Brethren, first, some news: I’ve completed combat training successfully and I am heading to my ultimate duty station to prepare to go on to Afghanistan. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
On the way I stopped at my father’s place and found out that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, that in fact he was diagnosed 8 years ago but decided to keep it from us until the symptoms became too obvious.
I was gratified that he remembered me and he does in fact looks OK, considering, although he has severe problems walking, diabetes, and a host of other ailments.
He also keeps his sense of humor and seems amused at the many contradictions and funny moments that his declining mental faculties afford him. He, in fact, laughs loudly and with gusto and I can’t help but laugh too.
Alzheimer’s has been called “the Long Good Bye” and with reason, as relatives observe their loved ones slowly fade away. Primary caregivers bear an onerous weight also.
All things considered, please keep my dad in prayer. He and his family are also Jehovah Witnesses and as such are indoctrinated to bear suffering with stoicism, but are either prohibited, discouraged, or uneducated to “offer up” their pain and sufferings by joining them to Christ, which would lighten their load and bring them some more joy in pain. May the Lord strengthen all of us in His Spirit, as we say our “long good bye”.