After receiving my last Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccination shot and waiting the 14 days to travel from NYC to San Francisco I was able to finally visit Jolene in early April. Upon arriving we spoke while I prepared dinner for the two of us as well as Lola and Phoebe her two toy poodles. After cleaning the dishes I did some laundry. There was a lot of laundry that needed to be washed. Later that night, I entered her room and found that the temperature was 50 degrees (VERY COLD). Jolene told me that it had been that way for the past two months. Warm during the day but the thermostat didn’t function properly at night. The next day I contacted the Maintenance Office. Maintenance checked the thermostat and found that the vent had to be replaced, a new one was ordered. The new vent was installed 4 days later.
During the following weeks, we had some unique Father-Daughter moments. Jolene became a connoisseur of Butter. I finally sampled a small amount and nothing happened. I then ingested a larger amount. WOW!, shortly after taking the Butter I entered Jolene’s room, and she said, “So you finally caught up to me.” I laid down next to her in her bed and we communicated in a way we had never communicated before. I told her that if we ever were to disagree again we should both do some butter to remedy the situation. She smiled, laughed, and agreed. For me, an hour or two is fine but not for 22 hours straight, while being up, down, around, and between.
We also talked about the mugging she had encountered a few days before I arrived. She had just left the bank when a young homeless white couple mugged her. She was struck in the head with a bottle (scar on her forehead and a fractured rib). She filed a police report when the police showed up. I asked her about the hospital and she said yes she went to the hospital. Shortly after that, she fell, in the apartment and fractured another rib. Her falls had been occurring at a more frequent rate from the GBS. Even after several safety devices were installed in the bathroom she continued to fall and at times seriously injured herself. Her speech became unintelligible at times, similar to mine from my Stoke a few months earlier. About 15 years earlier I received Radiation for cancer at the base of the tongue. We were able to understand one another and continued to laugh and at times disagree but we bonded on a more personal level. She continued with her USF classes and tried to do the best she could while I continued laundry, cleaning, and shopping.
Within a week she began spending more time at home. She was no longer able to drive her BMW and could barely walk in May. Attending her classes was no longer possible. She didn’t know whether it was day or night and became bedridden.
THREE NIGHTS