Where Did My Dad Go?

 Good morning.... Just came back from helping my parents put up their artificial tree.  That was the easy part -  it seems every time I stop by their home (which seems to be daily) things seem to just slide down a steeper slope. At first it is difficult to see the changes that are taking place, they seem to be so gradual. Eventually you reach a point where the changes seem to slap you in the face to make sure that you realize how bad things are getting. Today was one of those days. Dad loves to watch sports on TV, baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter. He was able to navigate his television with no problems and would often be able to tell anyone when a game was on... even if I did not think their was a game! Eventually this began to change. Dad could no longer find games on television. He was not sure which channels the games would be on, even which channels would be showing a game. I made them a list of the sports channels theat are available on their TV and mo...

 My Father has Alzheimer's. He was diagnosed Five years ago but as I look back we have seen signs for many years.  I ignored the signs and refused to disrupt  my family's life. It was a huge mistake, I am  paying the price now as we attempt to place Dad and Mom is struggling to deal with him at home. We were a typical Canadian family. Dad worked as an electrician in a Chemical Mill, Mom as a meat clerk in a grocery store.  I was an only child and sailed through life freely not worrying about much. I got a good education and had an entire career as an educator. I got married to a wonderful supportive woman and have three wonderful children. I am now retired from my career and a full time caregiver for both my parents.  As I look back there are a number of things I should not have ignored that may have helped in my journey. A few years ago we started to see Dad struggle with driving his car. Dad was involved in an accident 14 years ago and when the police inf...