I’d like suggestions for a hobby to recommend for my Dad. I’ll describe him, and then if you have any suggestions please let me know. My dad is 90. My mom died last week after 67 years of marriage. My Dad has mild cognitive disorder. For those not familiar with that, it is often a precursor of dementia but nowhere near as bad. He has trouble remembering names, appointments, what has already been done and what has not. When he is forgetful he becomes distraught and anxious. It seems to me that his bigger problem is not his forgetfulness but his feeling that he should not be forgetful. Sometimes he can talk for ten minutes and seem normal; but then get so confused that he makes no sense. For example, I visited him on a Sunday, and asked how his day was going . He said it was ok at first but his Monday had turned into a Wednesday. He asked if that had ever happened to me. I said not yet. When he had a colonoscopy ruling out some problems, somehow he thought that it had been reported on the local news. On the other hand he w a biology professor at an Ivy League university for forty years. Yesterday I listened to him explain to his caregiver the difference between RNA, which corona virus is made of, and DNA, and he had it all. He also remembered some details of a fishing outing we did 50 years ago; details I had forgotten. So he is intermittently lucid and childlike. Physically, he walks with a walker and has had a few falls. He had surgery for spinal stenosis, which had caused him to lose some function in his left arm and right lower leg. He goes to physical therapy. He played tennis in high school and biked some as an adult. He can’t do either now. He is bright but confused and anxious. I think sudoku is too hard for him. He must miss my mom terribly so I want something else to take his mind off of it.
