when she asks why he\u2019s thinking he might move in My dad tells the marketing director when she asks why he\u2019s thinking he might move in to this community, independent or assisted living, he says, \u201cmy son-in-law and daughter are extruding me\u201d and then he laughs so she knows it\u2019s a joke, which is hard to tell also because of his baseball cap and the … Continue reading Janet Bowdan<\/span>
\nto this community, independent or assisted living,
\nhe says, \u201cmy son-in-law and daughter are extruding me\u201d
\nand then he laughs so she knows it\u2019s a joke,
\nwhich is hard to tell also because of his baseball cap
\nand the mask over his beard. He tells her his ailments
\nlisting them off in a display of memory and medical know-how;
\nasks questions about costs, options and contingencies:
\n\u201csay in three years I have a stroke,\u201d he posits.
\nHe agrees to use a wheelchair to see the available apartments
\nso he won\u2019t have to hobble down the hallways,
\nadmires the cabinets, the views, wonders what he\u2019d do
\nwith all his stuff\u2014books, paintings, the bust of his mother
\nhis uncle Paul had sculpted. I wonder how many elderly
\nfolk the managing director has escorted with these same
\npangs. Next on the tour, their work-out facilities, a gym\u2014
\nhere my dad gets up laboriously from his wheelchair
\nand climbs on to the elliptical, working out the pedals,
\ntransforms into the guy who went to the Y every day
\nbefore Covid, moves on to the next machine, and the next,
\nsaying, \u201cI would spend a lot of time here,\u201d but then
\nhe\u2019d have to stay masked in the common areas until
\nwe don\u2019t know when<\/span>
\nand as he says, \u201cBest to expect the worst.\u201d
\nWe drive him home, where he\u2019d prefer to be.<\/p>\n
\nPrevious<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"