Still Laughing...

If you have never had a parent with dementia or mental illness, its okay to laugh at this post, I promise you probably won't go to heck for doing so.

For reasons, I am not supposed to understand, both my parents have not aged gracefully and have lost their ability to comprehend, even the simplest things, long before their time. It's the true definition of heartbreaking. My sister and I have found one {some would think odd}way of coping...

We laugh. A lot.

Mental Illness. Dementia. Not funny.

Some of the things parents with mental illness and dementia, do, funny....{here are the few TAME enough for family blogging}

My mom once ate her T-bone steak, in the middle of a fancy restaurant, with her hands, like a chicken drumstick. The more we asked her to stop, the more animated her eating became.

Or the time we discovered my mom had been labelled a "frequent flyer" but not the airline kind. She was on a first name basis with every EMS professional in the city of Lethbridge. She would even complain if it was one of the "older" ambulances.

Or the time the nurses had to take her phone away because she continually called 9-1-1 to report the illegal grow-op in the nursing home's basement. No basement. No Grow-op.

My Dad once stole the "it's a BOY" stork sign from a neighbours yard, crossed out all the information with a sharpie and add my sister's sons name...then sent a picture with the sign now proudly displayed in his living room

Or the time my Dad "borrowed" the neighbours cat, because her wanted one...it took us a week to convince my Dad that a cat with a collar, tag and bell was not a stray (the cat was safely returned home)

But we are still laughing, after a hospital representative met with my sister yesterday after trying to verify information my Dad had given them....The Medicare system down in the States is a stark contrast to our universal heath system in Canada...requiring a lot of protocol and paperwork. So during an extensive health history the hospital rep was trying to take. My Dad matter-of-factly informed them that in his free time he enjoys....

"Gardening and growing marijuana"

The hospital representative wanted to confirm this with my sister....

Kelli burst out laughing!

My Dad has always hated yard work, can't keep a house plant alive, and, as far was we know does not grow marijuana...sigh.

{Remember my Dad is hospitalized in my sister's very conservative, very Mormon town, very small town. :) }

Thankfully they decided not to included that in their official report.

But we are still laughing.....