The kids and I went to Mesa Verde with one action plan today: to bring Vernon the bass that our friend Shane had lent us. Since Vernon had asked for a bass time and time again, we were hoping that once it was in hand, he would start playing it, the memory of music in his fingers after years apart from his instrument. (He used to play the bass as a teenager.) We didn’t get that far, but he did handle it right. I think we’ll keep bringing it along, if Vernon shows the interest. Perhaps it will come back with practice.
https://vimeo.com/130061705
He mostly seemed interested in listening to Maki play it, though Maki’s never tried the bass in his life. Vernon loves it so much when Maki plays his guitar, and more and more he seems to be seeing Maki as a younger version of himself (which is pretty close to true.) In fact today, when I was telling someone I thought Maki looked a lot like his mother, especially in coloring, Vernon interjected: “No, he looks EXACTLY like me!” Whether he looks just like him or not…they act a lot alike. And when Vernon gets his company, his attention to anything else goes out the window.
Justine, aware of this, got a bit grumpy before we even got out of the car. Once she realized Maki would be entertaining their dad with the guitar again, she remembered she couldn’t compete for his attention. She and I decided to say a little prayer before going in, asking for a enjoyable time for her, no matter what Daddy was feeling like today. And her prayer was answered, for not only did daddy ask for a kiss when he saw her, but she noticed four huge gift bags full of brightly colored tissue paper waiting by his bedside table.
“Are they for me? For my birthday?”
“Yes,” said, Joe, still lying in his bed next to Vernon’s. “They are for you…all from your dad.”
Loraine, a sometimes visitor, who had remembered Justine’s birthday was coming, arrived about then to bring her a gift of her own. We all went outside for a spontaneous Birthday Party (about the fourth party Justine’s experienced this week…a girl raised after my own heart.)
“How do you like that wrapping job?” said Joan, a stroke victim. “Not bad for one hand!” So she had been in on it too.
Joe said he had taken care of half the gifts…and his sister had got the other. Having a 17 year old daughter himself, I think he enjoyed shopping for little girl things more than he admitted. Here he is trying to untie the doll from the box. It was pretty tricky. Without showing Justine, we ended up popping the poor thing’s head off just to get it free. Gosh, if childbirth were so easy!
Joe never let Justine know the gifts were from him, but kept telling her they were from her dad. ( I’m pretty sure she figured it out though.) He did tell me that when he showed all the presents to Vernon last night, he was very excited about them. He’d forgotten by today, but it was a nice few moments shared between them last night. I’m so thankful for Joe. What a big heart he has for Vernon…and our whole family.
Here is the bounty. A doll with all the mod-cons…coloring books, sticker books, puzzles, princess gear! It was almost too much.
More than Justine, I think the little party and all the presents were a gift to the residents, who had circled around the table to watch.
Sweet 95 year old Anita, who is always parked over by the roses, smelling them and daydreaming, wanted to pick something special out for the birthday girl. She asked me to cut off a rose from the bush with her blunt-end scissors, making sure I pulled off the thorns.
Like myself, she was amazed at all the gifts Justine had received.
“When we were young. We were lucky to get an orange.” How fitting that she gave Justine her first rose.
Anita, like most of the people in the home, obviously loves children. She told me that she had once planned to be a nun…until she realized she wanted a family more. Then after marriage, she had to have a hysterectomy. She said she always felt cheated.
I said something like: “Wow, you really don’t know what people’s lives are like till they tell you the truth, do you?”
And she said: “It’s a place like this that you really see the humanity of life. It’s got a little of everything, right at the surface.”
If after 95 years, she has that to say about this home, I’d say we are in a pretty special place.
The party grew when a couple of friends from church showed up to play more music and keep Vernon company. Maki enjoyed that time with them, listening to Vernon’s earlier memories as they brought them out of him with questions. He remembered making ‘bubble gum paintings in Dusseldorf” and was able to explain his technique of getting the gum and paint consistency just right. Most people would think Vernon was making this up, especially with his mind as mixed up as it is. But the wild thing is, this is fact…it actually happened.
In the meantime, Justine kept herself happy by riding her bike around the courtyard…to the delight of everyone there (as well as her own.)
https://vimeo.com/130061452
On our way out. Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Can’t go around it. Gotta go through it.
Yep, that about sums up our lives. But sometimes it’s surprisingly fun.