Visited my father as usual on Saturday afternoon and... not quite as usual... began a gentle (I hope) exploration of the possibility that we may need to get him more help, or different help, or change his living arrangements. He was surprisingly open to it (surprising because he likes his independence and needs the sense that he's still fully functional). And he was more lucid than he has been recently -- worth noting that while he has enormous difficulty synthesizing facts(it's dark out) into larger facts (it's night), he still has a strong sense of identity and reasonably full command of complex emotions. And at some more basic level he knows what situation he's in, and understands that help is in order. He likened himself to "a baseball player being told to hang it up" (I suggested that maybe he could move over to coaching) and also talked at length about what a good life he's had (which is impressive -- not everyone with his history would necessarily come to that conclusion). He seems enthusiastic about Visiting Nurse Service as the care provider -- he has a good history with them.
So it seems we're stable, at least until we're not.
More work to do this week and in coming weeks.
But was able to take in a little music in a better frame of mind than I expected.
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