Happy 88th Birthday Dad !

100 cake Today is my father’s 88th birthday. It’s far from a happy day though. 2 days ago, my father was transferred from an acute care setting (hospital) to a skilled nursing facility. By the looks of things, he won’t be returning home. But who knows ….

Just 2 weeks ago, we were playing Cribbage together. He wasn’t always counting his cards correctly, but he WAS counting. Today, he is not speaking, walking nor focusing. All of these changes occurred after an admission to an acute care setting for congestive heart failure. I cannot even express how angry I am at myself for bringing him into this hospital (but that’s a whole other story).

My father LOVES his birthdays. He always told me that he was going to live to be 100. In fact, he told EVERYONE that. He hasn’t said that as much in the last couple of months. Perhaps he knew he was declining far too fast to make it to such a grand milestone.

I wonder if he knew that his birthday marks the day where exactly 100 days remain in the year. Probably not.

So today I’ll go visit him but I won’t be bringing a present. There’s no point in doing so. I’ll bring flowers and a card so that the staff knows it’s his birthday and might give him some extra attention or a dish of ice cream. Tomorrow, when my daughter and her sweetheart arrive, we’ll bring his favorite supper (trout) to him and have a small celebration.

What I WILL do in his honor though is donate 100 dollars to the Alzheimer’s Association as this week celebrated World Alzheimer’s Day and this week-end, there will be many “Memory Walks” throughout the country. I will also use the last 100 days to become lazar focused on educating care givers and their families about eldercare and the diseases associated with the elderly (and not so elderly).

How about you?

1. How have you grown and what have you learned this year ?
What else would you like to learn?

2. Is there any unfinished business that needs

to be tended to in your life of for the life of your care recipient?

3. Have you changed the habits that you planned to change this year?

Have you accomplished the goals that you planned ?

4. Are you taking care of yourself and if not, what needs to change?

5. Have you read my free report “12 Things You Must Do….” and accomplished most of those goals?

Birthdays and milestones are a time to re-evaluate and plan. In honor of my father’s birthday, won’t you take the last 100 days of this year and use them to improve your life or the lives of those around you by accomplishing something positive?