There are all kinds of anniversaries. Today is the two year anniversary of my dad’s passing. A mixed blessing some would say because my dad died of Alzheimer’s disease and I was his right-hand helper. I miss him more than ever but the missing him part began about five years prior to his passing. Alzheimer’s disease is U-G-L-Y (you ain’t got no alibi, you’re ugly, yes, yes, you’re ugly…). I don’t want to get all “Debbie Downer” (sorry, sis) on my second blog post so, as I know, this day will pass soon too.

The one thing that remained during my dad’s eight challenging years (or was it 10 years, I forget) with this UGLY disease was his sense of humor. Anyone who met him would agree, Ken Bauman enjoyed a good laugh.

The later stages of Alzheimer’s disease are especially tough. Every visit I could tell he knew I was someone who loved him. During one of my visits, I sat with him and wrote him a note. I handed it to him and he read it out loud. He read, “I love you!” and I replied, “I love you too!” And then we both laughed. This exchange continued for about 10 minutes. Each time I handed him the same note. However, to him each time I handed him the note it was a new note. Over and over we laughed and we laughed. Laughter was his connection. Laughter was our connection. We laughed so hard I cried. He kept laughing. Ah, anniversaries, funny aren’t they?

“I love you!” “I love you too!” (laughter ensued) End scene. Roll credits.