June 22, 2012 ~~~  This is a tough day to write about.  We DID accomplish our "mission", after a few wrong turns, the GPS totally failing us for the first time, and a few turn-arounds that Darrell managed to do on one-lane roads and 12-point turns!  We found Orville and Betty Powell's home in Dover, Tennessee.  They live at the very end of a lane right on Barclay Lake. 

We met Betty first, who was very gracious and we spent about 2 hours with her while she caught us up on her life with Orville and their courtship and marriage, and their many travels.  After retirement they were on the shores of Loon Lake in Washington for several years while they traveled, then traveled full time for 6 or 7 years and working as "camp hosts" in many states.  Orville decided it was time to get off the road (full time) and they decided to move somewhere warmer than Loon Lake area.  They chose Tennessee.  Orville did work for a few years for the county juvenile department as a Juvenile Parole and Probation officer in Dover before he "retired" again.

Betty told us that Orville has resided in a nursing home in a nearby town since December 2010.  He has Parkinson's and dementia.  He has had Parkinson's for some time, but had started falling because of his balance and the Parkinson's and she could not get him back up.  He is now in a wheelchair full time and their home is not wheelchair accessible... nor are the rooms and hallways wide enough for his wheelchair, and it would be impossible to remodel their home without very nearly rebuilding the whole place.  Betty warned us that Orville has "good" days and some "not so good" days, so when we visited him we could expect that sometimes he cannot follow the conversation and gets frustrated because he knows he is impaired, and knows what he wants to say, but sometimes can't find the words to express or explain himself. 

She also told us that it was too bad we had not arrived a day earlier because Orville was honored at a special award banquet last night and an award plaque was presented to him for "Distinguished Military Service and Personal Accomplishments" by the Sheriff of the county and the local Chief of Police for his years of service in the Army and in the Korean War, his years in the National Guard as a Battalion Commander, and his many years of law enforcement service.  We SO wish we had made it here in time for that!

We said goodbye to Betty, and drove to the nursing home, not knowing what we would find when we got there.  What we found was a VERY nice facility, and Orville lounging around in his nice air conditioned room in a black cowboy hat, sitting in his wheelchair watching the news on TV and drinking a coke.  (He later said he would rather have a shot of scotch.)

We didn't tell him we were coming, so he was surprised and so tickled to see us... of course he didn't recognize us at first (we may have changed just a little in the last 25 years since he last saw us)... but when he did, he was totally astonished, and very pleased.  We were apparently very lucky to catch him on a "good" day because we visited with him for 2 or 3 hours, catching up and reminiscing.  His speech was a little slow, and sometimes he had to think for a minute to process the conversation, but his sense of humor was intact and we all had a good time and some laughs telling stories about the "good ol' days" at Sweet Home P.D.  He told us he finally had to give up working at the Juvenile Department because he went to court one day and when the judge asked him to talk about the case, he realized he couldn't remember the case and it just wouldn't come to him. He said his memory was started to fail him more and more, so he retired for the last time.  He did ask about several people, including Patty (he couldn't remember her last name) and Sammye, and Jim and Carol Ann Salsbery, and we talked about others who are no longer with us... Terry Brooks, Bob Worthington, Jim Bean, and Chris Ives. 

We hugged him goodbye after a few hours ... and all of us teared up some.  Darrell and I, especially me, lost it once back in our rig.  It was wonderful to see him and visit with him, and with Betty.  But it was so sad to realize this is no doubt the last time we'll ever see him. He was such a vital, energetic, intelligent and sharp witted man and he was such a big influence on  both of us.  We have always thought the world of him.

And THAT is all I can write for now.