Standing In The Gap For Someone In Cognitive Decline

 I'm now up to about 15 Unpublished Posts ahead and going strong!  *Smiles and Winks*  I'm Lovin' these shorter Posts, it makes me Feel so accomplished.  *Bwahahahaha*   Sure, we're so far ahead of Real Time in the Posts now it's like "Back To The Future", but, whatever.  The Day that they finally Publish I go back to re-read them and respond to your Comments and I've usually completely forgotten what I even had written about!  *LOL*  It's Inspiring me to Blog more and come up with some Fresh Imagery to Share too.  Today nobody had to Work coz in Real Time it's the 4th of July Day.  We caught that Big Mouse that kept peeking in at us thru our Kitchen Window and ate my tiny Cactus on that Sill exterior... in our No-Kill Trap.  He was released to the Wild to live out his best Big Mouse Life now elsewhere.  So, that's not him Above.  But looks very much like he did. *Smiles*  But, now there's a Small One we still need to capture!  *Le Sigh*  Peanut Butter Granola Ball as Bait works pretty well.

Many of you are Feeling less than Patriotic, which is understandable given the Political Fuckery, but I do think we all still LOVE America and Hope for the best in the Future.  That we won't always be the Pariah we've become and can restore our once Great Reputation among the World.  America was only ever Great becoz we were GOOD, when we ceased to be GOOD is when we ceased to be Great.  Some seem not to recognize what actually made us a Great Nation.  Not a perfect one, but aspiring to Be Better, which is Admirable.  To do small things progressively towards Greatness is what makes the American Dream a Reality.  What COULD BE is the Dream.  What IS Possible in America is why people flock here from all over the World like nowhere else on Earth.

I remember the Civil Rights Movement.  I remember Watergate.  I remember the flashpoints of the Vietnam War and being a Military Family during all of it.   I remember all of the flashpoints of subsequent Middle Eastern Wars and being a Military Family during damned near all of it.  My Loved Ones have Served in every damned War except this current one actually.  Wars Politicians start and never Serve in, nor do their Children usually, with just a few exceptions like Biden, whose deceased Son did Serve his Country.  And we had Presidents like Eisenhower who was also a Five Star General in the Military and Served Honorably.  I'm for being in defense of our Nation and defending Allies, but not for Wars that defend nothing and are done for Profit, like this one.

The Government Contracts this War has enriched the 1st Family are obscene.   It's War for Profits.  He wanted to make Gaza an Elite Resort he could Profit from, so annihilation of an entire Civilization was okay with this vile President.  And every other Country he's Threatening or invaded is purely for his own Gains, Trust and Believe.  You'd be Dying to make him more obscenely Rich coz the Two Plus Billion he's made just in this past Year of 2.0 isn't enuf for him.  Even tho' it's more in less time than he made during the rest of his entire Lifetime... and Lost... coz he blows thru fortunes like nobody else ever has and Bankrupted himself half a Dozen times already.  He was in Financial straits again during and after 1.0, which is why he was desperate for 2.0 at all costs.  Follow the Money.  It will lead you to the most Corruption fraudulently profiting off looting The System.

It's never been the Poor or the Immigrant looting off the American Public and Taxpayers.   It's always been the most Elite and obscenely Wealthy siphoning it for themselves and exploiting the Ordinary hard working Citizenry.  Then Playing the Public by making Scapegoats of those who cannot defend themselves and are the most vulnerable.  That anyone actually Believes the Propaganda has perpetuated it.   And having the malcontent and grieved among us being duped seems to work well for those truly robbing The System.   While deflecting blame where it's gobbled up like the Red Meat they make it to be, vilifying those that they heap Hatred upon and blame for everything they're actually doing and is Wrong.  There's never been a recent Immigrant or Welfare recipient whose ever threatened my prosperity or financial security or replaced me in the Workforce.

Anyway, moving on, The Daughter didn't end up doing squat for the 3rd of July, her Friend was a No-Show and went Clubbing and Dancing instead.  Which is no longer The Daughter's Jam so she wouldn't accept an Invitation, she'd wanted to do a 4th of July Celebratory event coz she's been out of the Country for a couple Decades in Mexico and missed a lot of 4th of Julys.  She should have come with her Brother and I in hindsight and probably will then Tonight to see the Fireworks at PIR from a Distance.  I'm scheming about the closest yet furthest from too much going on to see it best.  *Winks*   Not many Roads lead to Phoenix International Raceway so options are more limited.  But I have a couple of Possibilities and we'll play it by Ear that Evening, Tonight in Real Time.

