Legally BLIND

I spent the afternoon with dad, driving him to Kentville to see Dr. Scott. Dr. Scott is Dad's Eye Doc and his visits to that office are every 6 months. We hobble into a VERY crowded and cramped waiting room, where dad has to maneuver between legs, feet, and canes to get to a chair. No easy feat for him. (Pardon the Pun). Today was no different, but we managed and dad got his eyes dilated and pressured fairly quickly. They are good to him that way, and get him into a smaller waiting area pretty quickly. So he sat with 3 other elders in the hallway to Dr. Scotts office instead of the waiting room. These other 3 were all from Dutch Brook and all had thick french accents. Dad confided in me later that they reminded him of Mom and her family. All three made there appts together to take advantage of someone driving them. So they kept him busy with stories of cataract surgeries and other "old people" conversation. I was around the corner, but within ear shot and could see a part of his cane, so when he was called in, I could zip over and help him up. It was so nice to hear him chatting it up and laughing with these three other seniors. Finally after an hour's wait, it was dad's turn to go into the office with the big chair and Dr. Scott was in to see him shortly after. The visit was short but good news all around. Dad's eyes are NO WORSE than they were 6 months ago.... Pretty bad when that is good news. But the other good news is, Dr. Scott declared dad "LEGALLY BLIND". Now if you think that is a bad thing, its not. Here's why. In a tiny side conversation between Dad and the nurse, there is always a joke about dad reading the chart. He can read the "E". that is because its the biggest letter, its at the top of the chart, and it stands alone. Also, they never change the charge, so he sits down, she says her speech about the chart and he automatically says "E". They have a chuckle, and then its on to the other stuff. Today, his nurse (whom dad says, can't keep her hands off him), said... well, at least you can get the big tax deduction for reading only an E. Well, I swear, I saw fireworks come out of dad's eyes. She explained that dad has been seeing on 6/20 for about 2 years. That is Legally Blind, and didn't he know that. Well, we didn't have a chance to talk about it, (me and him) cause we weren't sitting together, but as soon as we got into the big office with the chair, he was bursting at the seams. You cannot imagine how exciting it is for dad when there is a chance that he can screw the government out of some money. So the minute Dr. Scott came into the room, Dad approached him. And yes, dad is da da da da... Legally Blind. He has been for about 2 years.
Well what a hoot. All the way home in the car, it was things like "I wonder how many forms we need to have filled out?", I wonder how much the deduction is?"... those things. We made a stop at the drug store for a few things, and he played the Legally Blind "Card" to get me to do a few "Extra" services.... "I can't carry that, I am Legally Blind!!!" I can't use that debit machine...Blind you know.... Meanwhile he stomped my toes (on purpose) with his cane and said... oops, sorry, Legally Blind you know. At the Bank.... oh, can't wait in Line.... Legally Blind, you know. We chuckled all afternoon.
THE MINUTE we got in the house.... I had to bring up his "already done" Income Tax Return, and re do it with the full disability credits... and.. will all the forms filled out and filed... he will get money back. Yes, for the first time in 20 years....money back!!!! I think he could see little better this evening over tea.

Our second big funny..... Down stairs in Dad's sitting room, he has an old, small filing cabinet, that sits by his big chair. It has some treats "in the drawer" to feed the cat and dog, and he stashes a little treat for himself in there too. At Easter, he got a box of sugarless chocolates from the Easter Bunny, and it was filled with WRAPPED sugar free chocolates, from Hershey. Some were foil wrapped, looking like peanut butter cups, and some were Cello wrapped... not sure what they were. Well, we will never know. Mollie, who is never away from dad... for the second time this year, has chosen to spend her time "alone" in the house, looking through dad's belongings for Chocolate. When we came home and Dad went down stairs, there he found the filing cabinet drawer open, the Easter box for the chocolates there, and all the chocolates missing, wrappers and all. Now, how she got that drawer open, we don't know, and she left the entire dish of dog treats there, untouched.
Our walk tomorrow morning should be interesting, and possibly filled with shiny gold wrappers....

What a day.