COMPOUND Q 2 GALLERY
Stepping back a couple months, Tandy's family had shown us a house in the Colestin Valley, just south of Ashland Oregon that seemed like a perfect place to move. We were exhausted from the constant depressing news of sickness and dying, tired of turning down memorial services. Gary and Tandy had firmly decided we had to move. So I was handling the mechanics of buying the property... an unfamiliar process that already had me worried and overwhelmed. I remember though, that when a notary came to have us sign the papers, Tandy was in good spirits. It was June 21, the Solstice, and some of the Tandy magic had showed up to provide the down payment (a pretty neat story in itself, but for another time.)
The protocol the doctors decided on was to do monthly injections at somewhat lower doses. So each month, Tandy went through the process and it's consequent confusions. By August 15th we were ready to move. We got friends to help load the piano and other large furniture, and headed north in two UHaul trucks. It's all a blur now. I just remember it was in the upper nineties, and thinking to myself "What have I done?!" I kept putting one foot in front of the other until we were more-or-less settled in. Tandy's mom and sister had completely taken charge of getting the kitchen packed, and then unpacked in the new house. What a boon! So we were pretty settled in by the time Tandy's next treatment was due. I remember the trips to San Francisco, but not the precise order.
On one trip, we stayed with Tandy's bowling friends on Ashbury Street, just a block up from Haight. I had agreed to continue doing the bookkeeping for the Electronic University Network, so I went to the office at night after tucking Tandy in, to catch up with the invoicing, bills and payroll. I got back to our friends and inquired about Tandy, and they said he went to take a bath about an hour ago, so he's probably in bed by now. I didn't see him in the guest room so I went to the bathroom. The tub was full to the top, and the water was not stirring. Under it I saw Tandy, completely submerged. I grabbed him and pulled him out of the water. He gasped and got water in his lungs and coughed uncontrollably for half an hour, while I dried, dressed, and got him to bed. Apparently the dying cells in his brain had even shut down his breathing, since he'd been lying there long enough for the water to stop moving. After that, we didn't get invited back by those friends.
Between trips, when Tandy had problems, Gary and I were joined by Tandy's mom Fern and his sister Mouna in our new house, or sometimes at his mom's in town -- since he really liked to take hot baths. I checked on some options for adding a bath tub in the new house, but couldn't find a solution, much less a quick and simple one.
On another trip, Tandy got hiccups that lasted the whole 6 hour drive. When we got home, Tandy's brother Bill suggested seeing his chiropractor about the hiccups. It seemed like magic when the chiropractor pressed firmly into Tandy's solar plexus, and the hiccups stopped immediately.
It may have been after the November treatment that we drove back in a storm with high winds and driving rain. Tandy insisted on driving even through the Mountains around Mount Shasta. It was foolish of me not to insist on driving in the first place, but he wouldn't pull over, and getting into an argument could only make things worse. Knowing that he could have a relapse of dementia, and kill us both, I remained poised to grab the wheel at any second. I thought my knuckles would be permanently white!
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