Far better than weeping.

Sometimes, Julie doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So she often does both. In dealing with her father. In his 80s. And coping with dementia. Yesterday, she was putting in his hearing aides. When she got a phone call. So she left him. For five minutes. Upon returning, no hearing aids. She looked high and low. Everywhere, it seemed. For three hours she searched. Then suddenly, Eureka! She found one of the hearing aids. Wrapped neatly in a cloth. And placed beneath a stack of sheets in the linen closet. Later, she found the other hearing aid. Tucked beneath a sofa in the living room. Why? Why? Why?  Why did he hide his hearing aids? And then pick such unusual hiding places. Later, he took the dangling cord on blinds in his bedroom, and tied it into 35 knots. Yes, 35. She counted 'em. Why? Why? Why? She asked, ‘Did you do this?’ He confessed. ‘Well, I want you to untie all those knots,’ she told him. Never expecting he would. Surprise! Surprise! He did. Methodically. Dutifully. Untied everyone.  As Julie wiped away her tears. Tears of laughter. Far better than weeping. –Jim Broede