They're back.

Stan and Jackie returned from Boston late Friday night. So on Saturday, Jackie took Micah to his soccer games in Bozeman and I spent the day checking in on Stan. Around 9:30 am I drove over and walked into Stan's condo and found him eating a bowl of dry cereal at his kitchen table. So first thing I did was go over to the store and grab him a half gallon of milk. I sat with him as he ate his breakfast, drinking my coffee, got him his 8 morning pills, and then watched him a bit befuddled, trying to orient himself. He wanted to know where his razor was. He wanted to know where his rust colored Life is Good long sleeve t-shirts were. But he was tired. So he sat on the couch with his foot up. Then he got up and we went and unpacked his suitcase together and we found everything he was looking for. I found his razor and we shaved his face together. While I was at it I got his electric nose hair cutter, and we did that together. And he showed me were everything went and then we moved back to the living room.... And so we spent the day together. I happily discovered that the Mets-Yankees game which was going to be on Fox East and therefore blacked out for us Montana Mets fans was also on Fox Deportes which was not blacked out and so the Mets game was going to be on, we would just have to listen to it in Espanol!

And the Preakness was on post time at 4:15 pm, and so that was something else we could plan on. At about 12:30 we walked over to the store for lunch and to shop for groceries for his house... and then back to his living room where we watched the t.v., pre race Preakness. Stan and I picked our winners. And he napped on the couch. His phone rang, it was Uncle Sidney, I answered it, but it didn't wake him up. So I talked to my Uncle Sidney. He was calling Dad for his Preakness picks, which I told him, 11 animal kingdom, 14 Mr. Commons, and 1 Astrology. Sidney told me Astrology was a "chinese" horse, if you don't know which horse to bet on you go through the alphabet and when the letters match that's the horse you pick. "Your Dad taught me that." Not sure why it was called a "chinese" horse. I'm sure there's not a good reason for that... We talked for awhile, I checked in on how he was doing as he lost his sister, Marilyn the first week in May. She was my mother's good friend. Marilyn was the one with the cigarette when Stan and his friend Murray came up to them on a beach blanket in Florida. The boys walked up to the girls and asked for a cigarette. Marilyn had one and the rest is Robin Family History. Sidney had gotten to California to see his sister, he got there to see her and fifteen minutes later while he was with her she passed... Uncle Sidney sounded good and as soon as I hung up the phone Stan woke up and asked me, "Who was that?" And so Stan called him right back...

And so we sat in his living room, watching the t.v., and answering Stan's phone. Patty called with her picks for the race, Dialed In, Shackelford and Animal Kingdom, 6,5,11. My picks were Animal Kingdom, Mr Commons, and Concealed Identity, 11, 13, 14. We were all making mind bets... that way the only thing you can lose is your mind...

We watched the race at his house, and then we went to our house, where we watched the Mets Yankees play in spanish... and I made dinner and waited for Jackie and Micah to get home from Bozeman, and Andrew to come back from hanging out with his friend, Grant.

It turned out to be a long day for Stan. I took him home sometime after 9 pm and helped him get into bed. He was very tired and when he is tired he appears to be very disoriented and I am always afraid to leave him alone when he is like that because I am afraid he might fall. So I set up his breakfast for him, water to make hot in the microwave and a bowl with a packet of instant oatmeal and his morning pills in a teacup. Then I helped him get undressed, watched him brush his teeth and watched him climb into his bed. I kissed him on his forehead and as he closed his eyes, getting into the fetal position, he repeated to himself 3 times, "I need to get stronger, I need to get stronger, I need to get stronger."

Today, while watching the Mets Yankees game, the Mets up 3-1 Stan says, "I would be a lot more comfortable if the Mets would score a couple of more runs." I reply, "what do you have a bet on the game?" "I don't bet baseball, just horses," he laughs, and then starts singing, "horses don't bet on people, they have too much sense..." Then he starts talking about his mind bets from the day before, "I made a mistake yesterday, I should have bet 400 on Animal Kingdom to place..." "Shoulda, woulda, coulda," I reply, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry christmas." So I guess Stan did lose his mind and he was right about the Mets, as he napped this afternoon they ended up losing 9 - 3. After his nap Stan walked around the house saying, the Mets suck.

We are sitting here on Sunday afternoon with Stan. Ashe was napping he had been listening to Jackie's phone conversation which he says sounded like this, "uh huh, yeah, yes, uh huh, yes, yes, oh my god, oh my god..." Stan is a funny guy...

"I don't like holidays"

"Why? because you can't check on your stocks?"

"Yeah that's one reason."