Deli Conversations

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What gets people even total strangers to talk to each other? And what gets them to talk about intimate subjects?

The other day I was in our local IGA waiting for the deli guy to get finished with an earlier customer and I noticed that I was not next I was three from next. A woman came in behind me pulled number 20 out of the number dispenser and looked disgustedly at 16 displayed on the Now Serving display. She seemed in a hurry. It was lunch time and people working nearby often come in to pickup something for lunch. I pegged her for one of those people. I traded numbers with her. I told her she seemed in a hurry and I was going to do some other shopping while I was waiting for my number to come up.

I walked around the fresh fruits and vegetable area near the deli while waiting for 20 to get close. I got the other items I needed in that part of the store and found myself waiting while 18 was displayed as Now Serving. She initiated the conversation. I was only going to get cheese. I replied me too. I told her that I needed some Hoffman’s American cheese because I had planned on making macaroni and cheese. It had to be Hoffman sliced american cheese because in the past our daughter had related a story to Cheryl about our grandson Max telling his mom how he liked grandma’s macaroni and cheese better because grandma used special cheese. And why couldn’t she get some of grandma’s cheese to make macaroni and cheese with?

At our house we now call Hoffman’s cheese “Grandma’s cheese.”

She laughed and offered to give back 19 because she too was going to buy some Hoffman’s cheese. I replied no, that is okay I have plenty of time. I am retired. She told me that she was retired also and that she had worked in administration for Maple Knoll retirement community. She went on to tell me that she had cancer and was in treatment. So far, it was working. Her cancer was in remission.

I asked her if she knew Lynette Petersen, our friend that had recently passed away had worked as the executive chef at Maple Knoll. She had been retired from Maple Knoll for a few years. Number 19 had probably left Maple Knoll shortly after Lynette started there. She said the name was familiar but she did not work with her.

We exchanged other pleasantries and discussed other cheeses and how it seemed that Boars Head was taking over the deli case. She was not satisfied with Boars Head and I agreed.

But what would make her want to tell me about her cancer? That seemed a left turn in the conversation about retirement and its features. That seemed to me to be intimate information that one might not want to pass along to a total stranger. I was an empathetic face because I exchanged tickets with her?

Perhaps I was a friendly face and my kindness persuaded her to tell me about her current crisis.

I was an ear so she could expose her anxiety and worry without consequence and without concern about getting perhaps unwanted and unsolicited advise from family or a close associate. At that moment I was a help to her.

And she got her cheese before me.

A mitzvah outside of religion.

Carpe Diem.

A Different View

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When engineers look for a solution to some dilemma, they often spend a lot of time observing the problem.

Many thoughts can arise. Many questions seek answering. But ultimately the dilemma is slowly broken down to component problems and individual solutions to small problems are sought out. An engineering education teaches this process. An engineering education does not teach solutions for Parkinson’s disease and related issues. Those are discovered along the way.

“There’s someone hanging upside down in the trees in back”, she told me. There is a scrub tree growing in the weedy lot behind our condo. It has a crotch near the ground and branches into to smaller trunks as it grows toward the light. The bark is a light color almost khaki in color. To Cheryl it looks like a kid standing on their head. Perception is off a bit and her creative brain describes a different interpretation.

In that moment she pushed me into interpreting things and objects differently. Are painters able to do this spontaneously? Are story tellers able to imagine a different reality? Are engineers stuck with what they see and touch with little imaginative creation? It intrigues me, the imagination and story telling part. I have often thought that if I could get into her head I could help but maybe I would merely be steering her toward my reality and away from hers.

There are many changes that I notice in her behavior. She can easily ramp up an anxiety about indigestion. It is not apparent to me what specific foods cause distress. Milk products and foods high in milk and sugar seem to give her a hard time. Tomato sauces and beef with a high fat content also distress her stomach. The engineer says figure that out and do not eat those. (Easy Peasey) The average time to relief is an hour to an hour and a half.

I have not discovered any silver lining in these stomach episodes. It is challenging to distract her from focusing on how her stomach feels although occasionally I can get her to sip lemon ginger tea which settles my stomach and does not add caffeine. After a severe episode she is typically awake much of the night. This happened last night.

After it became obvious to me that there was no way for her to calm down and sleep some more, we got up. I got her a bowl of cereal and some orange juice. She sat and worked the puzzles for a bit. I sat with her and worked on the crossword. I ate a banana and drank some lemon ginger tea. I asked her if she wanted to watch TV for a bit to see if she would get tired. She agreed and I played a couple of episodes of Steven Colbert. I can no longer sit up and watch his show so I record it for later. We watched a couple shows. Fortunately he was funny and Cheryl laughed here and there.