The Man is talking to his Oldest Brother, whose Birthday is the 4th of July, he turned 77 this day.  He's now the Oldest Sibling still Living, their Older Sister Passed some Years ago.   They have One Younger Brother whose my Age and One Younger Sister whose quite a bit Younger than all of them.  They were all Grown and moved out when she was growing up... I think she was one of those Change Of Life Babies some Women have right before Menopause.   His Older Brother was a Widower last Year when our SIL Passed, she'd been ill for a long time and her Husband was her Caregiver.  He felt our Healthcare System killed her off prematurely and it probably did.  He has Money and yet he felt she still wasn't getting the best Care she should have gotten, even with what is considered good Insurance Coverage he paid a Fortune for.

Like me, my BIL relies on Holistic Medicines mostly and strongly distrusts Western Medicine.  It's probably why he's lived to be 77 and looks great for his Age, avoidance of what is pushed by Western Medicine's Big Pharma.   So, on that point he and I are always in Agreement.  We don't Agree about much tho', he was very MAGA, but he's Wealthy, and a lot of Old Wealthy White Men have done quite well under this Regime actually, they're the only ones who have tho'.   But I respect that my BIL is an Honest Man and came by his Wealth Honestly, Legally, and by hard Work, his own Businesses that prospered, and Intelligent Financial decisions and Investments.  He's very Smart and Wise about Money.  He's very Generous too, those are his Virtues.  He's a very Misogynistic Patriarchal Alpha Old White Man Male from the Good Ole' Boy Tribe, and that's where we Clash.  *Bwahahahaha, go figure, Right? LOL*

We've had some epic Clashes in fact, his Dear Wife told me I'm the only person she's ever known that had made her Husband Cry when he went Toe to Toe with me!  *Winks, it's True, I can make Grown Men Cry if they step into my Waters and don't or can't Swim Strong enuf... LOL*  I had good reason to make my Dear BIL Cry tho', he almost Killed his Brother during one of their Hunts he took The Man on, and The Man is MINE!!!!!  Once you put any of MY Loved Ones at Risk, I don't even Care if they're YOUR Loved One too, you've now crossed a Boundary and gotten into MY LANE and I Pity the Fool who does that.  I went full on Old School Apache on his Ass on a Postal Warpath.  The Man didn't Die and that's to Bob's benefit that he didn't, coz he knew he'd fucked up.  The Man took very ill on the Hunt with his Heart Issues and Bob wouldn't abort the fucking Hunt and it almost cost his Younger Brother his Life!!!

So, when I found out about that and he dumped The Man off in such Near Death Shape, it was ON between us.   I went about as Dark Dawn as anyone has ever seen me go, including The Man.  I think he Lived so that I wouldn't Kill his Older Brother horribly if he had Died instead!?  *Bwahahahaha*   Bob can be very Egocentric and so used to having his own way, coz Money Buys Options and People like that, so they get used to folks kowtowing to them and them Owning folk that Owe them Favors, Money and such.  But, I Bow Down to no Man and nobody has enuf Money to Buy me.  If I'd of wanted to Prostitute myself like that I'd of wanted to be the World's first Trillionaire in the doing of it, you Hear me?   I'll take a Pound of your Flesh before I take your Money, it's more Entertaining and Amusing to me, coz I be Crazy like THAT.  *Bwahahaha and Winks*   So, Bob and I now after all these Years, have us an "Understanding" and he won't Cross me again or go Toe to Toe with me.  Wise Man, I Respect his Wisdom and ability to Learn from his Mistakes. *Smiles*

The Man's Family pretty much have been Civil and somewhat tolerant towards me.  But I know they all didn't much like that their Son/Brother had Married this Crazy Heathen Half Breed, whose ways and habits are deeply unsettling to them.  *Smiles*  They do think I'm a Witch, but then, so do my Dad's side of the Family... and they didn't like my Dad Marrying my Mom either for similar reasons... she Scared them too with her ways and habits... shrugs... whatever.  *Bwahahahahaha*  Most Americans were Scared of my Mom tho', she could be a Trip... and, Yes, she did put some Bad Mojo on some folks who deserved it.   A Series of Unfortunate Events, Invisible Mystical Forces, Negative Energy and Bad Luck would befall them... coincidentally, if they foolishly crossed her.  Always.  Let us just say I wouldn't have Dared and I'm her Beloved Daughter.  And that Apple didn't fall far from said Tree.  *Winks and Cackle* 

