My dad, Archie, was raised in a large loving family, with his five brothers, in a blue collar steel town. His mom loved to cook, and his dad was tough with a great sense of humor. Dad worked for US Steel for 24 years, until the last mill in the area shut down, then became a machine operator at Nabisco.
He married my mom, Marielania, in 1966.They balanced each other well, with his laid-back, reliable steadiness, and her fun loving, feisty personality. She and I were the adventurers, while Dad was on the sidelines, usually shaking his head.
They bought a big brick house with a nice yard and made it theirs. They also had a little cottage on a pretty creek later in life. Dad liked building, woodworking and electrical work, and ‘tinkering’ with anything he thought could possibly be fixed. They had 53 great years together before my mom passed away suddenly several years ago.
That was when I became aware of his disease. Mom had mentioned he was forgetting some things, but I honestly didn’t understand exactly what Alzheimer’s did at the time. Then suddenly, I was taking a crash course. His decline over the next few years was heartbreaking. His basic loving, laid-back, personality stayed the same throughout the progression, but he was losing memories and his ability to reason and process thoughts properly, sometimes slowly and sometimes seemingly overnight. Watching him change from a strong, hardworking husband, dad, and grandpap, to someone who needed help with the tiniest things was the hardest things I’ve done. Its like losing another small bit of your dad every single day, for years. It’s something that no family should have to experience.