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The
Squamidian Report – Feb. 21 / 26
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Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1239
Judy ****
From Judy
My mother, Mabel, was the third sister in the Haufchild family tree. She was three months shy of her 104th birthday when she died. Her older sisters were Irene and Emma, Lorne, Russel and Wayne’s mother, Doug and Carol‘s grandmother and her youngest sister was Edna mother of Rosemary and Ross. Rosemary contributes to this newsletter quite often. We were lucky that she didn’t have dementia, just a little short memory loss, but boy could she tell you things that happened years ago. She went to Sunnyside retirement home when she was 99 as she fell a couple of times and it was very hard for Bryan and I to go out even for short periods of time without worrying about her. She was quite popular at the home as she was a big fan of CNN so anytime anything was happening in the world, the staff would come and have their coffee breaks with her so they could watch what was going on. Her 90th birthday was spent here at the house with Saturday being designated for family and Sunday was an open house for her Church friends. She loved it! For her 100th birthday, we had it held at my older sister’s place just for family and it turned into a question and answer time for the grandchildren to get caught up on family history. Her mind was still great. 1993 a bad year for our family as we lost my brother-in-law Paul in late February and then mom passed two weeks later and my husband passed seven months later. We were very lucky to have mom as long as we did and was able to still have conversations with her. Judy ****
From Nova Scotia Sus
We are pretty much buried in snow. Its a downhill trail to both our entrances...kind of like living in a cave. This happens every winter so no surprise. The snow is so white that it is kind of hard to focus on each step coming and going. Maybe it's old age but it really does blind us. Even with this weather i'm still busy doing hair. My clients are never going to miss an appointment unless I call them to stay home due to road conditions. They say "OH is it that bad! I say "OH Yes! I don't want them stuck in our yard! We are still doing some baby sitting which we love to help out. She goes to a day care 2 days a week, then to her Dad's 2 days a week if he is feeling up to it. She can be quite a handful at times being close to 4 years old. We get our exercise this way. Time sure flies by. There is a forest school nearby where they take children for a day or two a week. She loves it being out in the woods and being with other kids.
Sus ****
From Wayne
Hi Squids: All is quiet in New Brunswick. We have had a few gentle snowfalls accumulating to about a foot of snow on the ground, not like other parts of the country. February has always been my favourite winter month; clear skies, unbroken fields of snow and the late day long blue shadows. Here is today's view;  Kenny put out the sap buckets so spring is in sight. Some mornings the world is adorned with a thick frost. Unfortunately there will be a period of slop when all of this stuff melts but the ever lengthening days give us a feeling of anticipation for the spring.  Wayne and Sylvia ****
From Carol
When Al retired, he decided to start giving blood. He went for his 90th donation today. I am very proud of him. I took up donating blood about 40 years ago but my 11th donation was my last. When they tested that blood donation a false positive was given for some exotic disease a person only gets in hot countries. Even though it was proven to be a false positive I was banned from ever donating blood again. That would have been at the height of the HIV virus in donated blood scandal. While struggling into our winter boots the other day we talked about those boots we had in the 50s, you know those rubber ones that went over our shoes. They were cold and snow would get down the cuff onto our feet. They were very good in rain though. We started talking about other things in the 50s, not heard of today, but taken for granted back then. Today there are fire drills at schools, which we also had, but we also had bomb drills, The cold war was seen as a real menace back then, the fear that jets going over Canada from Russia or China to get to Washington would drop bombs on us also. Nothing would have protected us from nuclear fallout but we were prepared for a regular air raid. At Howard Robertson we would go into the halls, scrunch or kneel down facing the wall with our hands over our heads. I guess that would have kept us safe from flying glass in the classrooms, would have worked in a tornado also. Al said that in Wiarton they would be told to get under their desks, which wouldn’t have protected them from shattered glass. Waterloo County even built a bomb shelter near the Freeport bridge which is still there and only would have accommodated a few officials. There was also a bomb shelter in Wiarton by the train station. Al said it was torn up when the train stopped coming and the station was moved. I don’t remember when the bomb drills stopped, certainly while I was still in grade school. Now the terrible fear in schools is the reality that there have been horrific school shootings. Do any of you have stories from your childhoods that you took for granted back then but today’s kids would not know what you are talking about?
