jmgoyder

wings and things

Mar 26

Back to the birds!

by jmgoyder

I was going to write something poignant, but I am too fascinated by why these two pigeoney-dovey-looking birds keep rejecting my offerings. For ages they have been visiting two fence posts just outside my front window. So I left crumbs (which a clever crow immediately took), then I put nuts out on the top of those two particular fence posts.

During the night it rained so I guess the nuts are now a bit soggy. The two pigeon-dovey-looking birds seem almost to be afraid of my strange offering. I will have to be more subtle and I am not gifted with subtlety ha!

It is such a great relief to let go of the poignancy, to charge my camera’s battery again, to watch the birds from my front window – the most beautiful view – or just to sit on the front veranda watching the sky’s birds at near-dusk.

 

 

 

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Jan 31

A new idea

by jmgoyder

Okay so my new idea is to visit Ants later in the day, like I did this afternoon. That way, I can get other stuff done (writing, picking tomatoes from my garden, having heart-to-heart conversations with Ming, researching PDD, feeding the peacocks, vacuuming the house, finding the iron etc.)

My mother visited and fed Ants his lunch today but, by the time I got there, he was in bed, propped up ready for tea and he thought my mother’s visit was yesterday. I threw myself onto the bed and hugged him, much to his amusement, and lay there beside him for a bit, kissing him ferociously on the lips quickly, until he grinned.

Maybe I should visit later in the day so that he has a good memory of seeing me before he goes to sleep. That might be a better way for me to venture forward – dunno! That way, I could deal with daily life stuff, go into town to feed Anthony his tea, then come home and chill.

Over the years, lots of people have advised me to look after me, but I don’t buy into that whole ‘me’ thing because it’s so weird; after all, a ‘me’ can’t be isolated from a ‘we’.

I think I have now resolved various issues to do with family politics and, having spoken to Anthony’s only remaining brother yesterday, we have a tenuous agreement that he will ring me before visiting. I stated the reasons, he rejected the reasons, but at least we had a dialogue. My feistiness sought refuge in a compassionate sinkhole. Futile, of course. Silly me.

But none of this matters any more – none of it. Anthony is the best person I have ever met in my life. He was my friend for over a decade before he became my husband; he was a middle-aged, bachelor dairy farmer, a workaholic, a person who liked to run in the paddocks just for the fun of running. He was loud and, like his mother, liked to party; he was crude and respectful at the same time; he was snobby and/or ‘common’ simultaneously; he was my absolute hero.

So, perhaps, when I feed him his tea tomorrow, I will remind him of these halcyon days!

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Jan 13

Moments

by jmgoyder

Today, as I fed Anthony his lunch, he took my hot hand into his cold hand, and kissed it over and over again until I laughed hysterically.

Anthony: Shhhhh! You are so loud!
Me: I was always softly spoken until I met you!
Anthony: Shhhhh!
Me: Are you ready for your next mouthful? OMG you are like a starving dog!
Anthony: I’m hungry.

Anyway, after I fed him his lunch (he seems to have forgotten how to use cutlery – normal in cases of PDD) I got my mother’s amazing Christmas cake out of the cupboard and he pretty much vacuumed it all up!

Lately I have become a bit haphazard with visiting Ants. For example, when he is in sleep-mode, I don’t stay very long; but if he is in wide-awake mode, I stay. It’s a kind of loose arrangement whereby I try to spend at least a few hours per day with him. I should probably turn this into a more regular, regulated routine, but, since I stopped working at the university (and that is a few years ago now), I have lost any sense of daily routine. I suppose I have just been kind of going with the unpredictable flow of Anthony’s PDD.

When I take a day off from seeing Ants, I simply summon Ming or Meg to do so.

Almost every time I enter Anthony’s room, he looks at me and says: “How did you find me?”

Almost every time I leave Anthony’s room, he asks: “You won’t forget where I am?”

This afternoon, he whispered something a bit more poignant: “Jules, don’t forget about me” and I reassured him, of course!

