After many months and thoughts, it would appear that the onset of LBD with Mom might be more apparent. Yet, nothing is, as how much we take for granted and small slips of the mind may go unnoticed and unnoted.
So it may have been for Mom.
After Dad died, Mom became lost after driving me to the ferry many miles away, a drive she'd made so many times - but that was due to grief.
The time when she was driving home from the beach house and was on Hood's Canal and fell asleep, hitting the guard rail and pulling over to stop before launching into the cold and dark depths of the sea - but that was fatigue.
The frantic phone call about her printer not working, having checked the plug and everything else - only for me to discover the plug was inserted, but not pushed in fully (then it worked).
The remarks from her cousins visiting at the beach asking about Mom's health, and how she didn't seem herself - taking naps, and not being as active as once she had been.
The inability to understand her television and cable relationship, although it rarely changed throughout the 20 years she had it - and the need for me to call the cable company and internet company to fix it so she could stop going without (this would last a few days after I'd done just that at her house). And, to make things worse, she would chuck all instruction manuals and a few of the remotes, as well. But this was typical - she didn't see the need for them (until I asked her to refer to them).
The slowing down of her step over recent years, and the wonderment in her eyes when she discovered her rental car card wasn't American Express or Entertainment cards in the Empress Hotel in Victoria.
Were that these happened within a quick step of each other then, perhaps, we'd notice - but given Mom's inability to understand technology (even though once she'd been quite adept), and the sigh of relief when the emails (many per day) that she forwarded to us before she'd even read them stopped.
And, we cannot forget the phone calls! One brother received 13 in 24 hours. I was used to receiving up to 7 with denials that she made any. It was all so very confusing!
Then there were those stories about people she shared but weren't true. <sigh>
But, to be honest, it made bringing movies she'd be interested in easy - there were so many she liked in the past but had absolutely no memory of ever seeing. That's when I began really wondering, but attributed it all to her age.
She also began sleeping more - to the extent that many times I would be tempted to trot into her room and put a small mirror under her nose to be sure she was breathing. Luckily, she arose not long afterward.
From a distance, we can see some changes that may not be obvious to someone who sees her often. But, even if we had taken note, what could we have done?
When Mom was admitted, she was on the cusp of being too able; that changed in less than a year's time. And, now, we are understanding and seeing so much more that we cannot dismiss it, at all.
Who knows what adventures are ahead?
So it may have been for Mom.
After Dad died, Mom became lost after driving me to the ferry many miles away, a drive she'd made so many times - but that was due to grief.
The time when she was driving home from the beach house and was on Hood's Canal and fell asleep, hitting the guard rail and pulling over to stop before launching into the cold and dark depths of the sea - but that was fatigue.
The frantic phone call about her printer not working, having checked the plug and everything else - only for me to discover the plug was inserted, but not pushed in fully (then it worked).
The remarks from her cousins visiting at the beach asking about Mom's health, and how she didn't seem herself - taking naps, and not being as active as once she had been.
The inability to understand her television and cable relationship, although it rarely changed throughout the 20 years she had it - and the need for me to call the cable company and internet company to fix it so she could stop going without (this would last a few days after I'd done just that at her house). And, to make things worse, she would chuck all instruction manuals and a few of the remotes, as well. But this was typical - she didn't see the need for them (until I asked her to refer to them).
The slowing down of her step over recent years, and the wonderment in her eyes when she discovered her rental car card wasn't American Express or Entertainment cards in the Empress Hotel in Victoria.
Were that these happened within a quick step of each other then, perhaps, we'd notice - but given Mom's inability to understand technology (even though once she'd been quite adept), and the sigh of relief when the emails (many per day) that she forwarded to us before she'd even read them stopped.
And, we cannot forget the phone calls! One brother received 13 in 24 hours. I was used to receiving up to 7 with denials that she made any. It was all so very confusing!
Then there were those stories about people she shared but weren't true. <sigh>
But, to be honest, it made bringing movies she'd be interested in easy - there were so many she liked in the past but had absolutely no memory of ever seeing. That's when I began really wondering, but attributed it all to her age.
She also began sleeping more - to the extent that many times I would be tempted to trot into her room and put a small mirror under her nose to be sure she was breathing. Luckily, she arose not long afterward.
From a distance, we can see some changes that may not be obvious to someone who sees her often. But, even if we had taken note, what could we have done?
When Mom was admitted, she was on the cusp of being too able; that changed in less than a year's time. And, now, we are understanding and seeing so much more that we cannot dismiss it, at all.
Who knows what adventures are ahead?
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