   Doug left for the 4 hour trek home and Alene and I went to Safeway in town for a few items and picked up some Chinese food for a late dinner. (We didn’t eat until 8:00…I like to eat between 5:00 and 6:00 because I feel better.) It’s okay. When we were in the car for the 30 minute drive home, I asked Alene if she had the key to the house. She locked it up when we left. It took the full 30 minutes, all

 It’s almost 9:30 am on Saturday. Alene has been up for about an hour and a half and it’s crazy but everything about her and our conversations this morning have been as close to normal as possible.  She remembers things from yesterday, like calling my brother Mark and leaving him a funny messages and that cousin Doug is coming this afternoon.  She hasn’t gotten that big eyed stare once like she’s trying to figure out what I’ve said.  There have been ZERO of the endless questions that I’ve experienced every other morning since I’ve been here! She said she slept well.  Now, I know not to expect this to last long, but my sweet friend is herself for a bit of time and I’m smiling. ☺️ 

I brought three books with me on this trip. One is Confessions of a Spy , which I’m reading now. It’s a true story about Aldrich Ames, a former CIA employee who becomes a spy for Russia. I love these kind of books-spies and true stories. A John Grisham book and a James Patterson book are the other two. Alene said she wanted to read the John Grisham book. I know she struggles to focus on things and she’s really tried, but watching her read this book has been uncomfortable.  She’s skipped pages, gone back to the beginning several times and stayed on one page for hours. I asked her yesterday what the book was about. She had her page marked close to half way through. She said it was about these lawyers sitting around discussing how to defend their client. I asked what the client did that he needed lawyers; she said she didn’t know because they hadn’t said yet in the book. Tonight she's back on page 52. I’m proud of her for trying.   We’re both tired tonight. I was up at 5:00 am to walk

 Yep, DanaRiley is still 12, and I still rescued her from the same place and yes, I do dream but usually don’t remember them. Questions every day…multiple times in a day.  It’s okay though, I get it and I don’t get snippy nor do I say “you just asked me that”.  I simply answer the question with a smile.  Or at least I try to smile 😁 When Alene asked me the dream question yesterday, I asked her the same question-does she dream? She said yes, she dreams a lot, she remembers them most of the time and they’re almost always good dreams.  This morning when she asked me the dream question, my response was the same. So I asked her the same question back and her response was so different. She said she rarely dreams and when she does they’re not good dreams. She couldn’t describe one to me though. She said she wants to forget them.  I’ve noticed this when discussing other things as well. She changes her answers. Another example is yesterday she told me she doesn’t always eat breakfast because s

The 5th wheel trailer Garage in back of the house Looking east from the front yard Front of house  Front of the house Looking east this morning from the back yard. The sunrise was beautiful!   It’s a really nice morning outside. DanaRiley and I went outside at 5:00am for a short walk so she could pee and poop. A short walk is all we can do around here even though there’s so much open space. The road is full of those nasty stickers that get in her little pads and cover the bottom of my shoes. We learned our lesson the first day here. So all we can do is walk on the grass and do circles in the front and back.  If anyone has visions of grandeur like I did before I first came here last year, put them to rest. The FF is a two bedroom, one bath, 942 square foot, single wide trailer. It’s got a nice large covered front porch that faces north. It sits on an acre that is kept up nicely. It sleeps six, plus there’s a 5th wheel trailer that sleeps four that has been sitting here for years and got

 The second question this morning following “how did you sleep?” was “do you dream?” I said yes, I do, but I usually don’t remember them. Thirty seconds later - “do you dream?”. Same response.  We discussed dreams (the same conversation) 15-20 times today.  I’m getting most of the same endless questions especially about DanaRiley-how old is she? and where did you get her from? Other endless questions pertain to my parents and siblings who she's met.  Also, today was the day she wanted to know if I ever ditched school. Of course I did, and relived it many, many times today. I’ll have more tomorrow on the issue of repeated questions. Alene is definitely a dog person and she loved her Murphy-her Old English Sheepdog who was euthanized about 3 years ago. She desperately wants another dog most of the time. Her granddaughter, Michaela, who lives at the house is studying to be a pharmacist. She rescued an adorable, friendly pit bull named Ducky a couple years ago. Alene loves that dog and

