My father is 88 years old. He has dementia and he remembers quite a bit from when I was younger. He does get me confused with his sister, or at least his relationship with me, but I am just happy he remembers I am family.
Anyhow, when I was little on April Fool’s Day, I would run into my parents’ bedroom and wake up my dad and say, “Dad, hurry up, the toilet is overflowing!” He would jump out of bed and run to the bathroom and I would laugh and say “April Fools!”.
When I was in college and then when I was married, I still called him every April Fool’s Day and say, “Dad, what do I do, can you come over? My toilet is overflowing!” He would calmly tell me it was not a big deal, to not worry…I’d let him start to tell me what to do and then I would say, “April Fools!” I honestly believe I tricked him every year. He would laugh that he fell for it again.
I haven’t done that for a few years. I think now my father would just be too worried that he wasn’t able to come help me that it would cause him too much stress. It is still funny to think about though.
