Brothers

2007 was the last year that Dad was able to make it to the family reunion. Uncle Joe gave me this picture of him and Dad overseas, most likely Japan, as that was where Dad was stationed. The date on the back of the photo says August, 1955.
Joseph Hershel Ferguson died September 23, 2009.

Grief

Grief is a strange thing, mourning the passing of a loved one comes in unpredictable stages and phases. How does grief affect someone with dementia? That is the unanswerable question. Dad has suffered two loses within one week, his mother-in-law, Iva Berkheimer, has reached her heavenly home after 96 years. And Dad's oldest living brother, Joseph Hershel Ferguson, has passed away in California. As Dad has commented countless times, "we are going down the valley one by one."