Today was bright and sunny, and it seemed to bring out the little dickens in Mom...
First, when I arrived, I brought in a couple of bags of summer clothing for her to "magically appear" in her closet while we were out. I owe those staff members!
We talked about her neurology appointment on Tuesday. She wanted to know why she needed to see a neurologist. I explained we needed to know more about what was wrong with her thinking processes, and this was the next step. She looked pensive, then spoke, "What's wrong with the way I think? I think I think rather well!"
"Well, you think things are ... Mom, you have hallucinations or believe things are real that may have been in a dream."
"Like what?" she demanded.
"Well, like when you believed you'd moved from Port Angeles to Cedar Hills and then back again one week."
"I never thought that. Don't make up stories!"
"Do you remember when you were kidnapped and taken to Alaska, but escaped and were hiding out in the house?" She looked incredulous.
"What???!!!! You're talking nonsense! I don't ever have those issues!"
"Do you remember thinking there were people in the house when there weren't? The time you were held hostage?"
"You're just full of baloney! Stop that!"
"What about thinking Larry was dead because of his leg, and you thought it was the same thing that killed your brother and your mother. Larry's still very much alive!"
"Well, he does have a leg issue."
I decided to try another route.
"You know your brother had Parkinson's, right?!"
She looked focused.
"Well, it would seem that the same alpha-synucleic acids that cause Parkinson's may also be present in your brain, but in a different way. We need to verify that and to see what we can do. Remember you take those medications, and they help."
"Yes, I take the medications because they tell me to."
"And those medications they tell you to take help you think and remember."
"But I don't have hallucinations!"
"Okay." I was leaving it at that. She looked pensive, but then brightened up.
"You know, the oddest thing happened yesterday."
"What was that, Mom?"
"I was napping, and I was half asleep, when your brother came in - very tired - and crawled into bed with me."
"Excuse me?! That sounds just a little kinky . Why would he do that?" I knew this was a dream/hallucination, ironically being told just after she told me she didn't have them, but I was nauseously curious.
"Well, he just crawled in, and he was very tired, and he slept until about 5:30, then he got up and went home."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing. He just slept then left!"
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"No. He was here."
"That makes no sense. Why would he come all the way here to take a nap?"
"Maybe he was tired."
Well, that was enough for me!
When we were leaving, Mom told me she'd figured out the "corridors". I wasn't sure what that meant, as there is a half-door with a hidden latch, and I thought she meant she'd figured out how to open it - something she'd known how to do for months, so I found this odd, but intriguing.
As we walked to the end of the corridor to the security-locked door, Mom had a look of mischief on her visage. So, I asked if she wanted to try the combination. She did, and she did it. Nolo Problemo! Uh Oh! She knows the code!
Well, then we went out and she had a spring in her step.
At Mass, the man in front of us was dealing with his toddler and was sitting sideways with his arm draped over the back of the pew. Something caught my eye. I was Mom flicking her fingers (in the manner we used to flick people's elbows off the table while growing up) toward his arm. I looked at her in horror! She giggled. I began laughing. She kept it up, giggling more and more.
At one point I whispered in her ear, "You're on the fast track to Hell, woman! You'd better stop!"
She looked at me with her devil grin, and then started flicking her fingers faster and faster, closer and closer to his arm. I reached out to stop her from actually executing the act. She looked at me still smiling and softly laughing. "I wasn't going to really do it."
"I don't know about that." This made her laugh internally and we had to find our focus for the sermon.
After Mass we went to Jean's house for croissant-sandwiches of turkey breast, and soup. Mom seemed more herself, but more like her new self, rather than her old. She was chipper, but slightly askew.
We left and headed for Fred Meyer's to get a new battery for her watch. While I did that she went to the loo. When I came out of the jewelers, I waited for her near the restroom corridor. And I waited. And I waited. And I waited. I was a little anxious that she'd wandered off...and then I spied her waaaaaaay down the other way trying to walk through the check out line in the wrong direction.
I stopped her and she told me I was supposed to be in the jeweler's.
"And where were you going, then?" I inquired.
"To find you, " she responded.
Okay.
So we bought her a couple of eyebrow pencils with a sharpener, and four bottles of gummi vitamins, which should last a couple of months.
We headed home while she marveled at the tress and the lack of taste in color some people had for their homes.
We arrived and she was quite tired, but happy. She was under the assumption I'd stay for a glass of wine and dinner, but I explained I needed to get home.
Jean had given Mom some roses from her garden, and we put those in a vase and in the window -to inspire and beautify her room, she said.
She was happy. She was content. She was putting on cooler clothes that I had brought her when I re-entered the room after checking in with the aid. She made no mention of how the clothing had magically appeared, but apparently decided it was all natural!
I kissed her ta-ta, told her I'd be back Tuesday morning and we'd have a bit of a day then.
