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Out and about
By juliezavala in My Turn
March 18, 2011

I managed to coax my dad out of the house and into the car for a drive to the park. We stopped for coffee at McDonald's, listened for a while for a train that never showed up and then drove out to Saxet Lakes park after picking up a couple of mini Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

I parked the car facing the lake and we ate our icecream in silence. Dad's not so talkative anymore since his Alzheimer's has advanced. I put some music on and we watched a couple of kids with fishing poles fooling around near the shore.

I turned to my dad and after hesitating for a minute, I asked him if he was sad. "What?" he asked. Are you sad? S-A-D? I asked again. He looked a little irritated. I tried a different approach; Daddy, are you unhappy? "What?!" he asked. I gave up.

We sat a little while longer and then he said (in a grouchy voice), "Say, are we gonna' sit here looking at this water all day?" I told him we certainly didn't have to and started up the car. We drove home in silence and when we got home he told me he was tired. I leaned him back in this recliner and I went outside to sweep the patio.

Yesterday's small victory was that I got Dad out of the house.