On our end of summer trip home, we spent as much time as possible with my dad. My dad is living in a nursing home, which is very painful for me to even type. At first he went there just to get stronger to go home, but he will probably never make it back to his home. It is rather difficult to visit someone in a nursing home for any length of time when you have small children along. We wanted to do things that would be a change for my dad and let the kids have some time with him. He does not like the food there, so we brought him meals when we could also.
This day we brought him lunch and had a picnic with him outside in the patio area in some shade.
Yoda always wanted to help push Papa. He couldn't do it without help, but he always wanted to be the pusher.
The church that I grew up in and that my dad attended until his recent health problems built a new building and moved in to it after my dad got sick. He had never been there, so he and I took a bus to he could get a tour of the new facility. I took a picture of him on the bus, but forgot to take any pictures once we were there! He was so pleased to get to see the building that he had prayed for and supported for so long. He wasn't so thrilled with my taking his picture on the bus, though!
There is a room at the nursing home that has some couches, a table and a bird display. We spent a lot of time of our visit there. The little kids loved the birds and there was the table where they could color. Here is a picture with all the kids and Papa before we had to return to our home.
Of course there has to be a silly picture, and my dad is always happy to oblige with making faces.
It is very hard to see my dad so weak and living in a nursing home, but I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with him and for my kids to have more time with him as well.
