These are stories about my father.
Vitauts: Journey’s End When we decided to bring Vitauts to Latvia, we had no idea how long he would be staying here, but we knew it was his final destination. But knowing that doesn’t make the end much easier. According to him, my dad almost died several times in his youth. He had a fever …
At age 91, Vitauts returns to his Latvian roots to retire and find a well-deserved sense of peace and belonging.
16. Marts I just read a pretty good explanation of this holiday here… so I don’t need to completely rehash it. The basic idea is that this is a Veteran’s Day march for the specific group of Latvians who fought in World War II. The problem, of course, is that those men who were drafted …
Have Good Living It seems like there should be something written here about my dad who turned 90 years old on November 1, 2017. I have done some interviews and recordings with him over the years, and I used one line in the video I made for his party that stands out for me. “My …
16.9.17 I think I have mentioned this before, but one big difference that I have felt but been unable to express is that Time is different here. I was talking with a colleague this morning, trying to explain what I meant, but it is so hard to describe in rational terms because we all know …
Forgetting How to Cook I remember when my ex-ex-mother-in-law was ill or away for a few days. My ex-ex-father-in-law didn’t really know how to cook anything. This was a bit of a shock for me, but I guess it is a fairly common thing for American men of a certain generation. However, this has never …
Monday the 13th has been a strange day. It was the first work day after the Spring Forward of Daylight Savings Time. It is the day after my birthday. There was snow on the ground when I left for work, and people were driving slowly. And, apparently, it’s a full moon. I knew it was …
I took dad to the good Doctor S. again yesterday. All the way there he gave me the same lecture about how he had driven these roads many times and how he used to know how to drive there. When we got to the office, he asked the name of the doctor, so I pointed to …
“Old Age is no Fun” After visiting Dr. S, we came home and it snowed. School was not called off on that Wednesday as it probably should have been, and I drove my Honda through the messy streets, picking up donuts for my morning class, and barely making it up Dodge street to 90th. By …
I am trying to deal with yesterday’s visit to the doctor, so I’m writing it out. Vitauts went to a neurologist in December for a dementia test. Susan and Andra brought him for what he described as “three hours of torture.” The neurologist asked him question after question after question making notes of what dad …