In 2018, Dani and Jared felt strongly prompted that it was time to move back to Cincinnati. When we did, we knew some of the reasons, which included being closer to Nana and Papa.
Little did we know how important that would be in our lives and in their lives. This year, with Nan's knee surgery, Papa has been spending more time with us as Nan recovers. The week of her surgery, Camie came to stay with Nana and Papa came to our house. Papa wasn't thrilled that he wasn't able to see Nana at the hospital. He was certain that we were keeping him away, though we explained that only one person was allowed in the hospital, and Camie was there with her. Even after Nana came home and Papa spent a few hours with her, he was convinced he hadn't been allowed to see her. We had to remind him that he had seen her earlier that day. He was very excited to see her whenever we went over, but she needed rest and Camie was the right caretaker.
Here are a few of the things that Papa enjoys doing when he is at our house.
Papa LOVES ice cream!!! He loves Dairy Queen (Medium Cookie Dough Blizzard with Chocolate Ice Cream - which he only orders after considering all his other options, and which the Harper's DQ staff all know his order), and Dani has taken him on many, many trips there. A DQ gift card is a good go-to birthday or Father's Day gift.
Dani has gotten very good at finding shows that Papa might be interested in. Many are historical fictions or documentaries. He prefers watching with someone, so Dani will often sit and watch with him. We don't have a picture of that, but we do have another picture of Papa with ice cream - Wendy's Frosty, which is not his first choice, but mostly acceptable. The typical conversation: Dani "do you want a Frosty?" Papa: "Or we could go do Dairy Queen!" Others that he loves: Graeter's and Chick-Fil-A milk shakes.
He loves to listen to people play musical instruments, whether it is Liam on the cello or someone on teh piano. He is genuinely complimentary.
A few times while Papa was staying with us, Jacob and Papa started discussing coins and coin collections, and Jacob got his collection out to show Papa.
The kids are sweet with Papa. On occasion, they play a game of "Rock," (Mancala). They are often heard helping Papa make legal moves.
Torin and Papa get to spend a lot of time together. Sometimes Papa goes and watches Torin play. One of Torin's new games on the hover board is making it a 3-wheeler!
Sometimes they go hit a few ping pong balls. Papa can still hit the ping pong balls pretty well!
Sometimes, sweet Torin is very helpful to get Papa ready to join him at the bus stop.
In addition to the time that Papa spends with us, living close means that Nana and Papa can go to soccer games, track meets, concerts, and other events.
It has been special to have our kids able to help care for Papa. It is fun to see their big hearts as they spend time with him.
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