His verbal antics aren’t so acrobatic anymore; his sarcasm is subdued, but the way Anthony stares at photos of Ming and me and him – especially the ones in which Ants is still healthy, I am young, and Ming is a little child – are particularly moving.

Now that Ming has converted a couple of videos into dvds (of wedding and baby Ming), I can see clearly how this nearly 40-year-old relationship has impacted on all of us in various ways.

And this is probably the moment in which I begin to cry (unless I find a good movie).

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Dec 29

Death-defying

by jmgoyder

Anthony has lived, breathed and survived so many diseases now that it is gobsmacking that he is still alive and (almost) pain-free. He is like some sort of super-hero in the ‘high care’ section of the nursing home, and very popular with the staff because, after nearly four years there, he still has a twinkle in his eye.

Of course, sometimes he seems semi-comatose; other times, he is alert. It’s the same with verbal cognition: sometimes he is unable even to say a single word; other times he is vociferous. I haven’t seen him walk for awhile, but maybe he does that in the morning and I usually get there at lunch-time or in the afternoon.

Most of Anthony’s regular visitors – me, my fantastic mother, Ming, friends, family, and volunteers – actually speak to him, reminisce with him and this is wonderful. And the staff are fantastically interactive with him to the point of flirtatiousness. Be careful, girls – he is mine!

The rumour, spread by a family member, that Ants was near death, was disturbing to say the least, but, once I rang him, he admitted his mistake. It didn’t seem to occur to him that his rumour might have upset Ming and me.

This morning, I received a phone-call from a neighbour who hadn’t seen Ants for awhile and he was shocked at Anthony’s confusion and appearance. I reassured him that Ants was always a bit dishevelled in the morning. Later on today, my mother rang me to say she was with Ants and she gave me her phone so I could speak to him.

Anthony: Where are you?
Me: Ming and I are fixing a fence.
Anthony: At Bythorne?
Me: Yes.

Please don’t die, Ants. Not yet.

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Dec 4

Peacock poop

by jmgoyder

I thought it was time for a light-hearted post so here goes.

Every morning I am woken up by a bang-crash sound from the back of the house. King Ken has never done this before but he is now attacking his reflection in the back veranda windows on a regular basis. He does this so ferociously that I’m a bit nervous he will actually break a window.

Here he is pretending innocence.

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Now, apart from the alarming regularity of this banging and crashing, King Ken’s obsession with his own reflection also means that there is more than the usual amount of peacock poop waiting for me every morning outside the back door. Obviously I have to wait for this to dry before I can sweep it away because my new straw broom (which I can’t find anyway) doesn’t take kindly to wet peacock poop.

I like to tell Anthony about these mini-adventures and show him photos, but his verbal responses are now becoming few and far between. Our friend, N, another resident in the high care section, is also becoming less vocal although she still possesses a wonderful ability to laugh loudly. N’s daughter and I have become friends via our mutual concern for each other and our two loved ones.

Yesterday Ants couldn’t get any words out at all, no matter how much he tried, so I began to “interpret” what he was trying to say by suggesting possible topics from recent conversations. I didn’t always get it right but, when I did, he would sigh with relief (or maybe resignation) and give me a small smile. He was very sleepy and silent but not sad; he is never sad and this amazes me! I have never known anyone to be this resilient and content and this is a gift to me now because he has always had a rather calmingly buoyant effect on me.

I love metaphors and I was thinking that King Ken’s bang/crash might represent what used to be Anthony’s very healthy ego (still intact). But maybe King’s antics represent me versus the brick wall of acceptance.

As for the peacock poop, or any poop for that matter, it is its own metaphor and I just need to find my straw broom!

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Nov 19

The magic of make-believe

by jmgoyder

One of the most wonderful aspects of being a small child is the magic of ‘make-believe’ – the power of the young imagination to create anything out of anything and to see the world through the lens of magic.

