Without going into a long story about it, since my mother and father divorced years ago, we 3 children have had little to no contact with him.  Periodically, one of us would Google his name just to keep tabs on where he was.

Last weekend, the Google search turned up an obituary.  Evidently, he died at the beginning of June.  We were not notified at all, despite the fact we live less than 50 miles from where he was and my 2 brothers have lived in their respective homes for over 20 years.  Okey dokey, the stepmother strikes again.

Because we have no medical history on him, we were interested in his cause of death, so I went and got a copy of the death certificate from the funeral home.

- Metastatic pancreatic cancer
-Parkinson's disease
-Diabetes

In the space for "Time of onset to death" the word "month" was written.  I was most dismayed to read he had Parkinson's, as that can have a component of dementia also.  It did answer the question as to why I might have diabetes (we were not aware of any family history of it before).  So all in all, a very important document for us. 

Here is a kicker - my mother never talks about him and we assumed she had forgotten that part of her life.  The other day, I was telling a funny story from when I was a kid involving my father and she responded with "I wonder if he's still alive."  I just answered that I had no idea.  There is no need to tell her this information, as she only gets upset when discussing family.

As far as how mom's doing, she seems to be losing more language and sleeping more.  It's not unusual for me to go into the living room at the NH and find her asleep in a chair, which is something new.  When she speaks, she sometimes stammers or slurs words.  Heath-wise she's stable and she is still walking.  She also continues her physical therapy (sitting down and standing up, walking).

I also have some GOOD NEWS - HER DIAPERS WILL BE COVERED BY MEDICAID!!!!  She has been added to the incontinence program and regular deliveries will occur.  I'm glad, because she is going through 6-7 diapers a day.