.November, 2008

He's showing that he can't smile without his teeth., originally uploaded by Susan NYC.

He's showing that he can't smile without his teeth.  Pictures like this make me particularly sad - here's a guy who didn't really smile much during his lifetime, and now, when he wants to smile, he feels too self conscious because he has no teeth.

He lost his dentures several years ago, and the head of the floor at the Hyatt said to wait, they'd turn up. They didn't.  And by the time he got new dentures, his gums and jaw had lost too much bone for them to stay in.  So he'd take them out and they'd get lost. And then the delay, again, before the new ones came.

The last pair of dentures sit in my desk drawer.  The upper, especially, kept falling out, and I was afraid he'd choke on it.  I asked the dentist at the nursing home if that was a possibility, and she said yes, sure.

I wonder why they let him leave the clinic with dentures that wouldn't stay in.

waiting for lunch

L1038932, originally uploaded by Susan NYC.

My father nods off just like the woman to his right, who is at the moment nodding off. The residents tend to sleep a lot, wherever they are. 

When my father first lived in a nursing home, he didn't sleep a lot.  I 'd look around at the people barely able to keep their eyes open and feel depressed that they seemed to be so barely aware of where they were, who they were. 

As my father enters that stage I find it hard to relate to the man who's no longer always the man I'm so familiar with - the man who jokes and laughs and makes fun of himself. 

He still greets me with a big, "Hi Sue!!!" or "Susie!"  He's the only one who ever called me Susie.

he's posing

L1038144 he's posing, originally uploaded by Susan NYC.

My father has a few poses for the camera - this is a version of one of them...I know he's feeling okay if he mugs for the camera - because sometimes he doesn't react at all.

I bought my father a few fleece tops since he likes to be cozy. I hope the aides remember to put them on him.