The first time I climbed high up into a tree as a child, the first time Ming saw fog (he was 4), were moments of intense magic – make-believe moments

Anthony is 23 years older than I am so I have no way of knowing what his childhood make-believe moments were. But, as his Parkinson’s disease dementia progresses, I am becoming more amenable to his visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations. For example, he often sees dogs or calves in his nursing home room and wants me to shoo them into another ‘paddock’; and, yesterday, he asked me who the small boy was, in the corner of the room. This small boy often features in our faltering conversations.

Anthony: Just over there.
Me: Is it Ming?
Anthony: No, of course it isn’t Ming!
Me: So who is it?
Anthony: I don’t know.
Me: So do you like this kid?
Anthony: I think so.
Me: Okay.

I came home last night in a bit of a quandary. Do I tell Ants he is hallucinating and there isn’t a kid in his room? Why is this hallucinated little boy such a constant presence in Anthony’s room? Who is this little boy, if it isn’t Ming?

Maybe the older Anthony has make-believed himself into his childhood self? I don’t know if this is magic or tragic, but I am trying very hard to figure it out and go with the flow etc.

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Nov 4

Nonsense

by jmgoyder

Whenever Anthony says something during our afternoons together, I either hit ‘mute’ on the television, or ‘pause’ if it’s a dvd.

This is so that I can listen and respond to whatever he is saying, or trying to say. His voice has become very whispery and sometimes croaky lately and, even when he does get the words out, they sometimes
don’t
make
sense….

The following dialogue is an example of how weird and wonderful our conversations can be. I am learning how to be unafraid of nonsense, to enter its world in an Alice-in-Wonderland kind of way, to talk, listen, laugh and pause.

Anthony: How did you know where to find me?

Me: Instinct.

Anthony: You have good instincts.

Me: I know.

PAUSE

Anthony: Can you get this calf to get out of underneath the….

Me: What?

Anthony: This bbbb mmmm toothpaste.

Me: What? Try again.

Anthony: The cat toothpaste.

Me: The toothpaste is free, Ants, and there’s no cat here. Anyway I thought you hated cats.

Anthony: There are five.

Me: You’re hallucinating but I’ll shoo them away, anyway; is that better?

Anthony: Not much.

PAUSE

Me: So, do you think I look different today?

Anthony: No.

Me: Ants, I am wearing a dress for God’s sake. I never wear dresses!

Anthony: Oh.

Me: So what is different about me?

Anthony: Your legs are shorter.

Me: Oh.

Anthony: Is Mum okay?

Me: My mum or your mum?

Anthony: Ours.

Me: She’s fine.

Anthony: Where’s Ming?

Me: He’s at work but he’s coming to visit soon.

Anthony: Does he know I’m at the Rose Hotel?

Me: I’ll tell him.

Anthony: Where is your mother?

Me: Why do you always want to know where my mother is?

Anthony: Well she should be here and I’m worried about her eyes.

Me: Can we just watch the show, Ants?

Anthony: Haven’t we seen this, Jules?

Me: Well it’s a series, so yes and no. We are now up to the third season.

Anthony: Can you bumblebee the cardboard over there?

Me: What?

Anthony: Can you mmmbrrr oh my words don’t. What’s the thing wrong again, Jules?

Me: Ants, you have Parkinson’s, plus you are really quite old. And you have very strange ears.

Anthony: I have perfect ears!

PAUSE

Anthony: You have a sexy stomach.

Me: WHAT? Stop looking at my stomach – I ate too much lunch!

Anthony: Look at mine – I’m thin.

Me: Well there’s no need to rub it in.

PAUSE

Anthony: There’s that baby again.

Me: It’s not a baby; it’s my handbag! See!

Anthony: I think we should go to Golden Valley [his childhood home].

Me: Not today. It’s too cold.

PAUSE

Anthony: Jules?

Me: Yes?

Anthony: Bbbb mmmm – oh I can’t speak.

Me: Do you want the rug on your knees?

Anthony: That’s the elbow, good.

PAUSE

Me: You’re adorable and I love you.

Anthony: Mmm.

Me: You’re supposed to say it back.

Anthony: What?

Me: ‘I love you’.

Anthony: I know you do.

Me: No, I mean you’re supposed to say ‘I love you’ back to me!