Today she is not in tip top shape of course and she fell over backwards in the kitchen. She is understandably fuzzy headed even though she slept until about 9 am. Maybe one day she will keep her hands empty when getting up from or down into a chair. But my wishes and encouragement which she interprets as anger go mostly unheeded.

On the drive to exercise class she asked if I slept well. I asked her if she remembers being up for a large part of the very early morning hours. She said no. The fact that she does not have a memory of being awake is not uncommon. I asked her if she specifically remembered watching Steven Colbert’s late show. She remembers that slightly. She apologized. She apologized for something that she has no control over and that frustrates me to no end.

There is no reason for her to apologize. It is not her causing undue commotion. Parkinson did it.

Watch out for kids hanging in the trees. Carpe Diem.

I AM ENOUGH — Care for Parkinson’s

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Sometimes while caring for someone with a degenerative disease, we have occasion to doubt ourselves. To think we are the wrong person for the job. To think God must have made a mistake – surely someone else could do better. After all, we are so imperfect. Our loved one is not getting better. (We knew […]

I AM ENOUGH — Care for Parkinson’s

Whenever I am looking for alternative inspiration I read this blog.

Carpe Diem.

April Fool’s Day and other Thoughts

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(image from Microsoft teams)

This morning after a remarkably good sleep, Cheryl got up and took a shower. She spent a lot of time getting cleaned up. She finally came into the kitchen looking for breakfast about 10am just as her alarm went off signalling the next dose. I asked her if she wanted cereal or something else to eat. She asked, Are there any donuts? (I have to start making some and experimenting with freezing them so they are readily available for breakfast.)

UDF donuts

I got donuts from the UDF store about a mile away. She likes their “kettle danish.” Two have been enough in times past so I purchased two. She is generous with food and offered the second on to me but I did not accept it.

I signed her up her April PCF classes and noticed the hands class teacher is back from Florida. She wants to go to “hands” class. This class has been on line while the instructor has been in Florida for several weeks. That style class really does not work for Cheryl.

Where does “April Fool” come from? I like this explanation I stole from India.com. It is not hard for me, a catholic, to believe some past pope guy started this nonsense.

It is believed that Pope Gregory XIII was the one to be blamed. He ruled the new calendar to start from January 1, instead of the previous celebration of the new year at the end of March or April 1. Though, the change in the annual calendar was brought into practice by France. But across Europe, the people continued to follow the Julian calendar. And those who failed to register the use of a new date and ended up celebrating New Year in April have been marked as ‘Fools’. Hence, a particular day for fools came into being.

india.com

Happy April 1st! Eat more donuts!

Carpe diem.

Saturday we had lunch again

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My cousin Robert (Bob) was filling in the last leg of a family travel visit tour. He called a couple times when I could not answer immediately. But I called back a bit later.

We had lunch.

We met Marian.

It was a good day.

The whole Covid pandemonium has many families scrambling for visits and catch ups. I have been thinking about the same thing as well. Bob suggested that we gather somewhere. All of our parents are gone now. Some of our generation of the family is gone. Perhaps we should have a cousins gathering before it is a meeting of one or we have to gather in heaven.

Food for thought.

Carpe Diem.

Last Night I Tried Something Different

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Last night was one of those sleepless nights for Cheryl. I think I am learning when she will have a sleepless night or sleep fitfully overnight or sleep for a bit and then be awake for a couple hours. And the next day she has no memory being awake or thinks she slept soundly.

She went to bed a little early at nine but she had complained of being tired at eight while we were playing Uno. I got her bedtime meds and we played another round of cards. (I am losing this marathon game.) She insisted she was tired, so, I helped her find pajamas and opened the bed. I kissed her goodnight and read my book for a bit. Nine o’clock is too early for me to go to bed.

I went to bed at about eleven and slept for about an hour. At twenty minutes or so after midnight, she was up. I thought initially for a trip to the bathroom but she was up with conversational gibberish about work and school and children. I left her to put on clothes and I put on a sweat suit to go read some more and wait to see if she needed my help. (Her motion is good and she seems steady with no hint of Parkinson in the middle of the night.)

When she came out of the bedroom dressed for work, I got her some cereal and orange juice. She also ate a piece of coffee cake. She wanted to look for the morning paper and pointed out to her that the paper would not appear for several hours. She seemed to accept that and sat back down to re-read the Sunday paper. After breakfast we played a couple more rounds of Uno. In conversation before and during our card playing I was able to convince her that we had no appointments today. After a while she decided that she was very tired again and we went back to bed at about 2:30 am.

