Old folks home...

Dear Nicky,

Lemme tell ya, old folks in poor health are depressing. Yia-Yia is in rehab and she's doing and looking better since I was last up here. But some of the other people I saw were really sad looking. Yesterday was her birthday and since I was traveling all day I only saw her for the first time this morning. She was bright eyed and way more lucid than when she was in the hospital. Hopefully her brain is just taking a long time to clear up from all the meds she was and is on. Anyway for her birthday I printed out some pictures of our family, a big 8x10 collage in a frame and a bunch of little ones in a photo album. Papou and I also signed a card for her that plays Happy Birthday when you open it. I also gave her this little stuffed animal--a St. Bernard--that I said you and June picked out for her. She loves it! I basically spent the entire day with her, and even went with her to yet another X-ray appointment, where she was surprisingly pleasant and cooperative. I finally left around five thirty or so when they started her feeding again. Then I went to Papou's house where he had prepared a meal of roasted chicken and fried potatoes. Not bad, unlike this floppy spaghetti I had to choke down yesterday so as to not hurt his feelings. Oh well, we all have different ways of coping with stress, and him thinking it's really helpful to make us time consuming meals is one of them. Missing you a lot and hope all is well.

Love
Dad