When Dad could no longer tell me what he was feeling or needed, those were challenging days. He knew and felt everything, but experienced the mental disconnect of not being able to express a need. He could not tell me when he was cold, or hungry, or thirsty, or in pain. So, just like the parent of a newborn, I had to read him, his face, his body, his gestures, and his symptoms, and make decisions to meet his needs. The Lord was kind to give me insight often into the things that were not audible, but Dad and I seemed to make the right decisions together.
If we asked Dad a basic question that he could hear, he always managed a one or two word response. Thankfully, he never became completely voiceless, but I had to sharpen my skills to discern his "yes" from his "no". Sometimes, "yes" meant "yes" and sometimes, "yes" meant "no, and of course, vice versa. I had to repeat my questions, press a little, or change the wording to give him a different perspective or impression of the subject, but he and I always got to the truth of a matter eventually.
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