In previous episodes like this I admit to being Mr. Cranky-pants. Rosie showed me a different way to respond to her at night. We both fell asleep quickly and the LOUD AND ANNOYING alarm clock woke me at seven for her morning meds.

I would like to report that she is okay today and I am rested but I am not. I am a little tired but coffee helps. She is still a little confused but not any more so than normal lately.

She has a rash that appeared a couple days ago. This afternoon I made an appointment with our primary care physician to look at it. Hopefully it is nothing other than hives. I wish I knew what new thing is irritating her skin. She does not complain about it. (Update: Shingles. She has shingles. In some people it does not hurt. Damn. Another reason to not get old.)

In writing this little piece I googled “a different way” in the hunt of an image to use as a header picture. This hip-hop song popped up DJ Snake. I am not a consistent listener of hip-hop music but much of it is very good and has a happy beat. This video is very creative.

A Different Way – DJ Snake, Lauv


Could you believe I could be different?
I’ll be the difference, I’ll lift you high
And I understand your hesitation
Our reputation, it’s no surprise
So let me redefine you
And you can see the tide move
Just like tears in the eyes do
And when you’re feeling alone
Oh, baby, I’ll be right here
Between the sea and silence
So breathe easy my dear
You can find sunshine in the rain

I will come running when you call my name

Even a broken heart can beat again

Forget about the one who caused you pain

I swear I’ll love you in a different way

I know that love is so unforgiving

You’ve been a victim too many times

And I’ll be the thread, hold you together

I’ll be forever, will you be mine?

So let me redefine you

And you can see the tide move

Just like tears in the eyes do

And when you’re feeling alone

Oh, baby, I’ll be right here

Between the sea and silence

So breathe easy my dear

You can find sunshine in the rain

I will come running when you call my name

Even a broken heart can beat again

Forget about the one who caused you pain

I swear I’ll love you in a different way

Hey, hey, hey

I swear I’ll love you in a different way

Hey, hey, hey

I swear I’ll love you in a different way

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Edward Christopher Sheeran / Ilsey A Juber / Jonny Mcdaid / Lindy Robbins / Steve Mac / William Grigahcine

A Different Way lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group

There is always something to learn on the road of life.

Carpe Diem.

Lunch with Rosie

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Cheryl went to high school with Rosie. Rosie went on to become a Sister of St. Francis. Cheryl went to the prom with me and four years later we married.

Yesterday after many scheduling issues we hooked up for lunch. Cheryl was moving very slow that afternoon. Rosie moved very slow with her and very gently held her arm into the restaurant and over to the table. In conversation, Rosie, the quiet calm and gentle person that she is with her own health issues, gently took Cheryl down a memory lane of remembrances from their high school years to their current time.

I slowed a bit and observed. Slow and gentle were Rosie’s movements, her companionship, her conversation. I learned something.

When we got home Cheryl rested for a bit.

I realized that Cheryl needs to go at her own pace. I always knew that she did but I did not always observe that pace or make myself slow to her pace. Cheryl’s pace is principally Parkinson slow with occasion spurts of Parkinson fidget and sprinkled with Parkinson frantic and a little normal motion and conversation.

She did not seem really very tired or ready to go to bed at what I think of as her normal ordinary bed time of 9:30 – 10 PM. I tried to exercise what I had observed earlier in the day and suggested we play a card game or work a puzzle for a while. She said let’s play Uno. We played with half the deck. She shuffled the cards and asked, Does everyone get seven? I said yes and she did not deal any extra players. Uno for those who do not know has a simple theme. Follow the color or follow the number. She could do that for about an hour or so. She began to notice on her own when she could not tell the difference between red and green. She declared herself tired about 11:30 PM and we got ready for bed. She slept soundly for several hours — all at her own pace.

Rosie taught me something. Let Cheryl set the pace. And if she is not around, think about letting God set the pace. Life is peaceful at Godspeed. Life at warp-speed requires quick reactions and having your shields up at all times.

Carpe Diem.

Forsythias and Daffodils

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Are the heralds of Spring. In bright yellow against the budding green plants they shout, look at me. I am here. And dare the deer to eat them. When Mr. Sun comes out they shout their greeting louder.

I suppose they do not taste very good.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth


I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Carpe diem.

As We Get Older

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As we get older and this goofy damnable disease takes more from her I find that is more important to find those gems of experience and good times.

