wow, my dad's mental condition is really deteriorating

[datasuspect]

he hasn't worked since a car ran into the semi he was driving head on last year.

so he's been more or less a shut in. had really bad neck and back injuries.

he called me this morning and asked if i would drive him to purchase a lawnmower.

i said, fine, no problem and went over there.

anyway, he has me call wal mart to find out prices. the cheapest one was 120.00, so he wants to go to a pawnshop.

no big deal, we find a decent one for about 60 bucks.

go to the counter and he couldn't get it right. he kept counting the money over and over. by the time i intervened, he had a jumble of 150 in various denominations in a bundle and i sorted it out.

he asked me to drink a beer with him. my mother (she works in the daytime) doesn't allow alcohol in the house, but i said, "yeah, sure" and got us two quarts of miller high life.

he's out there right now mowing the grass.

it's weird, i always remember him being a person who instilled fear in others, highly respected among his street associates and a fixture in our old neighborhood when i was growing up.

kinda strange seeing him as a hobbled old man who can't even count money anymore.

but he seems to be having fun with the lawnmower though.