I have not written in a while.  I guess that things have been going so well (as well as can be expected) that I don’t want to jinx that.  Mom and dad have finally settled down into a routine that seems to suit them for the time being.  Dad has had fewer episodes of anger.  His memory is definitely getting worse and he recognizes less people, but he seems to accept that.  One of my concerns is their lack of exercise.  Dad is not interested in the same things in the yard that he used to be.  He still talks about yard work, his special grass and his shrubs, but he doesn’t go outside as much as he used to.  Out of 16 pecan trees left standing in their yard, he did not pick up a single pecan this season.  I took him 3 flats of pansies on Thanksgiving and they are not planted yet.  I guess that I will have to plant them when I go back to visit next week.  He can not remember how to plant them in pots.  For dad’s entire life, he has been associated in some way with plants.  He farmed, he landscaped and late in his career, he became an agriculture teacher.  His love for farming, gardening and planting has always defined him.  It is one of the joys that this horrible disease has taken from him.  That is still the hardest part to adapt to…the personality changes that we see each time we visit.  Most are subtle changes, but definitely there.  We will continue to cherish the parts of dad that we have been used to all of our lives that are still with us, while getting to know the new dad that we meet everytime we visit.