Lawrence picked Mom up at the usual time, 3:15, and then treated her to a drive through Sauvie's Island as a bit of a diversion. Mom thought it rather depressing, with all the dead trees, and whatnot. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, she is in denial it's Autumn, and this is Nature's course.
They arrived just as I was departing my car with the gifts, wine and champagne. Mom looked clearly out of her element.
She was confused by the basketball game going on, wondering what sort of channel the boys had on. But that was easily diverted.
She did state that we needed to wait for my other two brothers to show, and this was repeated a couple of times. She accepted they were with their families in Washington and wouldn't be coming, both times she asked.
We went in to open gifts, after a bit.
Mom was clearly not aware of what day it was. She kept asking. Lawrence and Kathleen gave her a large box and she peeked inside. I asked her what it was. "Bathroom stuff," she answered, with no affect.
I gave her my gift, some lotions from L'Occitane. She was still unimpressed, and was a little annoyed at my wanting her to smell one of the lotions. This action clearly confirmed my suspicions that she is unable to actually smell anything.
Then she wanted to go home. More and more it's obvious she doesn't care to deviate from her normal routine. A little outing here and there is fine, but evenings she seems a bit put out; although it's quite good for her.
When we moved out of the living room, she remained and spoke with Nicholas (Kathleen's oldest) about his schooling. It was a positive conversation and she seemed to be back to her normal self - in a sense.
She was pretty good about the wine. And she seemed to really enjoy the champagne with dinner.
She ate a healthy meal, but not a great deal. And, after, it was very obvious it was time to go - even though it had been only a couple of hours. Oh Well.....
On the way home she became rather snippy. Then, she went over her To-Do list: 1) We need to go over her accounts and her monies; 2) We need to arrange for her things to be moved in the morning to Port Angeles, so she can return home; 3) We need to speak with Mr. Manning about ---- not really sure, as she was blurring her words.
When I dropped her off she was quite tired. She plopped into her recliner while I put the new bathroom rugs in, and folded the old ones and put them in the cupboards. She wanted to keep the box (really? As though there's room!), but I assured her it would be re-used in the recycle bin. She allowed me to do this.
The med-aid came in and gave her her medications and her hand cream. Mom has her rubbing it into her skin, rather than doing it herself. Honestly. Norma Regina!
Tomorrow my youngest (not younger) brother is coming to take her to lunch. This will be good for her, as well, but she will be, probably, quite agitated by Saturday when she needs to re-adapt to her routine.
Christmas has come, but the season remains. But with Mother, it was a blip on her screen; it never really happened. However, it was good to have her in the festivities, while there's still some spark to her eyes.
Her spark seems to be dwindling little by little, and compared to last year there is a huge progression of the downward. Sad? Yes, to be sure, but she's still with us, and hasn't forgotten who we are. That's the best gift we could ask for at this time.
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