A simple, sweet, but memorable day.
First, when I arrived, I brought in a couple of bags of summer clothing for her to "magically appear" in her closet while we were out. I owe those staff members!
We talked about her neurology appointment on Tuesday. She wanted to know why she needed to see a neurologist. I explained we needed to know more about what was wrong with her thinking processes, and this was the next step. She looked pensive, then spoke, "What's wrong with the way I think? I think I think rather well!"
"Well, you think things are ... Mom, you have hallucinations or believe things are real that may have been in a dream."
"Like what?" she demanded.
"Well, like when you believed you'd moved from Port Angeles to Cedar Hills and then back again one week."
"I never thought that. Don't make up stories!"
"Do you remember when you were kidnapped and taken to Alaska, but escaped and were hiding out in the house?" She looked incredulous.
"What???!!!! You're talking nonsense! I don't ever have those issues!"
"Do you remember thinking there were people in the house when there weren't? The time you were held hostage?"
"You're just full of baloney! Stop that!"
"What about thinking Larry was dead because of his leg, and you thought it was the same thing that killed your brother and your mother. Larry's still very much alive!"
"Well, he does have a leg issue."
I decided to try another route.
"You know your brother had Parkinson's, right?!"
She looked focused.
"Well, it would seem that the same alpha-synucleic acids that cause Parkinson's may also be present in your brain, but in a different way. We need to verify that and to see what we can do. Remember you take those medications, and they help."
"Yes, I take the medications because they tell me to."
"And those medications they tell you to take help you think and remember."
"But I don't have hallucinations!"
"Okay." I was leaving it at that. She looked pensive, but then brightened up.
"You know, the oddest thing happened yesterday."
"What was that, Mom?"
"I was napping, and I was half asleep, when your brother came in - very tired - and crawled into bed with me."
"Excuse me?! That sounds just a little kinky . Why would he do that?" I knew this was a dream/hallucination, ironically being told just after she told me she didn't have them, but I was nauseously curious.
"Well, he just crawled in, and he was very tired, and he slept until about 5:30, then he got up and went home."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing. He just slept then left!"
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"No. He was here."
"That makes no sense. Why would he come all the way here to take a nap?"
"Maybe he was tired."
Well, that was enough for me!
When we were leaving, Mom told me she'd figured out the "corridors". I wasn't sure what that meant, as there is a half-door with a hidden latch, and I thought she meant she'd figured out how to open it - something she'd known how to do for months, so I found this odd, but intriguing.
As we walked to the end of the corridor to the security-locked door, Mom had a look of mischief on her visage. So, I asked if she wanted to try the combination. She did, and she did it. Nolo Problemo! Uh Oh! She knows the code!
Well, then we went out and she had a spring in her step.
At Mass, the man in front of us was dealing with his toddler and was sitting sideways with his arm draped over the back of the pew. Something caught my eye. I was Mom flicking her fingers (in the manner we used to flick people's elbows off the table while growing up) toward his arm. I looked at her in horror! She giggled. I began laughing. She kept it up, giggling more and more.
At one point I whispered in her ear, "You're on the fast track to Hell, woman! You'd better stop!"
She looked at me with her devil grin, and then started flicking her fingers faster and faster, closer and closer to his arm. I reached out to stop her from actually executing the act. She looked at me still smiling and softly laughing. "I wasn't going to really do it."
"I don't know about that." This made her laugh internally and we had to find our focus for the sermon.
After Mass we went to Jean's house for croissant-sandwiches of turkey breast, and soup. Mom seemed more herself, but more like her new self, rather than her old. She was chipper, but slightly askew.
We left and headed for Fred Meyer's to get a new battery for her watch. While I did that she went to the loo. When I came out of the jewelers, I waited for her near the restroom corridor. And I waited. And I waited. And I waited. I was a little anxious that she'd wandered off...and then I spied her waaaaaaay down the other way trying to walk through the check out line in the wrong direction.
I stopped her and she told me I was supposed to be in the jeweler's.
"And where were you going, then?" I inquired.
"To find you, " she responded.
Okay.
So we bought her a couple of eyebrow pencils with a sharpener, and four bottles of gummi vitamins, which should last a couple of months.
We headed home while she marveled at the tress and the lack of taste in color some people had for their homes.
We arrived and she was quite tired, but happy. She was under the assumption I'd stay for a glass of wine and dinner, but I explained I needed to get home.
Jean had given Mom some roses from her garden, and we put those in a vase and in the window -to inspire and beautify her room, she said.
She was happy. She was content. She was putting on cooler clothes that I had brought her when I re-entered the room after checking in with the aid. She made no mention of how the clothing had magically appeared, but apparently decided it was all natural!
I kissed her ta-ta, told her I'd be back Tuesday morning and we'd have a bit of a day then.
A simple, sweet, but memorable day.
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