His Story 1

(text-size: 2) [His Story] [[Start a new day]]

You wake up and look over to the clock beside you. (text-color: "SpringGreen")[12:00] (if: $day is 4)[It's your 71st birthday today.] You roll out of your bed and begin your routine. Shower. Get dressed. Brush your teeth. [[Go downstairs]].

(set: $day to 1)

Once you're downstairs, you make yourself breakfast. {(if: $day is 1)[Today seems like a potatoes O'Brien day.] (if: $day is 2)[Today you want eggs and bacon.] (if: $day is 3)[You want sausage. The skillet is gone. You cook it in the microwave.] (if: $day is 4)[Breakfast was already made for you]} {(if: $day is 1)[You set up the skillet and cook your food. Once the food is cooked and to your liking, you turn the skillet off.] (if: $day is 2)[You set up the skillet and cook your food. Once the food is cooked and to your liking, you go to watch TV.]} {(if: $day < 4)[You sit in front of your TV and put on your favorite channel. They play shows that are in black and white. You remember when this show first came out when you were a teen. Smiling at the thought, you eat your food and laugh at the outdated episode in front of you.] (if: $day is 4)[You sit in front of your TV and put on your favorite channel. Your favorite show comes on. This must be a new episode! You smile brightly and watch intently. What a birthday surprise]} Finishing up your food, (if: $day is 1)[you turn off the TV and] you get up to continue your day. (if: $day is 1)[[You need to mow the lawn today.]] (if: $day is 2)[[You need to go grocery shopping.]] (if: $day is 3)[[You have something to do.]] (if: $day is 4)[[Your phone rings]]

You get in your truck and drive the short distance to the grocery store. You need ingredients to make dinner tonight and for the rest of the week. Walking through the aisles, you grab your favorite snacks and drinks. Even something for your kids. You go towards the checkout line. --- You get home and put your groceries away. [[Clean]] [[Go back to your den]].

Leaving the house, you go to the backyard and get the lawnmower from the shed. Your neighbor waves from next door a big smile on her face as she holds a hand over her heart. "It's good to see you out today, Robert!" *What is she talking about* You wave back, "It's good to be out today Nat." *Weird.* You go back to your business and mow your lawn. The grass already seemed pretty short, but it never hurts to go over it again. [[Read]] [[Go back to your den]].

You can't remember what it is. It's driving you crazy. [[Your phone rings.]] [[You need to use the restroom]]. [[Stay in your den|Go back to your den]].

You pick up the phone. "Hello?" *"Hello, is this Robert?"* "Yes, who's this?" *"Hi Robert, my name is Yessenia from Dr. Johnson's office. We're just following up on a doctor's appointment you missed this morning.."* "Oh shoot. I completely forgot, I'm so sorry." *That's what it was!* *"It's quite alright, let's get a new appointment set up."* ---- [[Stay in your den|Go back to your den]].

"Hello?" *"Hi dad! Happy birthday!"* A girl's voice rings through the phone. "Thank you, Bug!" A silence falls over the call. *"Dad it's Kenzie... Did you see the breakfast I left for you?"* "I did, I just finished it. It was quite good, Parker." *"I'll be home soon, dad. Enjoy the rest of your day. I love you."* ---- [[Pay bills]] [[The front door closing wakes you up]].

(set: $day to it + 1) (if: $day is > 4)[(goto: "The call")] (else:)[(goto: "Start a new day")]

You make your way back into your bedroom and to the bathroom to begin getting ready for bed. You brush your teeth. You change into your pajamas. You turn the TV on to help you go to sleep. You look at the clock (text-color: "SpringGreen")[1:00] [[Go to sleep]].

Standing in your den, you yawn. (if: $day > 1)[You sit back down in front of the already running TV. You must've forgotten to turn it off.] (if: $day is 1)[You turn the TV back on.] You relax in front of the TV and fall asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [[The front door closing wakes you up]].

