A couple of Fridays ago my dad casually asked me what I was doing on Saturday. “I need to clean house, do laundry, mow the lawn, visit my grandmas… Why?”
“We are going to a book show in Denver.”
A book show? The house will still be around next week, hopefully the grandmas will too. I went looking for Glen Rounds a children’s author/illustrator (which nobody had by the way) but got to see first editions of all kinds of stuff like Salinger and Will James. I saw “The Please and Thank You Book” paperback by Richard Scarry autographed for $350. There was lots of Oz stuff and Willa Cather and Nancy Drew of all ages. What did I get? I got a book I am only slightly fond of, but I loved the illustrations. For some reason I am an illustration junkie. I got Animal Farm illustrated but not autographed by Ralph Steadman. It is how the book was meant to be read.
Then we went to Shepler’s and I got a shirt and we ate at some Italian buffet which was the size of a Best Buy building and I got curtains for my living room at Pier One and a huge dragonfly mosaic for my dining room. It was a great day.
I visited my grandmas on Sunday and took a photo album from the early 70s for my dementia-ed grandma who actually recognized her brother, but not her husband. Grandpa has been gone a few years, and her brother 25 years. I told Dad to take in some older ones. It is hard to talk to someone who can’t think anymore.
I am not sure what made me think of that tonight…
Aug 25, 2014 @ 14:49:04
Dementia is an awful thing – and it seems like a dirty trick. Another good reason to work out, though – exercise is one of the few things that seems to be protective against dementia.
Book fair sounds quite fascinating! And yes, all those tasks do seem willing to wait. We are home from a trip to ND and it is SO GOOD TO BE HOME! It was a lovely visit, but golly it’s nice to be sleeping in my own bed again and eating my own food again and my kids surrounded by all their tried and true entertainments again!
I hope back to school has gone well for you and the next generation of children are kinder to each other!
Aug 25, 2014 @ 18:20:44
I know, and my grandmas both did crosswords or the word jumble, and the grandma I wrote about walked half a mile a day even when she was really old.
Aug 25, 2014 @ 19:28:53
😦