We are not amused

It reminded me of Pop-pop 

although the 2 men couldn’t be further apart in intellect, temperament 

or quality of character. 

As he aged,

my grandfather had a form of progressive dementia 

due largely to anoxia from COPD but,

since he was a man of few words,

you would never have known it.

He was capable of driving wherever he and my grandmother needed to go;

it was, after all, an island 18 miles long and 3 blocks wide 

not much likelihood of him getting lost for too long 

and, other than during the peak of summer,

the island was sparsely populated.

He spent most of his days 

sitting on the screened in front porch, 

rocking, “watching the world go by”;

and loving his family;

he was really good at that too.

Occasionally in the evening 

he’d say something totally random,

asking the gathered family, "Who has the room key? I’m ready to go back now."  

When one of us would gently say,

"Pop-pop, you’re already home but I can help if you want to go to bed now.", 

he’d issue a smile that reached all the way to his eyes 

and respond

"Very good. I was just checking to see if you were oriented and paying attention".

My grandmother would laugh these remarks off,

refusing to see them as sign of what we all knew was advancing incapacity.

If she had any misgivings, 

she never acknowledged them openly.

I thought of this yesterday after #45’s ridiculous, 

aborted and then deleted midnight Tweet:

Despite the constant negative press covfefe,”

only to be replaced several hours later with 

Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!

While millions of folks around the globe were laughing 

and making meme magic,

I had quite a different reaction.

It made me nauseous.

This isn’t a gentle man,

being lovingly cared for in the peace of his own home 

as his mental capacity slips away.

This is a man with tremendous power,

smallness of spirit,

no soul 

and access to nuclear codes.

When are those in power going to openly acknowledge that this man 

is a danger to himself and others?

Some of us ARE oriented 

and some of us ARE paying attention 

and, for those who us who have been there before,

it’s no laughing matter.