[bc-chris]

hey guys

thanks again for all the kind words. i find i tear up a lot reading what others have posted - the stories of your experiences and the words of encouragement - they are all so powerful.

we got my dad settled in on thursday. he was pretty tuckered out to begin with and add on to that the getting admitted into hospice and he had a very early night. when we were getting him settled in his room one of the care workers came in and was going over general "stuff" that we should know. they have a lady come in every morning who cooks up breakfast for all the patients. i guess they have a small menu and my dad can pick what he wants and she makes it - that's kinda cool. lunch and dinner are whatever interior health is serving at the hospital... definitely not 'up there' on my dad's favourite things to eat! ha! ha!
when i got home i told my wife the food situation and said that i want to bring my folks a meal a day - just so my dad can really enjoy some food and on top of that, my mom doesn't need to worry about making stuff for him (becuz i know she would). so friday was ravioli with a rose sauce (i didn't have time to make my own ravioli, but my folks didn't mind). saturday was sweet and sour meat balls with spaetzle (the same meal i made when we threw the hawaiian party for my dad i talked about earlier in this thread) and today i dropped off smoked ribs that i made yesterday.

when we came into his room this morning he was in bed and my mom was beside him in a chair and they were chatting. the typical "hi's" were exchanged and i showed my dad the container of ribs - he immediately perked up. my mom (who knew i was bringing ribs) got up and held one of my kids hands, then she, my wife and our two kids went for a walk, leaving just my dad and i in the room. i go to sit down in a chair beside my dad and before i know it he's trying to get out of bed. i figured he had to go to the bathroom so i asked him what he was doing and he exclaims, "i want those smoked ribs!!!" ha! ha! it was awesome! he was soooo stoked about the ribs (they are pretty good so i don't blame him for being excited!). so i helped him get out of bed and into a chair and he's getting ready to eat (plate and cutlery are already good to go) and a care worker comes booking into the room. i guess if he gets out of bed it triggers an alarm (he knew that, but didn't bother to tell me). he smiles at the care worker and proclaims, "i'm having RIBS!!!!" it was pretty hard to not burst out laughing becuz it was pretty funny.
so yea - today was definitely a good day. i'm so glad to see him in good spirits and pain free - that's so important right now.

another huge plus is that becuz the care my dad gets my mom is able to go home after he goes to bed and get a good night's sleep herself. it's been a long time since she's had a half decent sleep and she was burning out - so to see her refreshed and recharged is also really nice