I did not realize how important that is to me and to Cheryl. Today was a pretty good day. I expected it to not be so. Cheryl slept little overnight.

Ordinarily when that happens she is tired and lethargic the next day or maybe that is just me. Today she got up and had some breakfast. She took a shower with no help from me. We went to exercise class.

I made dinner that evening. I made a Betty Crocker noodle thing that I had not done before. We had our neighbor Jane over to eat with us. Both Cheryl and Jane pronounced the recipe good, so, I will make it again.

At exercise class we were reminded that this evening the Parkinson Community Fitness is having a Beach Party theme party that evening. So after dinner and Jane returning to her condo, I reminded Cheryl of that and asked if she wanted to go. She said yes if it was not too late. It was not so we went.

At first she seemed iffy as the seven o’clock meds shook her well being for a bit but she came out of it okay and had a good time. As you can she by the picture, she had her smile on. We both had a good time and we even got to dance for a bit. (It was more like a sway. :-)) — Thanks to another Jane at PCF we have these great pictures on our Frameo electronic picture frame.

Cheryl and Paul, 2022

In both of these pictures, she has her smile on. Carpe Diem.

What Have You Gained?

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In our support group meeting we start with a topic or group of topics that are put together by a committee that meets the Saturday before out scheduled time. A partial list of these is below.

Our meetings are never very formal. Some of us, the core group, will kick off the discussion by talking about the topic(s) on our list. I count on John who is one of the core group and a retired teacher to keep us on track but it is okay if the conversation wanders off into the weeds because sometime people need to just talk without worry and fear to a group that understands and empathizes.

  • How do I (care partner) know when to help and when to let him or her do things alone?
  • What thoughts or actions help you cope? Why do those work for you?
  • What are a care partner’s typical feelings during the day?
  • How to manage stress; as a caregiver, as a PD patient

Tom and his wife Joyce attended the first meeting that Cheryl set up a few years ago. Tom was in the early diagnosis stage of Parkinson. They came to no other support group meetings but remained on the email list. The initial meds dose surely worked to initially relieve most if not all of his symptoms. It did for Cheryl too about fifteen years ago. But lately his unsteadiness became worse and he had had a fall with more than incidental injury. Mostly though physical therapy Tom and Joyce came to the previous meeting and came to the meeting on Monday evening.

Tom spoke to the second list topic about coping. He remarked that his doctor said in conversation that instead of focusing on what you have lost, focus on what you have gained. Tom said he was still working on that but I thought the idea is an excellent way to grow and change and stand up to the challenge of Parkinson and his damnable disease.

So often we focus only on losses. It is the basis of all grief and sadness. It promotes anxiety and worry. It takes a lot of time. It is a stresser. It is the source of most news stories on television. We are attracted by tragedy and loss.

As a thought experiment I felt the need to look inside my own thoughts and make a list of gains and losses, not necessarily from the beginning of this life with Parkinson but as they come to me as I write this. I am not dealing with symptoms physically as Cheryl is but it affects my life with an intimacy I did not intend to sign up for when we married many years ago.

Below is my list so far:

Gains:

  • a greater knowledge of how much is lost to a person that has dementia.
  • circular repetitive conversation
  • consideration to how things are said (tone and volume)
  • new friends,
  • simply meeting with new people that are not friends,
  • different view of walking paths,
  • empathy and concern for others,
  • end of life planning,
  • new found cooking strengths,
  • exhaustion,
  • unwanted attention,
  • unwanted advice and opinion and solutions
  • meditative thoughtful discernment,
  • new socialization,
  • family closeness,
  • family envy,
  • party envy,
  • care for spouse, growth in knowledge
  • patience and resilience, less “flying off the handle” in various situations
  • how to deal with fainting spells
  • how to deal with falling
  • how and when and who to ask for help
  • inner calmness
  • close attention to safety concerns.
  • close focus on safety,
  • slow walking, not strolling, slow walking
  • knowledge of skilled medical care;
  • prayers and kind thoughts from total strangers

Losses:

  • mobility and spontaneity;
  • spousal conversation that is not tainted with cognition failure
  • implied requests or “helpful” comments (instead of, “it looks cold outside” say, “please put on a jacket”)
  • consideration to how things are said
  • confidence in the future;
  • ease of travel;
  • disinterest in end of life;
  • spontaneity of exercise;
  • patience
  • inner calmness

I may add to these lists as life goes on. Somethings appear on both lists because they are both. Somethings on the gains side are not always good things. Somethings on the losses side are good things. Perception is everything and nothing.

Carpe Diem.