Around 8:30 a.m. I woke up at my father’s house. My aunt and uncles had done a really good job over the last 2 years organizing my father’s house and cleaning it. When I visited just about 2 years ago it was a full-on Horder experience. My father’s fiance died after a surgery to remove her gallbladder. My father and his fiance had grown very unhealthy over The last 15 years, just not taking care of themselves and living a sedentary lifestyle.
When I visited my father the last time about 2 years ago, he had lost a lot of his mobility and just shuffled around. I tried to encourage him to take walks and take care of himself which he never did.
Recently while he was walking with his cane he had fallen down and sprained his ankle. Now he has lost the ability to walk. My aunts and uncles along with one of his friends that he used to work with delivering tires in Arizona, were able to coordinate an assisted living home for him that took his insurance. The plan is that he rehabs and gains his ability to walk again and that way he can take care of himself.
My father’s home still needs a lot of work. I’m still on the fence on whether or not I will spend Winters out there with my father to help him rehab his home. It is a beautiful home and I know I could find work in Phoenix if I needed.
My aunt and I spent most of the day cleaning. We met my father’s neighbor named Eileen. She was a very kind woman probably in her late ’60s or ’70s. She told me that she had a son that got addicted to drugs and was now living out in the streets of Phoenix.
My father had an old van that he used to deliver tires, that was his job, before he was physically incapable of moving tires around, and became a security guard. I was able to jump the van and get it running. My aunt wants to do a dump run and throw away a bunch of the stuff that my father collected from the dump when he had a manic episode. My father has bipolar, and trends towards the manic side.
After a day of cleaning, visiting my father in the hospital, and setting up the assisted living home for my father, my aunt and I stopped at Denny’s and got dinner. I haven’t been to a Denny’s in years, so it was nice. I got the grand slam burger and she got salmon and broccoli. After dinner we went back to my dad’s house and just kind of settled in for the night.