The Son and I went Grocery Shopping coz everywhere had the 4th of July big Sales on Foods.  We got Buy 2 get 3 Free on Chips & Tostitos Jarred Variety of Dips.  Then Buy 3 get 3 Free on Canned Sodas.   Meats on Sale.  Saved over 50% on our Grocery Bill, you can't beat that.  The Son did get Invited to a BBQ at a Friend's Home in Buckeye, so he has Plans for the 4th, I'm glad, he needs to hang out with his Peers and not just his Parents.   The Daughter may or may not join me, she has some pending Plans and I don't know if they'll materialize or fall thru like the Night before?  Princess T and Rusty have their Plans.  I wanted to do more Today but I don't really have the Energy to now and it's only 1:00 p.m. so I probably won't do too much until time to go see those Fireworks.  I'm content to just Chill here at Home doing Nothing.

 

 

 I hit Two more GOODWILL Locations on July 4th, to check out their Halloween Merch, one had a great Selection and I Scored some good New Old Stock, the other Location didn't have anything worthwhile.  I did get a large "Clean Sheets" scented Gold Canyon Candle tho'.  That was my Mom's favorite Gold Canyon Candle Scent and her Apartment always smelled of it's aroma, so it made me think of her.  Some of the Halloween I got from my Haul is show Below.  The only thing I didn't Photograph is a Trio of Stacking different sized identical Plastic Skeleton Skull Blow Molds, got all Three of them for only 99 Cents:

The Vintage Jack O'Lantern Tumblers is part of the Sets that have the Mummy and the Frankenstein and came with another Frankenstein one, so now I have Two recently bought Mummy ones and Two recently bought Frankenstein one, I only now need One more Jack O'Lantern one.  I do already have some in part of my Vintage Halloween Collection and includes one of the Pitchers that went with them, harder to Source the Pitchers.  The Anna Lee Elf I got for $3.99 and still had his $20 Retail Price Tag on him.  The Canvas Skull tote with Leather Handle and Pom Pom accessory I got Two of coz they were only $2.99 each and are New Old Stock from MARSHALLS.    The Stainless Metal & Bling Raven Straws Set I got Three Sets of, also New Old Stock, normally around $18 a Set, I got them for $5 a Set. 

Me Circa 1974

It is overcast and very Cloudy so not as Hot as usual, tho' we got some sprinkles of Rain and may get more Rain around the time Fireworks are slated to go off?   If the Weather takes an inclement turn I won't go out in it except to pick The Son up after his BBQ at Friends.  They came and got him but can't bring him Home they said, so I agreed to go get him after it's done.   I was Happy he's doing something Special for the 4th with Friends he's known a long time.  He was pretty glum having no Plans, so the Invitation came at the perfect time, tho' rather late to be Inviting someone to something happening that day on a Holiday.  He bought Chips, Salsa and Dips to bring with him.  They're supplying everything else and are a Couple he's known about 20 Years now.  Part of the problem is he's practically the only Single one of everyone he knows now.   And the only one with no Kids. 

Folks tend to Socialize with those who are having similar Lifestyle to themselves.  I know as a Custodial Grandparent it separated us from most other Seniors we knew.  Coz none of them were still Raising Children and didn't want Kids around.  So, we mostly Socialized with other Young Families with Children the Ages of The G-Kid Force.  And I know with Singles and those Widowed it's often alienating from those they know who are Couples.   The Daughter knows more Singles than her Brother, so she has a large Social Group she does things with who are also Single.   The bulk of his previous Social Group Married and now have Children.  Sometimes the Husbands get a Kitchen Pass to go hang out with him, but not that often.  *LOL*   He knows most of the Wives too and he's not one to be a Bad Influence on the Guys, he Respects that they are Family Men now.  But, they mostly hang out with other Couples who have Kids their Kids Ages.

And, The Son likes Kids just fine, but doesn't want to Socialize and have a bunch of Kids running around, he'd rather not.  *Smiles*   I totally understand, I Love Children, but... now that I got Generation No. Two that I Raised all Grown, I don't particularly want to Socialize with a bunch of Kids running around anymore either.   I don't wanna spend half my time being an Entertainment Director for Young Children so that they keep occupied and not fussy, and they wear me out easily now.  But, I also find I'd rather Socialize with Younger Adults than other Seniors, I just don't have that much in common with most of the Seniors I've met.  They're usually very Nice, but we don't share similar Lifestyles or Interests and the Negativity and Negative Energy is a Downer that too many exude in their advanced Years.  Not all of them, but a great many ONLY Socialize with other Geriatrics... and I Socialize with a more diverse Age Group of people and prefer that diversity and more Positive Energy it imparts.

