Had a nice visit with Mike today. He flew this time - figured it was a stand-off costwise and sure beat all those hours driving. He got here (actually to the beauty shop) about 10:00 and left for the airport about 4:00. I had told him Mom would be getting her hair done and that she might still be under the dryer if he arrived as expected at 10:00. So we visited down there for a while, took Mom back to her room, then came here until lunch. I had asked Linda Painter (head of dining services) if he could have lunch in 600. She said yes, so he ate with Mom and me. With all that moving from one part of the facility to another, he got to meet quite a few staff people this time. We covered a wide range of subjects in our conversations. He reminded me that I had said on my birthday I would avoid, in my comments, anything about politics and religion because of considerable differences of opinion on both subjects. He said friends, and certainly family, should be able to talk about them. One subject we kicked around was how a socialist country like Germany could, as reported, beat China in export sales and be recognized as maybe the world's leading industrial power. We didn't have a good answer. Maybe some of you do.

I met the CEO of Peregrine (parent company of Summit's Trace) on Thursday. His name is Paul Dauerman. He was in the reception area when I went there to see Jim Robison about a problem with our car. But let me go back a little. I've had to move the car several times at different stages of the process of repaving the parking area. I probably had been paged to do it again, but didn't hear it. One of the maintenance men looked me up and said he would move the car for me. He took my keys, then came back a few minutes later and told me he had run the windows down because it was so hot in the car, but the passenger side front window wouldn't go back up. He had told Jim Robison about it. Jim is under contract with Peregrine and oversees all the renovation work going on here. I guess Jim thought he might be able to fix the problem, so I went to the lobby to see him. That's when I met Paul, and he heard about the problem. Turned out that Jim couldn't get the window back up, and someone ran the rear passenger window down, and it wouldn't go back up either. The maintenance man taped plastic over the windows for the night and Jim said he would see that trouble was corrected. He also said Paul had told him the company would pay for it. To make a long story shorter, Jim had the the car fixed and charged (over $800) to Peregrine. Both motors and window regulators were replaced. I feel funny about all of this. If I would have moved the car myself, I wouldn't have known there was a problem with the windows - I wouldn't have run them down. Sooner or later, though, I would have (maybe at a very inconvenient time) and would have had to pay for the repairs. I guess the best thing to do is gracefully accept what was obviously a goodwill gesture on the CEO's part.

The following letter from DePauw's president came in today's mail. I believe the university has "readers" in big cities who look for DePauw related items in newspapers and relay the info to Greencastle.

Dear Mr. Murphy,
I was very touched by the poignant article from The Columbus Dispatch about you and your wife, Peggy, and the blog you write detailing memories of your 66-year marriage. Your enduring devotion to Mrs. Murphy is deeply inspiring and admirable, especially so in light of her debilitating illness of recent years. How wonderful to learn that you began your journey as a couple here in Greencastle on our campus.
Please know all of us at DePauw send you and Mrs. Murphy our prayers and strong hope for better days ahead.
Most sincerely,
Brian W. Casey
President

Sarah and Emma were here last week. Matthew and Jordan spent some nights with us too. One day we went to a parishioner's farm where the kids fished and canoed in the pond. Our dogs enjoyed the pond too.

In an e-mail, Steve said, "For some reason I can't make comments on your blog." I'm sure it can be set up for responses, but I don't know how to do it. Not sure I want to yet. Apparently there is a way for readers to try to make contact through a site www.contactprivacy.com which allows a reader to send a message to the owner of a domain name. The owner then can send an e-mail to the reader if he wants to. I have received one about the Dispatch article that I haven't responded to. Also, a couple people have asked reporter, Rita Price, how to contact me. She forwarded the messages to me, but didn't tell anyone my e-mail address. I haven't responded to them. Not sure I will - and I'm not sure why I'm not sure. Another woman took a more direct approach and called me on the phone. I don't suppose that would be hard to do, since the name of this place was in the article. We talked for several minutes. Her husband, who had Alzheimers, had died in June.

Summer 2010: Jack

Here are a few picture of Jack....kids grow up so fast!

I have read the 23 comments related to the Dispatch article. It took me a while to access some of them yesterday and again today. I don't know how long comments are available after the original publication date. I had wondered if someone would object to going public with such a story, and one woman did raise that question. I think it's legitimate, and one I raised very early in what I put on the web. Would Mom want me to write about her? I repeated that question to the reporter and she mentioned it in her story. I actually believe if Mom and I had ever discussed such an eventuality - one of us getting Alzheimers and the other writing about it - she would have opted for privacy. I probably would have also. But now I think differently. When people get to know more about how others deal with such things, they may be better able to deal with them, if and when their turns come. I don't believe there's any one approach that will fit all situations. I once heard a wise statement about approaching human relations problems. The speaker said to successfully treat, say a case of scarlett fever, a doctor had to know a lot about medicine, a lot about that particular disease and a lot about that particular case. He also had to know a lot about humans and a lot about that particular human. You could apply the same reasoning to a case of Alzheimers. So far, having observed behaviors of many with the disease as well as that of their loved ones, I'm sure my approach wouldn't work in some, maybe none, of the cases. If it would in one or more, writing about it is worthwhile.

Rita Price had told me the piece would appear today, but my eyes popped when I saw it at the top of the front page with THE LAST SONG in big capital letters. I think the story and the photos are award-winning material - not because they're about Mom and me, but because of the way it was written and the unique way the photographer captured the scene. The use of the big mirror added a third dimension in a very creative way. One was at the top and across most of the page. I think Rita told the story with a certain spirit that reflected a deep understanding of life situations - feeling the content as she writes it, something that goes way beyond regular reporting.

Rita Price, Dispatch reporter, called today and said she's pretty sure the story she wrote will be in Monday's paper (7/5). You can see it at www.dispatch.com Most of you probably know more than I do about how to navigate such a site. If you have problems, she said she could provide a specific link. She said "the editors" liked what she had written. She also described some shots the photographer had captured, but didn't know which might be in the published piece.

Had an interesting experience today. Yesterday, Rita Price, a Columbus Dispatch reporter called me. She had heard about, and read the website. Wanted to visit Mom and me. So she came to 600 this morning, came back here with me for a while, then came back to 600 at noon with a photographer. He took pictures before and during lunch. I have no idea what might get into print or when, but I'd guess it will be sometime this weekend. I'll let you know and if the article will be available on the web.