This is big news. Dad has not written for quite some time. He used to write a lot. It was great to see him reading - he hasn't done that for a while either.
The whanau have made a few photo albums with pictures and clippings and favourite verses for Dad to look at while he's in care. We take them out when we visit partly for something to talk about, partly to test his recognition.
Today the writing barely made sense, but the reading went quite well I thought.
I've been here for a few weeks visiting Dad. For the last few visits he has been quite out of it. Partly with drugs, partly his condition, partly the time of day - mornings are much better.
Today he had just had a massage courtesy of my sister and her partner. Whether or not this had an effect on his mental faculties I don't know - he may have just been having a good day.
It might be worth noting that the facility had auditors visiting today, so maybe they had cut back on the 'keep them calm' drugs for the patients. I wonder if we'll ever find the answer to that. Maybe I'm just being cynical and not nice. Dad certainly didn't look as doped up as usual. It's easy to tell when he's under the influence of excess medication - he has cloudy eyes.
One thing I have deduced is that Dad still responds to music. So I often sing when I visit. He sometimes recognises the tune and sings along. My sister was singing during his massage today and quite possibly had warmed up his memory and vocal chords. He sang along to the verse he'd just read.
It's a far cry from how Dad used to read and sing but it makes everybody feel good to see he still has it.
