As things Change

It makes me heart sick.. Not just a little twinge that goes away in an hour but a gut wrenching pain that lingers for days.  Bob used to have a saying.. What life throws at you can be caught in a glove.. Damn.. I need a bigger glove. 
My glove is full..But fast balls keep keeping coming in, as if being shot out of a machine.
The past week has been rough yet we still have found moments of laughter. I dont know how, but he still can bring a source of light and laughter when I am at my lowest.. I love him so much.. Little moments, One day at a time..

The Office

Today was a day of "errands".. all of which required a wait in line. Somehow  Bobs SS card has been misplaced. Which is odd because I am a tad OCD about records and file keeping.  So- today we needed to go apply for a replacement card and also get a letter of income verification from  the Social Security Office. We left the house at 8:30 so we could be there when they opened at 9am for opening. Which apparently 50  or so other people had decided to do as well. We got through the security process and metal detectors- got our Number-- and sat. For One and a half hours  for our turn. The whole time we were sitting there Bob kept asking " Why are we seeing a doctor?" Over and over I would explain where we were.  Not the Doctor-- The Social Security Office.
Did you Know that the Social Security office does NOT recognize a Power of Attorney? They insisted on Bob answering all of the "pertinent" questions himself.
 After 5 minutes  of them asking him his fathers name and him not being able to tell them-they told me they could not help me and when I asked what I needed to do. I got a shrug of shoulders...
I stood there and insisted that I needed to know what to do to get a new copy of his Card. I explained the situation and said, He will NEVER be able to answer your questions.. Apparently I Put up a big enough stink that a young man came out of a back office and asked me to follow him.
 He told me that he understood and said " I will try this another way-- I need him to nod his head yes.. If you can get him to do that I will finish this up and get you the papers you need..
So he gave this little speech to Bob about perjury- Blah blah blah.. Bob looked at me and I gave a nod of my head and indicated he should do the same with a look.. Bob Nodded... Sheesh... Thank You Bob. And JEEZ Office people.. way to make us do tricks for a piece of paper we are required to have.
Seriously? There must be thousands of people who are unable to speak and answer these questions for themselves.. Do we just have the lamest SS Office in the USA or is this typical of all of them.
I got the card Ordered-- The letter I needed and we went on our way-- 2 hours later.
As we left Bob said " No Doctor"?  Nope-- Not today......

Important Things

I just want to remind any of you that may be going through this or are starting to go through this how important it is to get your legal affairs in order.
Yesterday I asked Bob to sign a simple document. He couldn't do it.
I printed it out, thinking maybe he forgot how to spell it.. but that didn't help either.. I just said-- Just sign your name- You know-- Like you would if you were signing a check or a deposit slip..
Nothing-- He couldn't do it.. He tried. but it came out in squiggles.. I signed my name several times hoping it would trigger a response-- but it didn't-- just a tremendous inner turmoil for him. I put the papers away and said-- "That's okay we'll practice it tomorrow if you want."
I could see how much it upset him. By today it was forgotten.
Like I said- In my case it was okay-- we have a Durable power of attorney for Health and a general Durable power of attorney for legal and financial matters. We took care of those things a few years back. Just a gentle reminder to you all-- Get those documents in place, notarized and filed in the courts if your state also requires that. I would never have guessed that Bob wouldn't be able to sign his name at this point. It surprised me to say the least. I'm just glad we took the time a few years ago  to get those things in place.