An Inconvenient Truth

By Bud Focht

Hi, my name is Bud and I’m cold. Today’s temperature is two (not also, but 2).

My wife Terry and I live in Southeast Pennsylvania and the other day the temperature was the coldest it has been here in over 20 years. My sister-in-law, a nurse at a grade school, lives in Southwest PA and she recently had another snow day, the eighth of the year, but not because of the snow, but because it was too cold for the kids to go to the bus stop.

Terry’s mother lives in New England and they have had eight feet of snow in the last four weeks.

Terry and I made our annual trek to Niagara Falls last week and had a great time. The day we left, however, I had my fingers crossed (which is tough to do with two pairs of gloves on) when I went out to start the car. The temperature in Western New York that morning was -5 degrees (Fahrenheit, I don’t do Celsius) with a wind chill of -25. Minus 25!!

Last year when we visited the Falls, the week before we got there they froze solid for the first time in recent memory. This year two days after we left Buffalo the Falls froze solid again.

Over the last decade or so we’ve all heard the warnings about Climate Change and Global Warming. With all of this cold weather and snow that has been pounding the Northeast, I am starting to question this theory.

Some people who are smarter than I am believe that Global Warming is a hoax, that it was invented or distorted for ideological or financial reasons, or both.

The World Natural Health Organization does not believe that Global Warming exists.

Global Warming is described as the observed rise in the average temperature over the past century.

The key ingredient in Global Warming is increased levels of carbon dioxide. Something I like to call CO2.

CO2 is a minor element of our atmosphere but it is essential for all life on Earth because it is the food that nourishes all vegetation. The Earth has had many periods of high levels of CO2 and many cycles of warming and cooling that are part of the life of our planet.

Many people believe that mankind is causing this increase of greenhouse gases, produced by human activities. The United Nations environmental program says that CO2 was causing this warming and we all need to reduce and restrict CO2 emissions.

Former Vice-President Al Gore called it An Inconvenient Truth in his slide show presentation that became an Academy Award winning documentary movie some 10 years ago.

I am afraid Terry and I have had our own Inconvenient Truth. We are seeing a dramatic change. Not in the climate, but in Terry. And not over a 100-year period, but over several months.

Since Terry was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease last April she has gone through many tests. All of these tests have indicated that there has not been any “physical” change in her brain in the last year. The MRIs and brain scans and X-Rays show no shrinkage (yet) in the size of her brain, Thank God, and the results of the tests the neurologist gave her were the same this year as they were last year. Not very good, but no worse.

But living with Terry, taking care of her, on a day-to-day basis, I have realized the Inconvenient Truth. As time goes by there are more and more simple tasks that she can no longer perform.

I stopped Terry from driving back in the fall, once I realized she no longer knew how to get to places that were not far from home, places that she had driven to hundreds of times. I wasn’t going to wait until I got a call saying she was lost. Or a call saying something much worse.

I used to have her use the microwave instead of the oven or stove when I was not home because she would often forget to turn the stove or oven off when she was done. Well, now she no longer can figure out how to use the microwave.

Terry no longer cooks.

During the winter months I fix her oatmeal for breakfast but if she sleeps in and I have to leave the house before she has breakfast, she has cereal.  On days I cannot get away from work midday to check on her she makes herself a sandwich for lunch.  I make her supper.

She still knows how to call me on her cell phone, with the numbers already plugged in, although sometimes she calls my office number by accident instead of my cell phone. But she no longer knows how to send a text message. Lately she has been having trouble even trying to figure out how to read a text message. So we no longer text each other.

Working the television remote is also becoming more difficult for her. With our cable system we have a channel that acts like a TV Guide. She no longer knows how to work that to find a show and put it on. Although she still knows how to put the ESPN channel on so she can watch SportsCenter.

If there is a show on TV that she would enjoy watching while I am at work, before I leave I put that channel on, so when the show comes on all she has to do is turn the TV on.

These changes have all happened in recent months.

Terry has been on her medicines, Donepezil and Namenda, for about 10 months now. When we first went to the clinic last spring and they told us about Terry’s condition, the doctors said the meds would give us an extra year or two. 

I didn’t know exactly what they meant by that, and frankly, I was afraid to ask. I have come to realize what they meant.

It hasn’t even been one year yet and I am seeing further decline in her cognitive skills. It is very difficult for her to make a decision, something as simple as ‘do you want soup or a sandwich for lunch’.

Fortunately she still has her personality. She still laughs every day, as much as I can make her. She is still enjoying life. She still enjoys our time together, still enjoys her time with our kids. She still enjoys listening to Country songs on the radio or Bob Marley CDs. She still looks forward to her Bible Studies, on Tuesday evenings and on Sunday mornings.

But the Inconvenient Truth is that she is getting worse.

I knew this would happen, eventually, but knowing it and accepting it are two different things.

In the depths of this cold weather everyone is looking forward to spring. I no longer look forward to future events. I no longer look forward to the future.

Terry and I live solely in the present. We live for today and try to enjoy today. Because the tomorrows are scary.

Some people believe that Global Warming is scary. Some people believe Global Warming is a hoax.

I wish Terry’s EOAD was a hoax.

