Here's to you Mr. President

The Road Not Taken

-- Robert Frost, 1916

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Who or How to Remember

We continue to struggle to help my Dad – help him cope with his new circumstances, help him understand what is going on around him, help him comprehend why he cannot come home with us. For the most part, we’re failing miserably. But as I read more about caring for the demented, I understand that the value is in, must be in, the effort. For me that effort is what frees me (most of the time) from the guilt inherent in facing these responsibilities.

I am charmed to know Dad has so many very good and longtime friends. They keep reaching out to him and Mom, even from long distances. Some even want to come and visit.

Knowing the Bob they know, they struggle to imagine a guy who cannot even converse cogently, let alone be taken out to lunch. So chats with these friends are both sad and heartwarming.

In the end, everyone must decide for him or herself at what point to stop. Is it better to not see him again so that the Bob remembered is the bright, handsome, cheerful, friendly guy who can turn anything into a flying story?

Or to come to know him as he is now, and know that you love him no matter who he is?

We each find our own answers. None of them are wrong.

Succeed to Launch

Chick Flick fans know the Matthew McConoughey movie "Failure to Launch" about a far-too-old son still living at home. That story is the antithesis of the facts in our world as the recently graduated Mia packed up most of her stuff and made her big move to Boston (technically Brighton).

She started her first "real" job today, complete with benefits, a commute and a steep learning curve. All is right with the world.