You wake up to a call. You check the name and it's from Kenzie. "Hey Bunny, what's up?" *"Get dressed dad, we have your appointment today. Remember?"* [[Go to the doctor's office]] [[Curse her out]]

You sit down and use the bathroom. --- You go to get up. You can't. You try multiple times, but still, no luck. You're home alone, you have to wait. --- The front door opens. "Help!!" "Dad? Where are you?" It's Kenzie. "I'm in the bathroom, I can't get up." She walks in to help you, but she's not quite strong enough. "I'll go get Whit." Your son comes downstairs and helps you up. The pain you feel in your back from sitting there for so long is too much. You need to lay down. [[Get ready for bed]].

Your eyes shoot open at the sound of the door opening. Your daughter is just coming back from high school. "Hey dad, I'm home!" She says walking into your den. "Hi, Bunny." You say, looking up at her. (if: $day is 1)["Natalie told me you were outside this afternoon, what was that about?" "I needed to mow the lawn... Did you not notice?" "Oh. No dad, I saw it... It looks very nice." She offers a sad smile. "Should we make some dinner, dad?" "That sounds great to me Bunny!"] (if: $day is 2)["Dad? It smells like something is burning, are you okay?!" All of a sudden the smell hits you too. You hadn't noticed it before. "Yea, Bunny, I'm fine." "Dad, you left the skillet on!" She rushes to turn it off. Embarassment floods over you. "Sorry about that one kiddo. I must've forgot." "It's alright dad, we'll just put it away for now." She places the skillet in the cabinets.] (if: $day is 2)["Well, did you get any groceries for dinner?" Frustration washes over you. "I forgot the main fucking meal. I'm so sorry, Kenz." "It's alright, dad. We can order in tonight."] (if: $day is > 2)["Let's get some dinner going then, huh?"] ---------- After dinner, [[you sit down to watch a movie together]].

You sit down as Kenzie puts on a movie. (if: $day is 1)[It's a western movie that you've seen more than enough times to almost be able to quote it by heart.] {(if: $day is 2)[It's a western movie that you've heard of before and been wanting to watch, this should be exciting!] (if: $day is 3)[It's a western movie that you don't recognize. Hoping it's good, you sit back.] (if: $day is 4)[It's a western movie that you've never seen before. You hope that it's good. It has one of your favorite actors though!]} ---- {(if: $day is 1)["Man that movie never gets old." You smile. Kenzie laughs and rolls her eyes. "I'm glad you think so dad."] (if: $day is 2)["Just as good as I'd heard it would be!" Kenzie smiles, I'm glad you thought so dad."] (if: $day is 3)["That was pretty good, not my favorite though." You shrug. Kenzie's jaw drops. "You're joking right? It was great!" "Not my style."] (if: $day is 4)[At the end of the movie, you smile. "It was amazing!" Looking over at Kenzie, she's looking back at you with a sad smile. Her eyes are tearing up. She must've liked it too, but you weren't quite moved to tears.]} It's late. [[Get ready for bed]].

"Of course I remember, I'll get ready and meet you downstairs." --- You meet Kenzie at the car and she drives you. She doesn't like you driving too much anymore. You keep it to yourself. The doctor's office is clean and bright. "Robert?" The nurse calls from the doorway. You and Kenzie stand up and follow her back to the room. "So how has everything been going?" Dr. Johnson asks when he finally comes into your room. "Fine." You smile. Kenzie doesn't. "He "mowed the lawn" for the third time this week on Monday. The mower wasn't even on. He's been forgetting the groceries, his favorite movies. He even forgot me yesterday. He doesn't recognize us anymore." Who was she talking about? "I see, would you like to discuss next steps?" --- [[Discuss next steps]] [[Act out]] [[Leave]]

