1. Sometimes Jacob does very sweet things that make me fall in love with him more, and sometimes that happens utterly unintentionally. One night last week we were in bed, and Jacob had prepared lunch boxes for us both tomorrow. "What are we having?" I asked, and he said it was very simple fare, just black bean stew and..."Buckwheat!!?!?!?!?!??" It was like a magic word, I got so excited. Jacob laughed and laughed and said, "I should cook buckwheat more often!"
2. After his stroke, Dad has struggled to communicate because part of his brain (the language part) was damaged during the bleed. This is called aphasia, a "communication disorder that makes it hard to use words. It can affect your speech, writing, and ability to understand language [...] it doesn’t impair intelligence. People who have aphasia may have a hard time speaking and finding the "right" words to complete their thoughts. They may also have problems understanding conversation, reading and comprehending written words, writing words, and using numbers. People with aphasia may also repeat words or phrases." (source)
This can be hard, for him and for us; he gets frustrated with the inability to convey what he wants to while we long for unimpeded communication with him. But it has also led to some funny moments. Yesterday we went over for dinner and I asked Dad where Mum was. He gestured to their bedroom and said "Mother is doing...her steroids." (She was in fact working on the family finances.)
Pre-dinner prayer is also a choice moment for aphasia bloopers. For instance, Dad has prayed:
"Lord. It's only vegetables. That is all. Amen."
and
"Lord. We promise. Headlights. We promise headlights. Amen."
Sometimes though, his words work just like they used to. Yesterday he said "What time is it?" and glanced at the clock, "10 o'clock already! I am surprised!" Since words sometimes mean what they don't mean directly, we understood that it was time to go.
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