Until next time, stay warm

Bud 

Happy Valentine’s Day

By Bud Focht

Hi, my name is Bud and I am taking my wife Terry to Niagara Falls for Valentine’s Day.

Some men buy their women flowers for Valentine’s Day, some buy candy. Some buy lingerie. Buying lingerie always puzzled me. Wouldn’t that be more of a gift for the guy? It usually doesn’t seem very comfortable and seems to be more for him to look at than for her to wear.

Others buy jewelry, some buy perfume. 

Terry doesn’t wear perfume and earrings are about all the jewelry she wears, unless engagement and wedding rings count.

Terry doesn’t eat much candy, and buying flowers can be a mistake.  Did you know certain flowers have a negative connotation to them?

If you buy someone daffodils it means you think they are vane.  Lavender is said to symbolize distrust.  Hydrangeas stand for heartlessness and cypress mean death. How romantic!

The custom of giving your lady a gift on Valentine’s Day is strange, since the date, February 14, commemorates Saint Valentine being martyred.

Apparently Saint Valentine wrote the first Valentine card from prison. The night before he was to be put to death he sent a letter to the daughter of his jailer forgiving them and he signed it “Your Valentine.”

The reason Valentine is associated with lovers is that he performed weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. He would cut heart-shaped parchment and give them to the soldiers before they went off to battle to remind them of their vows and of God’s love. Hence the modern use of hearts and Valentine Cards on Valentine’s Day.

I don’t plan on giving Terry any parchment this year, or jewelry or candy or flowers. Definitely not any lingerie. 

The National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend over $2 billion on flowers and close to $5 billion on jewelry this Valentine’s.  Not me.

I will take Terry on a weekend getaway to Niagara Falls.

Honeymooning couples have made their way to Niagara Falls for nearly 200 years. Although the Falls has not made it into the top ten list of lovers’ destinations for quite some time, Niagara Falls continues to offer some unique charms.

Of course, most people who visit the Falls go during the summer months.

Terry and I have been going there for the past few winters.  There are still plenty of tourists there, from all over the world, but it is a bit chilly.

The reason we go during the winter is because I have to work in Buffalo on Friday night and in Niagara, about 20 minutes from Buffalo, on Sunday afternoon.  So Terry goes with me and we have all day Saturday to take in the sights.

And this year I am determined to talk Terry into letting me rent that barrel.

Last year the week before we went the Falls made national news because it froze solid. By the time we got there the weather had warmed up a bit so it thawed, but that made it terrible for us.  Because of the pounding of the water, hitting the rocks and the Niagara River below, there is always a mist in the air. The combination of the mist, along with the thawing of the ice, made it so foggy you could barely see the falls.

But you certainly could still hear it.  That was the first impression I got when I first visited the Falls, how loud it is.

The first few times we went we only saw it from the New York side. The last few times we’ve brought our passports and went into Niagara Falls, Ontario. The difference is like night and day.

The Canadian side is so much better. The view is 100 percent better, looking straight at the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls next to it. And from the Canadian side you can get within a few feet of the Horseshoe Falls. You can actually feel the power.

The Canadian side is also more designed for the tourists. Many more shops and restaurants and bars. A lot more things to do. There is also a history of the Falls to look at.  All of the people who tried to go over the Falls in a barrel, how much it erodes every year, the time the Army Corps of Engineers actually shut the flow off while working on it.

Also in Canada, it is legal to buy Cuban cigars. Every year when we go up we buy a few for my cigar-smoking friends back home. Last year, however, it didn’t work out too well.

I was always under the impression that you could bring back two or three cigars with you, just not a case.  So every time when we came across the border, when asked if we had anything to declare, I would always say “I bought two cigars.” And the guard always said nothing. Last year, however, was different.

Did you know the crime from bringing Cuban cigars into the United States is treason?  Treason!  These weren’t government secrets I was bringing across the border, just a couple of cigars.

When I told the guard I had a couple of cigars last winter he began to yell at me and would not give us our passports back. He made us pull over and go inside. After waiting for a while the guard inside asked us why we were there and when I told him he seemed perplexed. He went into the back and spoke to a supervisor, and the supervisor came out and told us he could put us in jail for treason, that we were contributing to a communist country by buying these cigars.

So I asked him, “Are you going to throw us in jail?”  He didn’t.

I guess it was just a slow day at the border and they wanted to ruffle some feathers.

When we left Terry said to me “I guess we won’t be buying any Cuban cigars anymore when we come up here.” And I said, “No, I’m still going to buy them but from now on we won’t be declaring to them that we bought them.”

The good news is that the Cuban embargo that JFK started over 50 years ago is just about over and I should not have any problems bringing the best cigars in the world back home with me.

So that is what I am giving my friends for Valentine’s Day.

I will be giving Terry a get-a-way weekend.

Since Terry was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease we have learned to make the most of every minute we have together.   This weekend we will have many of those minutes, in the eight hour drive to Western New York and the time spent at the Falls.

Time together is the best present we can give to ourselves. Sweeter than candy and much more comfortable than lingerie.

Until next time, hope you get to spend precious time with your Valentine.

Bud