My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9
I've overseen my dad's care for the last four and a half years. He first moved in with us for the first year, but doctors said that he needed more medical care. They eventually said that the group home he was living in couldn't provide the 24/7 medical care Dad needed that he could get in a skilled nursing facility. Fortunately, there was an available room for Dad at the State Veteran's Home.
I've overseen my dad's care for the last four and a half years. He first moved in with us for the first year, but doctors said that he needed more medical care. They eventually said that the group home he was living in couldn't provide the 24/7 medical care Dad needed that he could get in a skilled nursing facility. Fortunately, there was an available room for Dad at the State Veteran's Home.
Although I had become a caregivee myself when I broke my heel, my husband continued to take me to go visit Dad in the Veteran's Home each week. Dad and I would play Dad's Solitaire. I know there's a bajillion of different Solitaire games, but all I know is this is the one that Dad played for the last 30 or 40 years. He used to play it every day, but now we tried to play it whenever we could we came to visit him.
Solitaire was such a productive game on so many levels. For one, I could tell how my dad was doing when we played the game. When he was pointing to the card he wanted me to move for him and it was to an accurate position, I could tell his mind and vision were working pretty well, at that point. When he was lethargic and kept pointing to cards that didn't go in particular positions he pointed to, I knew Dad was under the weather. That tipped me off to ask the nurses to check Dad out and make sure he was O.K. Often, those were times when he was getting a case of pneumonia or bronchitis.
Overall, playing Solitaire made my dad feel like himself again. He was in control of playing a game that gave him pleasure all those years and that was priceless!
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