WWood Fire Continued...

The fire continues. As of this morning the evacuation was still in place and all roads were closed. We hunkered down for another day. Uncle Bob has done really well. End-stage dementia is not pretty. He had quite a meltdown on Sunday morning getting ready to leave. He kept trying to get out of the truck and yelling and screaming. With this disease, it is almost imperative to keep things as routine and familiar as possible. After the morning session of conference, we all knelt down in the family room and prayed for them to arrive safely and that Uncle Bob would be calmed. He was. It sounds so simple. Maybe even coincidental. But I know better. We all knew better. Father in Heaven heard our prayer and it was answered.

Uncle Bob and my dad.

Good brothers-in-law for over 50 years. My dad sat with him day in and day out and helped take care of him while they were here so Auntie Tia could get things done for the funeral. Pictures at this point make him look so normal. Doesn't he look great? They were watching the movie Midway and he loved every minute of it. He could tell you that his father worked for McDonnell Douglas and built many of those planes. In fact, his father gave my dad his first job in that industry given my dad's experience in the Air Force during the Korean War. That was a new fact I learned today!

Uncle Bob's profession was as a delivery truck driver for Laura Scudder and Oroweat. When I was growing up we were the recipients of the Old Fashioned Laura Scudder Peanut Butter. The kind that had all the oil at the top that you had to stir in and keep in the refrigerator! Oh, I can taste it now! We love Oroweat bread and I had a couple of loaves and asked if I could take his picture with them. He said "Sure". As I handed the bread to him and arranged it for him to hold, he started talking to me about it! He told me he still drives for them and that he gets up at 3:45am and would I please tell his boss that he does a good job!
It was precious!

Miss Darla loved him! She sat on his lap everyday all day long. And he loved her. In hindsight, I think she was divinely instrumental in helping him be calm. He would pet her over and over and she never objected. I love this picture of his hand.

Mom colored Auntie Tia's hair in preparation for the funeral. She felt so much better after. She's had her plate full with Uncle Bob and Wendy. I didn't realize that she doesn't get much sleep at night. Uncle Bob has been a severe diabetic for 42 years. Now that he cannot take care of himself, she has to test him every 3-4 hours around the clock. If she didn't do this, he could go into a coma and we would lose him. Most often, he needs some orange juice, ensure, or a shot of insulin during the night.

Auntie crying and my mama comforting her.

Sisters!

Uncle Bob being wheeled to the dinner table. Darla had to stay on his lap for the ride! What a pair those two were!

Another memory: I asked Uncle Bob if he would say the blessing. He said, O.K. Everyone was a bit nervous about it. But he knew exactly what that meant and gave a beautiful prayer. It brought tears to all of our eyes! He did so well in fact, that we asked him the next night too! And you could see that he was pleased.

Christine and Uncle B. got along swimmingly. I love that she can interact so well with adults and children. He enjoyed family home evening. He tried to participate and wanted to read a scripture from the bible, but he couldn't see it. It disappointed him. I was so touched he tried.

The evacuation was lifted this afternoon and they decided to try getting back tonight after dinner.

They made it! Their home and everything still as they left it, just a bit on the smokey side!

We were all blessed by this turn of events.

They were able to relax and process and focus on the funeral, and I got to play hostess to my family and visit with all of them. Who knows when I'll be able to be with my cousins like that again?????? I loved every minute of it!