My Paternal Cousin Cherie sent me some Old Photos of Family that I'd never seen before so I appreciated her Sharing them with me via FB.   Below are my Cousins Wewokajanna and D.A. when they were Teens.   I'm not absolutely sure, but the Guy on the Left I think was one of my Aunt's Stepson?   My Native American Cousin Wewokajanna, whose my Dad's Older Brother's Child, had the much Fairer Cherokee complexion {their Mom is Cherokee} and she has the most Beautiful Green Eyes.  Her Maternal Grandmother Monzingo was part White, so she inherited some of the Recessive Genes like I did, tho' she had the Blue Black Hair and now she's much Swarthier than when she was Younger, she got her 'Color' of looking more Indigenous and like her Dad, later.   My Cherokee Aunt often was mistaken for being White with a really good Golden Tan.  It wasn't a Tan.  *Smiles and Winks* 

 

My Cousin D.A. only had Shorter Hair in this Pix rather than his really long Hair becoz he had joined the Military and they made him cut his Hair.  They did let the Indigenous Trackers grow their Hair back out and long while they were In Country in Vietnam tho'.   So, by the time he came back from Vietnam, his Hair was really long again.  He still had very long Hair when he Died last Year.   Wewokajanna and their Younger Sister, whose my Age, are still Living.   We've outlived previous Generations, but not all of us have.  Even some of my Cousin's Children have Died already, Mortality on the Reservations is still pretty high compared to the Average American Lifespan.   I haven't visited the Rez my Relatives live on since the 1970's. 

Josh Groban and Jennifer Hudson just sang a beautiful rendition of "Unchained Melody" together, it was so moving.  LATER:  The Fireworks Display at PIR was really good, we got excellent view of it from where we Parked and Traffic wasn't too bad either getting Home.  We picked The Son up on the way Home.   We got Home by 10:30 which wasn't too bad since Fireworks didn't start until 9:00 p.m. and they were longer than the ones the Night before that Glendale set off.  So, it was a good Two Days worth of Fireworks.    The D.C. Fireworks had severe Weather evacuations which set it back 'til almost Midnight.  I don't know what attendance was like, but most of his Events flopped for this Holiday with very low turnouts for what was spent on it all.   Around the Country there was better attendance at events not geared as MAGA and not heavily Politicized... as it should be not Politically skewed.  Our Celebrations were Thankfully Non-Partisan and all were Welcome regardless of Political affiliations.

I took my long Mid-Afternoon Nap, waking at around 3:00 p.m., I NEED those Naps now to get thru a Day.   Still no Word from my Healthcare Provider on the last Test Results.  I'm Hopeful that No News means Good News?  We'll see.   They had Called last Week and I missed that Call, when I called back they said the Test Results from the last MRI were not in yet and didn't know why someone from their Office had Called... so, it mustn't have been all that important a Call I figured?  I'm glad I got thru the whole 4th of July Festivities with No News of "The Mass" coz it could have been a real Killjoy... we just don't know?   Positive Vibes and Healing Energies are being Summoned tho'.  *Winks*  I Feel just Fine except for the extreme Fatigue.  Even my Painful Right Foot is doing and feeling better coz I just changed to the most comfortable Sandals I own and that helped a lot.  Now no Pain, I think my Feet were swelling some and putting pressure on the Top where my other Sandals went over the Top of my Foot if I Walked a lot.  And I do Walk a lot.

It wasn't like I was gonna quit Walking a lot, I like to Walk and it's my main source of Exercise daily for improved Health and Well Being.  We are trying to get The Man's improved Mobility back, ever since his last Heart Surgery he's really struggled now to Walk without Medical Equipment and he's still quite unsteady.  That was a big Change to how he was prior to the Heart Attack.  He can't join me in doing much now coz it limits him so much and his World got a lot Smaller due to Mobility Issues now.  We beat the Mobility Issues after his TBI, but now with the Dementia, it's harder for him to recall doing so many Natural Things that his poor Brain just can't sort out now.  I have to remind him to Eat Food or he mostly just plays with it.  I have to gently correct him when he's doing something that seems damned near Retarded... sorry, HAD to use the R Word coz no other would describe some of the shit he does now that seems to have Zero Thought Function to it or behind it whatsoever!  It can scare me how Brainless he Acts now sometimes.

*******

Standing in the Gap for him most of the time now... Dawn... The Bohemian