Stories - FD Thornton

  After three days, I finally get to start my day with my established routine. I find that as a retired person who’s also a caregiver, it’s important to establish routines. If for nothing else, it keeps your own ass sane. My son and my wife already have their established routines down pat, with my wife going to bed at 9:00 every evening and waking up at exactly 7 a.m. Since both of them can fix their own breakfasts, my main job is logistics, paying the bills, and getting them from one place to another. Sprinkle in reminders to bathe, clean your room, and get ready on time—and you pretty much have my day. Other than trying to keep my head on straight, I manage the pill dispensing, their doctor appointments, cooking most meals, taking them to get haircuts—you know, the usual stuff we take for granted. But after 39 years, it’s pretty much routine now. Of course, there are the setbacks, such as my time being in and out of the hospital or recuperating, and my own bouts with having a m...

Jekyll Island, Georgia   Despite my better angels, I’m here at the keyboard typing away for the first time in a few days. For months, my wife and I had planned a trip to the beach to do some seashelling. But, as it is with most things, good intentions get trumped by the reality of life’s demands. Still, with a couple of extra bucks in my pocket, I decided I owed it to her to take her down to Jekyll. For the average healthy person this trip is a no-brainer—just hop on US 341 and head South till you run out of real estate. But for the past ten years or so, nothing in my life is a “No Brainer.” ​So, despite temperatures in the mid-80s and my increasing fatigue due to new medication, by sheer will I pushed ahead and made the trip. I made sure I hydrated well before the trip, and I think that helped make the whole thing more bearable physically. Still, my bride seems to have enjoyed combing the three beaches we covered to find her shells. After a fair night of sleep at a budget motel,...

  I didn’t want to wake up in a foul mood. In fact I went to sleep after watching the only show my wife and I watch together. But around 3:30 in the morning I was awakened by the most realistic dream I’ve had in a while. It was so real that I’d rather not talk about it for fear of it coming true. Anyway knowing I had to get up to make a doctor’s appointment this morning, I tried to go back to bed. When I finally did go back to bed around 5:00, I woke up again to another more fantasy based dream. With the weather foggy as hell outside, I have some two hours before the appointment. So I hope by then to clear the cobwebs before heading to another boring 3-month checkup. After putting together my wife’s pill dispensers for the week, I make note of the pills she forgot to take for each day. I know I should keep up better with her pill count, but with that and planning and preparing the meals. Then making sure all of our son’s needs are met, I then have to make room for all of the othe...