gaitbeltdiaries-blog

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My father popped into his mouth an individually wrapped rolo. Without unwrapping it first.

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Caregiver’s wide world of highly useful wheelchair ramps.

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Arts and crafts and caregiving. Bed pad rosette.

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For someone with swallowing problems, peanut butter is evil. Pure, unmitigated "things will not end well" evil. Dad hasn't had a pb&j sandwich for 3 years. Turns out, pudding is an amazing vehicle for a taste of nostalgia.

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Peanut butter pudding

This is an easy pantry-supply stovetop pudding. If you leave out the PB2, it’s a good base to transform into any other flavor.

2 Tbsp corn starch 3 Tbsp PB2 (a powdered peanut butter, less fat, no added sugar, great shelf-life in the fridge without needing to remember to warm it ¼-½ C sugar (I use turbinado) 1/8 tsp salt 2 C milk (or combo milk and cream, etc)

Whisk the dry ingredients in a pot, then add cold milk and whisk well. Place over medium heat, keeping the bottom scraped and the mix moving until it boils and thickens.

If you would like your pudding to taste more rich, you can use an egg and/or butter (up to 2 Tbsp). As the pudding mix warms, spoon some into a bowl, whisk in the egg (or yolk), slowly add more hot pudding mixture, whisk, then whisk the egg mixture into the pot of pudding. Add cold butter a pat at a time, whisking until incorporated when the pudding is of desired thickness and off heat.

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I tend to laugh when (small) things don't go Dad's way. Then he starts laughing as well.

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The real caregiver at work, helping Dad get to bed.

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Bad caregiver/good caregiver- while lunchables are horrible kinda food, turns out they're amazing occupational therapy. There was no confetti cracker action and I couldn't be more proud.

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For all his memory is wonky, sharing the Culver news by way of Notre Dame's preseason has proven Dad's mental file system hasn't completely broken down.

Behind the Scenes at Culver Academies

Training camp at Culver Academies wraps up for Notre Dame football on Tuesday. I went down for most of the day on Friday and Saturday to check out the grounds and get a glimpse of camp life at Culver.

Brian Kelly is the second Notre Dame coach to kick off training camp at Culver, Lou Holtz being the first. Running Backs Coach Autry Denson and Director of Player Development Ron Powlus were at Culver as players under Lou Holtz and we caught up with them to see what, if anything, has changed since they were at Culver in the 90′s.

One thing that has remained the same: no AC in the dorms. When Ron and Autry were at camp, it was brutally hot. Ron told us that the upperclassmen would bring their pillows into the hockey rink at night to sleep on the cement bleachers, a slightly cooler option than the dorms. Apparently they didn’t tell the underclassmen, which included Autry. In fact, Autry only found out the upperclassmen did this just last week.

Another notable anecdote from Holtz’s time at Culver was when he burned a small boat on the lake. Here’s the story told by former linebacker Kory Minor (‘99):

“There are so many memorable stories that I can share about my time at Culver, but I think the funniest and most enjoyable would be when coach Holtz burned a small boat on the lake. It reminded me of something General Patton would do to ensure his men were in the battle for the long run. I don’t recall if it was the first night we arrived in Culver or a day or two later, but it was a sight I have never seen and the inspirational and motivational message was on point, accurate and precisely delivered.

Imagine coach Holtz and his less than large stature standing in front of each and every player and coach and basically gave his sermon on the mount.  He talked about the mission and what it would take to be successful that season. Coach shared stories of past seasons, the successes and failures and what that team needed to do to win. I remember him scanning the audience with his eyes as though he was looking and talking to each one of us directly, giving you the official guidelines and strategies that we needed to hear as a team so we could unleash our true greatness.

When coach lit the boat on fire and pushed it out to sea the underlying message was clear, there would be no retreating. If you were on that team you must totally by into the message and the philosophy that coach Holtz envisioned. There would be no middle ground. Coach knew how to win and he was very proficient at that. His job was now to fundamentally transform our minds, hearts and beliefs and to have us all on the same page. I must admit Coach did an excellent job conveying his message. I have never been in awe of anything in my life, but to see the boat on fire behind coach Holtz set against the starry night was the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen. That moment was when I knew I had arrived at the University of Notre Dame and there would be no turning back now.”

The Culver campus is a busy place during the summer, and not just because of Notre Dame football. On Saturday, there was a triathlon in the morning and three weddings throughout the day. Then, once Notre Dame was done on the field, Culver Academies had their own football team that had to practice in the afternoon.

Luckily, the grounds are huge and there’s plenty of space for everyone.

After lunch, the players have some free time before meetings. They can go boating, horseback riding, or fishing but, as you might expect, most choose to just sleep… Or, if you’re Romeo Okwara and Corey Robinson, play the ukulele.

You never know what you might come across with @NDFootball players & their free time at Culver Academies.. #camplife pic.twitter.com/7NO1aOKtqj

— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy)

August 8, 2015

Once the team gets back to Notre Dame, training camp continues right here under the dome.

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I’d like to watch Chronic-Con, a doc about a stoner going to Comic-Con and hilarity (presumably) ensuing. Instead, I’ll respect my father’s tv viewing rights and select an episode of The Killer Speaks in which a dude kills his father. It’s all about love here, yup.

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To stay sane, it helps to hand out compliments and encouragement like dollar bills on a mirrored stage when caregiving. But what always makes it even better is when I tell Dad “you can do it” and he levels the “of course I can, ya dumbass” look. Snotty response is a healthy response.

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Adventures with wheelchairs. “Can he sit here?” “Uhhh…” Nothing says say stability like a bolted on sharp-cornered chunk of less than a square foot metal.

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Upside of caregiving: captive audience for kitchen experimentation. Blackberry cornbread. Sweet enough to drive any proud southerner insane.

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The cat disagrees. "Humans have no rights." For all his confusion with the world, Dad informs me "well, she is a cat."

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The real reason for old folks' happy hour at 4pm: Every day at precisely 6:15, one of our dogs sits on his bed in Dad's room, freaking the fuck out until Dad wheels in. At which point both dogs play chicken by running between wheels and the doorway toward the hall. They believe in a right to privacy, apparently.

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My mom told me she was glad I’d never be a mother because I gagged even picking up dog poo. If she could only see me now.