Tonight, Mom is attending a gala for caregivers, which means I’m on Dad Duty! 
I picked Dad up from the day club, and one of the assistants quietly informed me that Dad had an accident… and he would NOT let them clean him up.
Oh. My. Goodness. 
Immediately I’m thinking, “MY MOM IS GONE!!!”
Now listen… I love my daddy with my whole heart, but I am NOT ready for that level of caregiving yet! I told the assistant, “My mom is gone and I’m watching him tonight, sooooo… he might have to sit in it until she gets back!” 
Thankfully, the assistant tried one more time, and Dad finally let him get him cleaned up.
THANK YOU, LORD!!! 
Crisis #1: AVERTED.
We get home and I ask Dad if he’s hungry. No response. He’s not really talking right now—just kind of staring off into space.
Meanwhile, Mom has every light in the house ON and no AC, so I’m over here sweating like a pig in a sauna. 
I start turning off lights because, HELLO… we still have daylight!
I fix Dad a little snack—carrots and his special applesauce—and put on the movie Show Dogs.
Now he is GLUED to the TV. 
Mom tells me that by this time he’s usually ready for bed, so I ask him if he wants to go to bed.
Dad: “Nope.”
Okay then!
A little later, I remembered something…
Lights are Dad’s friends.
So I turned one of the lights back on and suddenly Dad yelled:
“BAM!”
I almost jumped out of my skin!
Sir!!! You haven’t been saying much all evening, but THAT came out loud and clear!
The movie ended, and I could tell he was getting sleepy, but he still didn’t want to go to bed.
I’m thinking, Dad, you are clearly tired. Why won’t you just go to bed?
Then…
DUH, April. 
The hallway light was OFF.
Dad didn’t want to walk down that dark hallway to his bedroom.
Finally, he looked at me and said, “Come with me.”
And that’s when it clicked.
So I turned on the hallway light and walked with my dad to his room.
Sometimes with dementia, the things that seem so simple to us aren’t simple anymore. A dark hallway isn’t just a dark hallway. Sometimes Dad needs the lights on. Sometimes he needs someone beside him. And sometimes he can’t explain what he needs—so we have to slow down long enough to figure it out.
Tonight started with me panicking over an “accident,” sweating in Mom’s bright, hot house, and nearly having a heart attack when Dad yelled “BAM!”
But it ended with me walking beside my daddy because he simply needed me to come with him.
Dementia has truly changed our lives. Some days it makes us laugh, some days it tests us, and some moments hit you right in the heart.
Tonight reminded me to appreciate life, appreciate the little moments, and appreciate that when Dad said, “Come with me,” I was still here to walk beside him.
Until the next adventure… Dad’s Chronicles continues.
