Yesterday I ran out for a few hours while Kelly was here and then came home, picked up her and Gary and all our gear and we headed to the pool for a few hours before she had to leave. In the rush to get all our belongings, we forgot the bag that had Gary's gait belt, so we didn't even attempt to get him in the pool without it. Instead, we parked him in his wheelchair in the shade next to the building and close to a hose where we could cool him down if we needed to do so.

Kelly and I were swimming and visiting with another man in the pool, when a second man arrived - dressed in his swim trunks, a tank top and a hat to keep his face from sunburning in this ungodly heat. He was also wearing a pair of swim shoes, which he wore into the hot tub and pool as well as his shirt and hat. I thought he acted a bit strange, and then Kelly informed me that she had met him before and he had some issues with drinking. He appeared to be sober but just wanting to interact with people, so we included him in our conversation and he seemed pleased about that.

We swam for about 40 min., then Kelly and I got out of the pool to dry off a bit before heading home. We were sitting by Gary, encouraging him to drink more of his juice to keep from dehydrating, There was rock n' roll music coming through the speakers from the office to the outside pool area, and Gary was kind of swaying to the music while working on his juice, so the guy started showing him how to do some exercises with his arms and legs while dancing in his wheelchair. Kelly grabbed Gary's juice so he wouldn't spill it, and then he and the guy were really getting into the dance thing. It seemed to please the other man even more than it did Gary, as they were making a connection. This man had never asked about Gary or his condition, only knew that Kelly was Gary's caregiver, and yet he seemed to be genuinely caring and concerned about him. After about 10 min. of them dancing to the music, we picked up all our stuff to leave, wished the man a good rest of his day and headed to the car.

As we were loading our stuff in the car, we saw the man get out of the pool and head over to the table where he had placed some of his belongings and then he put his head down and began sobbing loudly. I asked Kelly if he was okay, as he didn't appear to have been drinking, and she thought he was just emotional about Gary's condition. Maybe it made him realize that life isn't perfect, people have health issues, he's not alone and for at least 1/2 hr. he was included in someone else's life and it wasn't all that bad. I don't know what he was thinking or feeling at the time, but I know he was very upset. I felt bad for him.

Sarah