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Yesterday

 He slipped away quietly and very peacefully yesterday afternoon. Our prayers that the transition could be smooth and easy for him were certainly answered. We can all be thankful. The photo above is from yesterday, before he slipped away.

                                                                               

Today

 Jean's kind nurse, Beth, came to see him this morning, as she does every Thursday morning.

 His lungs are clear. Blood pressure excellent. There is no swelling whatsoever, anywhere. Beth smiled, and shook her head in amazement. She said, "He has the vital signs of a young man!"

Today

Grandpa Jean is now very, very weak and very, very thin. He takes in enough fluid and enough food daily to make it through another day. I bought a baby bottle, and John is able to squirt water into his mouth, which he can usually swallow. He doesn't speak much. Sometimes he mouths words. Usually he just nods weakly "yes" or shakes his head "no". We still get him up twice a day to sit at the table. He watches a little bit of tv. We have been able to avoid bed sores till recently, but now he has one on his left elbow. He doesn't move his left arm when he's lying down, so a pressure sore has developed there. We're treating it as best as we can. He is not in pain. His nurse said she has never seen anyone like him!

1915 - A Special Year

A few interesting facts about Grandpa's birth year

Isle of Jean Charles

Have you heard that Grandpa Jean has his own island -  the Isle of Jean Charles?    Just kidding.    This island on the southern coast of Louisiana is rapidly shrinking, due to sea-level rise. 

Conversation

When John gets his dad up and sets him at the edge of his bed, Jean is disoriented, and he almost always asks, "Where am I?"

The other day, John responded with, "You're in the United States of America."

Jean said, "Well what do you know. I've been there before."

John said, "The USA is a big place. So you're in Kentucky."

Jean: "Where is that?"

John: "In the middle. Not in the north, not in the south."

Jean. "Where is it then?"

John: "In the middle."

Jean: "I'll take two of them."


                                                 *************

A different day -   John:  "Are you hungry?"

Jean: "I don't know. I never went to school."

John: "Yes, you did. You played on the football team. You played half-back."

Jean: "What about the other half?"


                                                 *************

Jean, sitting at his table, asked, "Who's Mary?"

John: "Mary who?"

Jean pointed to writing on one of the mugs in front of him.

John: "That says 'Merry Christmas'."

Jean: "Who's she?"