ycw:
LN:
TylerDH:
George Penn
DW:
Kathleen Zoe "Keen"
--Dgp:
Blake Byron Joelson
The
Tyler family has gained a new family member after 3 months of marriage--not a baby but Grandpa
Blake!
Blake Byron Joelson is
George's stepfather.
George's dad,
Christopher, died quite young at 60. His mom
Augusta (known as Gusty) had remarried to a widower 10 years older than her, and remained faithful in caring him even though he began to experience the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease only a year later, and soon had trouble remembering her name, alternately calling her
Alice (the name of his first wife) and asking who she was. Gusty believed marriage was for life, though--even a second marriage to a broken man--and she cared for him the rest of her life, but succumbed to a heart attack at only 64. Grandpa
Blake was still a very healthy man in body, if not in mind. In his mother's memory,
George insisted on taking in the old man. They hired a nurse, but it was still a big change and a strain on their family.
Blake's only child pays for the nurse, but wasn't willing to take him in--just to pay for a nursing home. Grandpa
Blake doesn't recognize
George or Keen and is perpetually confused as to where he is and why. However, he is generally kind to them and loves his stepson's cooking, endearing him to
George further. Keen discovers Grandpa
Blake's love of card games and soon their nightly game session helps her bond with Grandpa
Blake as well. Grandpa
Blake's lack of short term memory is an impediment, but he enjoys the game anyway and always insists at the beginning that he almost always wins. Grandpa
Blake is 74.