Old Age Attention Deficit Disorder

I must confess this is not a recent development. I have had it all of my life except when I was young they did not use this term and they did not use medication for it. I know I had this disorder because at least one teacher accused me of being scatter-brained. Now that I am retired you would think I would occasionally sit down and watch a TV show or a movie but I can't do it. I have crafts, YARD WORK, time with friends, daily email/facebook checks, newspaper time, caring visits for two family members in long-term care facilities, doctor's appointments, shopping, photography, casino trips and blogging.

So I walk by my bed and spy the unfinished scarf.  It wasn't my plan but I attach the appliques by sewing a red button in the middle.

So I completed my project, woo-hoo, and I go hunting for my camera to take a photo.  As I walk into the family room I see my handbag in the doorway and decide to walk it back into the bedroom.

When I am in the bedroom I decide I want to check my email so I walk back into the family room and I pass by the boxes of twig lights that I bought and forget about the email and decide that I want to put lights up but I need an extension cord so I walk out to the garage to find one. So when I am home it is just one series of events that are triggered by what pops into my head.  Sometimes I complete a task and sometimes I don't.

Veteran's Day Tribute

  Just wanted to post some of my husband's photos from his time in Vietnam at the Phu Cat air force base in 1968 to 1969.  I am glad that I was able to record a few of his memories before they faded away completely.  I look at them and think he was impossibly young looking for such a serious mission. At that time there were many young men in this area who signed up for the Air National Guards in hopes of evading brutal combat and the draft.  In any case, Roy wound up at a relatively safe air force base.  He did tell me that there was gun fire at the perimeter at night but it was not serious,  just a type of teasing to show, "Hey, we're out here!" He always spoke about his time there in a light-hearted manner. So when some suggest that my husband is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, I tend to dismiss this idea.  I do remember two young men from Hammonton that lost their lives there:  Gerard Palma and Raul Melendez.  The following citation describes his work as an aerospace ground equipment repairman.

This is one of his buddies, Fred Green.  I have not met this man but I believe he is a councilman in a nearby Absecon.

This is part of a group photo.  Roy is the third from the left at the bottom.

Roy wrote on the back of this photo, "Just call me, Captain!"  His job entailed getting bombs loaded into jets and loading canisters that were used to get jets started quickly referred to as "hot shots". Roy once found a pilot's pack that contained the pilot's pistol, his maps, and other pertinent items for his mission. Roy returned the lost pack to the pilot and he was so grateful.  From then on Roy was allowed to eat with the officers and the pilots in what they called the "ready shack"   One tradition that Roy described is that when pilots returned from successful missions they would ink up their butts and then hoist them up to the ceiling to make a butt print.  Roy asked about a particularly large print and he was told that it belonged to the base's librarian.

He loved taking photos of the children:

In the background you will find a picture of Roy's first wife, Maureen McAndrews.  He was married at 19 before he went to Vietnam.  She then began her battle with Lupus and she eventually died.  Also, Roy, at three months old, lost his father due to an assault in New York City.  After it was a struggle for his mother raising two boys and earned very little as a housekeeper for area residents.  Then in 2010 at the age 63, Roy became profoundly impaired due to dementia.

This is a scan of what Roy wrote in the back of this photo. 

I miss his notes that he used to leave

 for me if he went out--misspellings and all.

Dog Memorial in the Woods

  Went shopping again to the Christmas Tree Store. Although first we went to a wonderful hair stylist at JC Penny's in Hamilton Township. My nephew David is getting his senior year high school photos.

    The store was "Christmas" crowded. I only bought one of those red Nordic designed knitted hats with the flaps and the braids that most of the young people let dangle. For 2.99 you can't beat. It is fully lined with a smooth fleece. I remember back in my skiing days you couldn't buy a warm hat like that for under 30 dollars but I guess they were made of wool.

  So when you go to this shopping center from our way, Hammonton and Egg Harbor City, we often use Aloe Street and along that road, secluded in a special place is one of those weird New Jersey features.  Unless you know where it is you probably will miss it but it is visible somewhat from the road.  David and I got out and walked up the trail and found a huge tomb with a stone in front that said Rover and I had trouble reading it but I believe it was from the 1800's.  There is an aging statue of the dog on top.  I did not stay and record the date because I thought surely with the right words placed in a search engine there had to be something written about this site.  I gave up after an hour of research.  I will have to go back and again check out the year and the owner's name.------went back today and tried to do a pencil rubbing but that wasn't working.  The only additional information is that it says in memory of Rover and the tomb looks over a hundred years old but I think it says 1935.

This memorial is very close to the train tracks that run between Philly and Atlantic City.

Later that night, David showed me the upgrades that he made to Roy's old bow.  It is good that he is able to pick up this sport without close family members that are able to help him.  Also the lack of deer habitat is more limited every year around here but he is lucky that he has access to land out near Winslow/Waterford area.

 Actually this gull was from our last trip to the Christmas Tree store. I believe it to be a young gull because of the speckled coloration on its head.  It would not move even if a car came within a foot of it.  It was not injured---guess it just didn't want to waste energy.