From Don Hill

Ron Simar, David Tyson, and I met Matt and Stephen at the Suerken home in Erie the weekend of August 15. The primary purpose was to see and visit with Suerk, of course ... something I lacked the courage to do earlier. We also came to help them in the ongoing process of getting the house in shape for Paul to come home (if that is possible) or to be sold. By the time we arrived, Matt and Stephen had discovered the house had been broken into and burglarized, something Matt can report on better than I. He spent most of Friday and Saturday with police, a worthwhile investment of
time, as the culprit has been caught as well as most of the stolen merchandise. The downside ... not much got done on the house.

Paul's state of mind amazes me ... I'd like to believe it is constant, but can't help thinking he simply rises to the occasion for every visitor. He has long known how to do this. He resists prompting about the status of the Tribe, a painful subject this year. He can't hear enough about old friends and their families. He asks about everybody, by name, and he does a helluva lot better with the names than I do. If you don't look under the covers, he looks great ... has lost a lot of weight, but he had also gained a lot of weight before the fall; net effect - he looks like Suerk, better than right before the fall. And when he smiles, which is often, you know for sure who you're talking to. What makes him smile? Send news about yourself and your mutual friends. He devours it. Send it to Matt (forpaulsuerken@gmail.com). Matt talks to Paul daily, and he'll pass it along. Another thing ... give him a head rub; Ron will show you how.

A number of Suerk's neighbors came over when they saw cars in the driveway. These are good people; the lady directly across the street has done yeoman's work, voluntarily cleaning the interior of the house up after it had sat idle for so long. Another family put Matt and Stephen up for the weekend. Matt has learned more about Medicare and Medicaid than any 41 yr-old should know; he has also engaged a crackerjack elder-law attorney to make sure Paul gets every benefit he can.

The downside ... Paul is in a nursing home. If there is any intellectual stimulation in the place, it is not happening near him. None of the patients who sit in wheelchairs in the hallways seem to have a cogent thought. It is not a rehabilitation facility, it is a nursing home. The nurses adore him ( and one has to admire them immensely, too, for what they do ), of course; they don't see many patients with whom they can have meaningful discourse. They also baby him a bit ... they keep a small supply of beer for him in a fridge at the nurse's station. They help him use his Ipod and cellphone when they can, but reading or surfing the net are not things he is doing... and he indicates he is OK with this. There is little space in his half of the room to make those things happen, even if the right equipment existed. He tires pretty fast, so long periods of concentration would probably be difficult for him anyway. The thing I noticed about the nursing home is something Matt mentioned in an earlier blog...it is very clean, and it doesn't have the urine smell that seems to permeate most places like that. He has a good appetite and the food appears to be passable. It is probably also very predictable... I'd like to get a good meal shipped to him once in a while, even fast food, just for variety.

The Suerken humor is also still alive and well... the nurses like it, even when it goes over their heads. Paul doesn't lack for visitors, but he would welcome more, I know. It would be a very unhappy site, if you were to do so... except for Paul. He doesn't feel sorry for himself, and he makes certain, just by the force of his personality, that you don't feel sorry for him either. I won't wait so long before going back.

Don Hill

Visitors

Suerk's roommate and best friend from Dartmouth College, Ed Johanson, flew up to Erie last week. On the heals of that visit, Andy Crago (Mercersburg class of '67) flew to Pittsburgh on his way to visit family and detoured through Erie. Stephen and I will fly up on the 14th of August to meet with Suerk's attorney and work on the house. That same weekend, my dad and Don Hill will drive up with a group of current and former faculty from the School. Suerk is thrilled. He claims not to enjoy being the center of attention, but he doesn't really have a choice.