Text 21259, 91 rader
Skriven 2006-01-07 12:37:59 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
  Kommentar till text 20865 av FRANK SCHEIDT (1:123/140)
Ärende: Musings online
======================
*** Quoting FRANK SCHEIDT from a message to CAROL SHENKENBERGER ***

 CS> not and I'd like to hope  I will be as clearminded as you if I reach my
 CS> 80's. 

FS> You have long struck me as being a very rational person so I'd 
FS> expect that rationality to continue.  My father died at age 96 
FS> and his mind was perfectly clear to the end.  My family has no 
FS> history of senility -- at least back through my grandparents.  

Well, I cant claim that totally although there is hope for me.  We tend to
either be long lived, or drop of a heart attack at age 65 or so (more long
lived on Dad's side my mother told me).  My father sadly, was not clear minded
at all for his last 3-4 years but my sister says it was due to diabetic
complications.  He developed diabetes when he hit about 45 or 50, worked til
he hit 75 (full time) then part time til he hit 85, and died at age 93.  Had
they had the medical care of today when he first developed 'age onset
diabetes', he probably would not have lost his mental faculties but the
cumulative effects over the long term caused 'diabetic onset senility' (I
think thats what it is called).  He had alot of other complications from the
diabetes too, but that one caused him to slowly slip away years before his
heart stopped.

On my mother's side, senility is rare but there have been strokes that have
caused pretty radical damage.  Mom's fther had one age 75 or so and died 10
years later.  (Her mother died before then of some flu, possibly the 'spanish
flu'?  Not clear to me).  Mom stayed home to take care of her father til he
died when she was about 24-25 then married my father (who was older than her
by quite a bit).  They parted ways when I was 2 and my mother has never
remarried but my father did when I was about 14. On a purely genetic basis, I
am glad I am not blood related to his second wife although she has been a very
sweet lady to me.  History of mental instability on her side and as she hit
her 60's it erupted in her too (doubtless at least partly due to how things
were going with her husband of the past 20 years).  She's in a rest home with
her main problem being 'alcoholic dementia' (my father had controlled her
drinking to keep it reasonable but she was an alcoholic before she met my dad
and once he was hospitalized she spun out of control).

BTW, my MIL (Dad's second wife) knew she had a problem and sought help several
times in her life and 'beat the demon' several times but such is never truely
'beaten'.  She however was positively adamant about NEVER drinking and driving
and never did.  She had a long talk with me when I was 19 and came out to
California to meet my Dad at last and drove that home to me.  I'd done it once
or twice before that, but NEVER since.  Sure I like a beer now and again, but
I plan a route home and make sure I have cab money.  She taught me one thing
that most 'kids' age 19 dont grasp.  'If you take the car to get to the bar,
you will be tempted to drive back, so DONT DO THAT EVER'.  She was pretty
graphic about what can happen in a more personal 'face to face' way than any
school or TV warnings as she admitted she was an alcoholic but even if she
couldnt control her drinking well, she could control what damage it may cause
others.

Just to tell you how great this lady was (I called her my 'other mother'), when
I was 20, my sister's old bike finally started to fail and I couldnt afford to
replace it.  Clemson SC doesnt have taxis so I was using that as a safe way to
go bar hopping and get home again (something we'd worked out in that
conversation).  She'd made me *promise* to call her if I had problems so I did
and that I was looking about for a decent used one.  2 days later a delivery
van showed up with a new bicyle, a decent 5speed.  Not a racing bike, but one
for real use.  When I joined the military, I gifted it to another (no way to
transport it to my first dutystation).  Since I knew that sometimes after
classes (college) I would get invited for a beer, I used the bike to go to
school.

 CS> Oh yeah!  Definatly!  Canned cold food was better thna Mom's cooking
 CS> (lovely  woman, excellent mother, but not a cook which is her only
 CS> failing and I mean  that for real).

FS> My own mother was a poor cook but, as I've pointed out more than 
FS> once, that was an advantage since, by comparison, almost anything 
FS> I eat tastes good.

Same here.  I learned to cook quite well though I am not what i personally deem
a 'fancy cook'.  Others may think I'm fancy because what i make is a bit
exotic to USA mainstream folks at least 1/2 the time, but it's all fairly easy
fix stuff for the most part.  Like, it takes less than 5 mins to make your own
bread in a breadmaker so we seldom buy bread.  Also, I live in a very close
knit community complex so we are always feeding one another's kids (last night
Don made a biggish roast for a neighbor who'd called him around noon that she
had to work late and could he cover?  Sure, no problem).  The kids travel in
what we call 'flocks' and will hit up some 10 or so apartments through the
day, munching their way along as they play games and things.  Here at my
place, we often do impromptu cookery to let the kids experiment.  This morning
they wanted to see if my rotisserie (vertical type) would do hot dogs so we
tried it and yes, nice ones <g>.  We made them then into little cabbage rollup
fillers (leftover rice added to center) and ate them with a dipping sauce of
'spiced vinegar and asian mustard'.
                                       xxcarol

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