Lil, My father's family is from German and Russian descent. They settled in an area that is on the border of present day Russia and Poland. The men tended to be strong silent types, and the women were feisty. Here's a story told about my father's father's mother:
One day her son ( my father's father) came home crying. Apparently the rabbi-teacher took his hand and slapped it with a ruler. So she storms off to school, goes up to the rabbi, and slaps him in the face, and says to him, " How does that feel?"
And in the following generation, my father had a real field day trying to keep things on an even keel between his mother and my mother, who did not see eye to eye. But my brother and I broke the pattern...I am the quieter one, and my brother is the noise maker.
No change in my father's condition...my brother is doing a great job holding the fort and watching over my mother as well, who is frail despite what she thinks ( she will be 90 in a few months.) He sent me a picture of my father via cell phone. He cancelled his work for the week, his own patients, and is there all day. He tells me the care my father's receiving is excellent. Unfortunately, he is out of it 90 percent of the time, and awakens in a disoriented and agitated state. They don't want to give medication for this out of concern of depressing the respirations, so my brother hired an evening attendant. I asked my brother if dad said anything to him, and he said he had one brief interaction with him... my dad said, " Get me my sneakers." My brother asked him why, and he said, " Because I am leaving."
We'll see what today brings...and for those reading this, thank you for the interest.
