Dad doesn't do much of anything on his own these days. The tumor has affected his ability to put words together in a way that makes sense. It has also impacted the control he has over the right side of his body, his reasoning and even his vision. His coughing and low energy have resulted in him only being able to speak in a whisper. So everything he does, he has at least one of us helping him do it.
But it was really sweet the other day when, after mom had combed down his hair, he reached his hands out to be able to complete a familiar ritual, on his own. At first we weren't sure what he was reaching for, but soon we realized that he was looking for his brush for one hand, and his hand-held mirror for the other hand. Mom placed both in his outstretched hands and, to the best of his ability, he held that small mirror up and checked the back of his hair in the larger bathroom mirror, letting the brush clumsily roll over the parts that needed brushing. This is something we've seen him do for years, without a second thought. And to watch him do it now, it is just so sweetly familiar that we can't help but smile and love him even more.
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Larry's always had GREAT hair! Tell him to take advantage of having beautiful women to comb his hair. What man wouldn't love that?!
ReplyDeleteFreda
Snow and lots of it today! I have a picture of when it snowed in Hinton and Larry and I built a snowman together. In fact, I remember a time in Hydro when he'd come home for a visit after Em and Beulah had moved to town. It had just snowed, so Larry and I went out to play in the snow. It was probably Christmas. In fact, I remember that it was Christmas which is why Larry was home.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of a Hydro visit. I seem to remember a time when your family came to Hydro. I'm pretty sure it was Lyndsay who I was letting brush my hair. I never before had so many tangles! Learned my lesson there. Never let a child play with long hair!
Lauren: I wrote a long comment yesterday about this story but it seems not to have posted! Unfortunately, I probably did something wrong. Rather than go through it all again, suffice it to say that I got a kick out of the story. Having been grey myself for 25 or 30 years, I used to get a few comments from Larry about "how distinguished it looks" or "at least you have alot of hair!" I would respond by saying "you are not selling a product or trying to get a job for someone so don't try to kid me! Yours is thick and it's black so I think I win this arguement!" Then, as he would so often do, he would laugh as only few people can. His laugh is as much of his signature as is his hair! Tell him to keep on brushing and laughing!!!
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Darrell
I remember another hair story. Larry, you were always giving me advice about how to succeed. You probably don't remember, but you made a comment once about girls with long hair tucking it behind their ears. You thought it did not look attractive. From that point on, I very consciously avoided tucking my hair behind my ears. One day, not so long ago (mid 90s to be exact), the department secretary noted aloud to me that she had noticed that my hair was never tucked behind my ears like everyone else does with long hair. I felt a bit of pride in my cousin's advice long long ago.
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