A Bit of Humor

Some Humor.

I think you'll find this a bit more interesting.

1.            When Damien was in the third grade, we were in Albertson's during October. Damien was excited to see the new Atari video games. As we passed by the candy aisle, I asked Damien, "What candy bar would you like?" Damien was in a hurry to go on and said, "Give me a what chma call it."  and turned to go to the video section. I replied, "Damien I need to know what candy bar you would like." He turned to face me and said, "a what chma call it." I was a bit flustered thinking "Hersey's", "Baby Ruth", "Oh Henry", or maybe "Big Time" or "Black Cow" and said, "Damien I need to know specifically the name of the candy bar you would like." Damien quietly walked to the candy bar rack, picked up a candy bar and placed it in my hand. I looked at the candy and read Whatchamacallit in colorful lettering. Damien had shown patience, tolerance and kindness to his very uninformed, dated father. I just stood there grinning like a Chester Cat at my embarrassment and new knowledge while being very proud of my charitable third grader. I had noticed a lady walking passed us during my quizzing of Damien. She also was smiling at Damien's behavior. I just shook my head and paid for his candy bar (and later a new video game).

2.            For most of Merrill and Damien's boyhood, I was a junior high school teacher. One Sunday evening, Damien was resisting going to sleep. I went upstairs to encourage him to stay in bed and go to sleep. I told him "Please go to sleep. I need to get some rest before I go to work in the morning." Damien was very serious when he replied, "You don't go to work. You go to school."

3.            Times were very stressful when Damien was in the ICU. We needed to stay focused on Damien's care and not get bogged down in anger, regret and grief. I tried to stay in the moment and keep Paula from being distracted. Sometimes humor worked. They had placed Damien in a chemical coma to help prevent more brain damage from internal cranial pressure. Prior to this, the doctors would ask Damien (in a loud voice as if Damien were deaf or spoke a different language), "Damien blink your eyes if you hear me." I thought this a bit odd because one has to have the eyes open before they can "blink".

Paula and I were in the room one evening. A nurse was there working on the wall-mounted computer. During our discussion I said (to Paula not to Damien-remember he was in a chemical coma), "Blink once if you can hear me. Blink twice if you cannot hear me". I got a smile and a snicker from Paula-which I wanted. However, the nurse went berserk. She said, "No. No. No. Don't say that. You will get him confused." Once again, I smiled, shook my head and changed the topic.

4.            Before the crash, Damien had bought a registered pug. He named the pug Chuc Masi - meaning pretty lady.

A year after we had brought Damien home from therapy sessions in Florida, he and I were sitting on a couch in the den. Merrill came home from a party and was getting a drink in the kitchen. [This placed Merrill in a room behind Damien. Damien was facing away from the doorway between the two areas.] Paula asked Merrill, "How was the food?" Merrill's reply was, "About like eating Chuc Masi's food."  Damien grinned and offered a short chuckle.

Damien hears and understands and can react to conversations. Therefore, we are very careful about what we discus in Damien presence. Sometimes we take Damien out of the room when we discuss his history with a doctor. Then bring him back in to hear the test results and future plans.

  Because of Damien's reaction to what he hears, we try to take him to a movie once a week. The last humorous movie Damien attended was Fist Fight. The nurse said that Damien laughed throughout the movie. We also have him watch humorous television programs. We have Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD and Damien watches a 30-minute episode periodically.

Humor is very important for Damien. It is a good stimulation and engages his cognitive skills.