"Do I remember? Of course I don't remember! I'm losing my mind, Kenzie! You don't fucking understand how frustrating this is! I can't keep track of anything, everyone walks around on fucking eggshells around me. You all act like I'm helpless and can't do shit on my own. I'm a grown ass man! This shit isn't fair!" *"You're right, dad. This isn't fair..."* She hangs up the phone. --- A girl comes in, but you don't know her. "Get the hell out of my house!" "Don't worry, I am." She goes upstairs into your daughters room. "You can't go in there! That's my girl's room!" She moves quicker, taking your daughters things. She looks like the girl in the photos of the room. Who is she? She walks past you with bags of things. You're being robbed. "Get out of here before I call the police!" She turns around. "I'm leaving. Goodbye dad..." --- You've never felt more alone, both with your illness and in your personal life. Kenzie hasn't come home from school in a few days. She avoids the question when you call her. --- [[Inspiration]]

"Maybe a nursing home or assisted living option could be a good fit. Unless you would like to continue to care for him." Kenzie looks over at you, but you're distracted by the diagrams on the wall. "I think I could use the help." --- You moved into an assisted living facility shortly after the doctor's visit. Everyone's very nice to you. Kenzie is even there! She helps you to the activities and with basic necessities. Just like at home, but in a new setting. She's gotten kind of weird though. She's not quite like you remember most days. Then other days she'll sit down with you and ask what you've been doing. Wasn't she there? Your other kids come to visit too, usually when Kenzie asks that odd question too. Their faces bring you comfort. --- [[Inspiration]]

"No thanks. I don't need to discuss them." You stand up and walk out of the room. "Dad!" Kenzie calls after you. She catches up to you after saying something to the doctor. "Can we go home?" "Of course we can, dad. Let's go." She pulls out her keys and helps you to the car. --- Your life continues on at home and with your kids. With each passing day, you lose your mind a little bit more, but your kids help you keep your sanity as best you all can manage. --- [[Inspiration]]

***Why did I choose to write this story?*** This story is inspired and based on real events that happened with my dad towards the end of his life with Alzheimer's. This loop story is entirely nonfiction and made to help raise awareness for not only those affected, but what their families and friends see everyday. I wrote this from my dad's perspective which was really hard to write for me. Not only because it brought up a lot of painful memories, but because we will never really know what was going on in his head during this time. Even if he would've wanted to tell us, he wouldn't have been able to. ***So this is entirely nonfiction?*** Mostly! The endings were all fake and not what happened in real life. Names are also different. Nicknames are real, and then the names used are actually our middle names to keep some authenticity without being word for word.

After putting away groceries, you're in the cleaning mood. You work through the bathroom and your den. Your kids can pick up their things in the living room on their own. --- After cleaning, you smile to yourself. *Reasonably productive day* [[Go back to your den]]

You sit down at your desk, now seems as good a time as any to get the bills off of your plate at least. Your computer starts up and you pull up the electronic payments. *Already paid 2d ago.* Huh, you must just be that good. One less thing to worry about at least. Happy birthday to you! [[Build model trains]] [[Take a nap|The front door closing wakes you up]]

You pull out a new boxed train car set that you haven't put together yet. You look at the others you've made in the past up on your bookshelves and smile. It's been over a decade since you retired from the railroad. You miss the guys. It's been a while since you were all in the same place at the same time. Your eyes scan over every little piece and detail. You could probably put these together with your eyes closed at this point. You won't, but you know you probably could. You lose track of your thoughts and get to work, muscle memory kicking in as you feel your mind wander... --- [[The front door closing wakes you up]]

You sit down in a chair picking up where you left off in the book you've been reading lately. You alternate which type of book you read each time. It's always either trains or a war/history book. Two things you could never get tired of learning about. You're reading a book about the civil war at the moment, you love learning anything you can about history. --- [[You doze off|The front door closing wakes you up]]

"We don't ***need*** to discuss any "next steps." Nothing is fucking wrong with me!! Why does everyone walk around eggshells with me! Everyone forgets things from time to time, I'm not crazy dammit!" Both the doctor and Kenzie sigh. "Yes, dad. Everyone does forget from time to time. But your situation is different. You're sick dad... Should we at least hear the next steps and our options? [[Discuss next steps]] [[Leave]]