Carol ****
From Doug
This really isn’t the best forum for very personal information but it does reach all of you guys so here goes, again…. There are times Sue is almost normal for a 3 yr old, and times when she is lost, scared, confused beyond belief, angry and doesn’t recognize anyone or any place. There seems to be a switch in her head that flips back and forth randomly and for no reason. Sue spent most of this week in a hospital bed here in Squamish. The part of her that is ‘still there’ was not very happy about being in a hospital but it was/is for her safety and my well being. She had been trying numerous times per night to get out of the house. If asked, she either couldn’t tell me where she wanted to go, or, she’s say she wanted to go home. (home being where she lived as a kid). She would spend hours in the middle of the night packing stuff into grocery bags to take with her. That stuff could consist of various items such as: a coloring book, a mitt, a hat, some greeting cards, a sweater, and so on. She actually made it out of the house twice. Both times she turned around and came back in by the time I had reached the door because it was dark and raining, and she didn’t like the rain. I have the door alarmed so that loud chimes go off whenever it is opened but even at that, I could not continue to be on guard all day and all night, hence, the risk to my health. Should she get out and get lost, there are many dangers out there. We are up in the mountains with lots of total wilderness right at our doorsteps, hence, her safety. I had taken her up to the emergency department of our little local hospital several times over the past couple of months but aside from checking her out there wasn’t much they could do. Then last Saturday she started getting more weird than usual, not understanding where she was (in the house), trying to find all the people (hallucinating) and becoming agitated. I took her up to emerg. We where there for quite a while and she seemed to calm down. They offered to admit her because if I took her home she’d be trying to escape again. I asked if there were sleeping pills of some sort that could be prescribed that would knock her out and make her sleep because if so, I could take her home. The doctor was willing to try that method. The pills didn’t work and by 2am she was trying to leave again. I gave her enough med to knock down a horse, no effect at all. By 4am I was sitting in the living room keeping an eye on her. Sunday was a long day. Monday night got weird again with her up and trying to escape. I gave up trying to get any rest. About 5:30 Tuesday morning I got her morning pills ready and told her they were in the glass on the counter. She didn’t know where that was so I told her it was in the kitchen. She didn’t know where that was either. So, off to emerg again. Got there about 6:30 and after more checks etc they decided that for her safety and my well being that she should be admitted. That whole process took several hours and by late morning she had a bed. Ryan is home for a few days and came up, getting there just before she was given her room. At the time we didn’t know if or when she’d be coming home, or if she would be coming home at all. He was coming up anyway because I had an appointment with the case worker to discus the growing problem of my inability to care for her 24/7 and he needed to be involved in that conversation. The factors regarding her coming home is her meds, can they be adjusted or changed so that she stays calmer and that she sleeps through the night. So, after several days of observation and doing whatever they do, Sue had indeed been sleeping through the night and could therefore be discharged on Friday. Nothing can fix the deterioration of her brain but controlling her agitation and need to flee is the goal. So, on Friday I figured I’d be taking her home and had her cloths and coat etc ready to go when I got a call from the hospital telling me that she would have to stay longer and the doctor would want to speak with me. At the hospital the doctor came into her room and explained that while Sue thought she had slept well the past night, she had in reality been up all night. That is the pattern, med adjustments work for a day or so and then she crashes. A geriatric psychiatrist is working with the doctors on coming up with meds that will keep her stable but until they do, Sue can not come home. And, each time they try a different dose or make some adjustment, she will have to stay another few days for observation. The up-side is that because she has no concept of time or day or night, she is always in ‘today’ and so is not as upset as might be. And that is currently where we stand.
Doug ****
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