Happy Birthday Freddie!!

Yesterday was my stepfather's birthday. Today my family headed up to the Bronx to celebrate his day. His name is Freddie and he is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. I baked him a lemon birthday cake and all of his children, grandchildren (except 1 who was unable to attend) and great grandchildren made the trip with us to spend the day with him.


The disease has robbed him of his memory and most of his cognitive skills but occasionally he has moments of clarity and recognizes his wife and family. It was those moments yesterday that brought me the most joy. The facility was kind enough to let us utilize their conference room because there were so many of us in our group (final count was 19!) We all had lunch and sang happy birthday, and you KNOW I never leave home without my camera...so I took plenty of pictures. We stayed with him for the better part of the day and occasionally we caught a glimpse of the person he used to be.

It was a long day but Freddie was happy and more importantly my mother was happy to see how much his family loves him.

It was a good day.

Happy Birthday Freddie!! We all love you and miss you and we dedicate this song to you....





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"I can't thank you half as much
As I think I oughta
You're not just my step dad but my friend
I'm your ever loving 'daughter'!!"