Anthony: You already do.

PAUSE

Me: I’ll show you a picture of Ming dressed up as a nurse for Halloween, okay? You are going to be shocked.

Anthony: Nothing shocks me.

Me: Okay, check this out!

20151031_120208

Anthony: He is magnificent!

I rest my case: nonsense is a good thing!

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Oct 20

I am so cool!

by jmgoyder

I feel the heat terribly and, as some of my friends may remember, a couple of summers ago, I developed a condition called “pompholyx“.

(Warning: if you click on the above link you might be grossed out by the pictures, just as I was by the condition).

Anyway, since one of the triggers is excessive perspiration, which I vividly remember my dad having and now it’s obviously my turn, I made a big decision. Air conditioning!

I pretty much live in my writing room, which used to be Gar’s bedroom (Anthony’s mother). Anyway, her 1970s air conditioner died last year, so last week I made the call and the aircon. guys and the electrician installed it this morning. It’s not a particularly hot day (only in the mid-20s C), but as I waved my saviours goodbye, I was already dripping, despite wearing a sweatband.

And now? Ahhh, the bliss of being so cool and the comfort of knowing that when the temperature hits 40 degrees (any time soon as summer approaches), I will have a safe haven! Okay so, in the big scheme of things, pompholyx may not seem like such a serious condition but it drove me quite mad for months a couple of years ago.

I was reminding our doctor the other day and he immediately looked at my hands where, during a funny little heatwave last week, the blisters had begun to appear.

Me: You can’t see them now – I scratched them off and it wasn’t that bad.

Doctor: Mmmmm.

Me: But I can feel them coming back – the blisters. So I think I might need botox to stop me sweating? I read about that possibility.

Doctor: No. I’ll order some blood tests; it could be hormonal.

Me: Yes, of course, but I don’t think it’s just menopausalish because I perspire a hell of a lot more than any of my equally menopausal friends!

Doctor: Mmmmm.

Me: And remember how we discussed cranio-facial hyper-hydrosis, or whatever you call it, last year? That’s me! It’s just my face, head and hands – the rest of me sweats normally.

Doctor: Mmmmm.

Okay so the doctor doesn’t do the mmmmmm thing loudly but it’s definitely a component of our conversations, with a chuckle here and there. I much prefer the mmmmm.

Anyway, as the young aircon. guys were leaving, I apologised for the peacock noise (it’s spring, so they are yaaaaawking constantly). One of the guys said ‘They are so cool!’

I agree and here are a couple of shots of Prince minus his back view!
IMG_4894
IMG_4899

As this beautiful white peacock does his twirling, fanning, wonderful dance, his feathers muscle their way into the breeze and sing:

I am so cool!

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Oct 19

The suffering conundrum

by jmgoyder

I just don’t get it. Why does one person cop multiple illnesses? And why does this seem to happen to the beautiful people?

Later this week I will be travelling to Perth to meet my friend at the airport, after which we will spend two luxurious nights at a resort. During the days, I will take my friend to her medical appointments; in the evenings we will sip wine, eat pizza, and reminisce.

She was the first kid to say hello to me on the bus to school after my family moved from PNG to Australia. Since then, we have had years of little contact due to busyness, geography etc. but, more recently, have reconnected.

‘How is it possible for you to still laugh?’ I asked her on the phone tonight, to which she replied with her laugh.

My friend suffers severe eye conditions and an unhealed broken foot and yet she can still maintain laughter within her suffering. How does she do this?

I haven’t mentioned her name because she is very private but I so wish I could salute her publicly because she is amazingly philosophical and pragmatic.

And maybe she and I will make a bit of sense out of the suffering conundrum when we see each other in a couple of days. I can’t wait!

IMG_4888

Sorry about that image. Prince always seems to want to give me the back view. Here is a better view.

IMG_4897

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Oct 18

Cycling!

by jmgoyder

I have discovered a route around this countryside that is hopefully truck-free; I have bought a new bicycle pump; I have dusted the cobwebs of my bicycle; I have made myself determined ….

IMG_4886

Argh!

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