It’s a beautiful morning, warm and breezy but not hot. Yet.  Alene was up at 7:30 and seemed quite refreshed and alert.  She’s still limping quite a bit and favoring her left knee. I forgot to mention in earlier posts that she fell about an hour after I arrived on Sunday. She fell on her knee and it’s been swollen and sore since then. She says it’s getting better but the limp is still pretty prominent.  I attempted to have a conversation with her about what she thinks Abbey should do when she can’t care for her anymore. We talked about her dementia and how she’s declining. She didn’t disagree. She wants Abbey to shoot her. I said you know she won’t do that; she said I know, I’m going to shoot myself. She says she still has a gun and she does have a pistol, but the firing pin has been removed (she doesn’t know that though). I asked her to pretend she didn’t have a gun. At what point should she go into a facility. She said she never wants to go but she doesn’t want to be a burden on Abbe

 When we returned from our little outing today, we read awhile and fixed a delicious dinner. It was 95 degrees outside - way too hot for both of us so we didn’t get porch time today.  Alene seemed confused and a bit disoriented while waiting for dinner. I asked her what was bothering her and she said she didn’t know what was going on. Ultimately she was dwelling on the CA trip and thought she was flying out there and then she was driving out there and flying back.  I told her the plan again and how long we’d been discussing it. I asked her if she was up for it. She’s concerned about Jeanne, my friend in CA who we’re staying with and wanted to know if she’s okay with it.  I asked her to think about this over the next few days and let me know if she wants to go. Frankly, she doesn’t know what she wants. She said “ you know I’m a lot of trouble don’t you?  Just ask Abbey.” My thoughts: I’ve witnessed a piece of her memory, her brain, just disappear like an evil magic trick. Only yesterday

 I abruptly ended the last post as we were leaving to go to a park where I could walk DanaRiley. I thought I’d be able to walk her around her but outside of their lawn area, the roads have stickers and DanaRiley had some in her pads the other day. So we went to the vacant sports complex and walked, ran my car through a car wash to get rid of some of the 5000 dead bugs on the window and front bumper, and we picked up a salad for lunch from Wendy’s.  Yesterday, Alene wondered aloud how it came to be that I was at the FF with her. If you read my first post, maybe you remember that she asked me to spend the summer here with her. I reminded her of that and she was stunned and remembers no part of those early conversations. But she believed me and we both laughed and said “crunch crunch” (her brain crunching). Well today she wanted to pay for the Wendy’s salads but didn’t bring her purse.  So I told her she could pay when we pick up a salad on our trip to California. She looked at me and slo

 I know I need 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Alene needs more and Monday night she slept 10-11 hours. So yesterday, Tuesday, she was in a great mood in the morning and felt so refreshed! We enjoyed our coffee on the front porch and talked, laughed and reminisced-mostly about our days working for Safeway, but also about some of the antics we pulled in our younger days. We never did anything to hurt anyone, although we did like to make fools of ourselves and laugh until we were sick. I know her kids and grandkids have heard some of the stories-they just shake their heads in disbelief. Her memories from those days is as good as mine.  As the day progressed, she gradually declined and the repeated endless questions began. When I got here, I asked her if she would keep a journal of our time together. She wanted to know what to write and I said anything you want, what we do during the day, what we eat, things we talk about, your feelings…basically anything you want. She agreed! I didn’t think

 Arrived!  There’s a delay in posts to the blog because there’s no wi-fi here. I’ll do my best with this early in the morning. Also, I decided not to send out the link until I arrived. We got here Sunday late afternoon and Alene, Abbey and her friend Deena were waiting. Abbey and Deena left very early Monday morning for Alabama where Deena lives.  Abbey will fly back to Denver on the 18th. Alene looked very tired and a bit disheveled…she cried. We had dinner, visited and went to bed.  We were all up early Monday; Abbey and Deena left and Alene and I just talked and laughed until we decided to go into town (Ogalalla) for some groceries. The FF is 25 or so miles from town but we cross over the dam and it’s scary how low the water is. Also visible from the road is some of the damage that the tornado caused a couple weeks ago as well as damage from a recent hail storm. Alene said she’s got 22k in damage to the back of this place from hail. Now to Alene: On the plus side-there haven’t been