Mama

My experiences while living with my mother and her Alzheimer's Disease.(her birthdate = January 2, 1925)

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Mama is getting way too clever for her own good (or should I say, for MY own good?). A deputy stopped by yesterday to ask Penny if she had seen any strange young men around the house. Evidently a runaway boy might be headed toward our area. It kind of spooked her so she started locking the front door. Bandit is still barking a great deal during the night so I decided to use the dead bolt on the front door as well as the back door as an added precaution.

Around 2ish this morning, I heard Mama get up to head for the living room. I followed her when I heard something jingle. She had her purse primly on her left arm as she tried to use her key to unlock the door so she could “see if anyone was out there.” Needless to say, I was not a happy camper! I told her she was welcome to look out the window, but she was NOT to unlock the door! Surprisingly, she listened to me, went into the dining room, looked out the window, said she didn’t see anyone, and went back to bed! I was so amazed, I couldn’t go back to sleep. So am a bit groggy this morning. Between worrying about what was causing Bandit to bark so much and worrying if Mama would sneak back to the door, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. I just had a Diet Coke boost of caffeine so should be okay for a bit.

Hugs to all,
Connie

Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Mama has slept pretty well the last couple of nights, but Bandit, the dog, has been barking most of the past two nights. Guess I am going to have to put an end to his daytime napping!! Or start taking a nap myself!

Mama keeps looking out the door thinking someone is coming to see us. Last night I was working at my computer in the dining room. She went to look out the windows in the living room. Then she moved to the front door. Now the ENTIRE driveway and most of the front yard can be seen from either of these positions. She came into the dining room, used her hip to bump my chair out of the way (thank goodness it has wheels or I would have been sprawled out on the floor) so she could look out the dining room windows. The view is no better there than in the living room. I still have not quite figured out the logic in this action. Oh silly me, there is NO logic to the way her brain works now. Maybe I am catching her disorder—wouldn’t my brothers love that??!!

Sunday, October 06, 2002

We belong to the First United Methodist Church. Today was our usual first Sunday communion. There was a bit of a difference, however, since we were celebrating World-Wide Communion. In honor of this, 'our lady who teaches' (our preacher) had several different types of bread--wheat, pumpernickel, white, tortillas to name a few. She used a loaf of dark wheat bread for the main communion. Mama looked at the bread and told the preacher, "thank you." Then she nibbled on the bread. When Richard came through with the juice, Mama grabbed it and said, "Thank you so much, I was hoping you would have that. Thank you, thank you, and thank you." I kind of figured she didn't really like the bread and needed something to wash it down. I hate to admit that I got the giggles, but I might as well since there were a few witnesses.

We went to Golden Corral, as usual. There were more children than normal there today. Mama had given all her cookies away so she kept going up to these total strangers and apologizing for not having anymore. Now most of these people had no idea that she is famous for giving her cookies away. She grabbed one poor guy with a few tattoos and pulled him to our table. I told him she wanted to give his children some cookies, but she didn't have anymore. He backed away and said, "That's okay." Don't think he came our way again!! He and all the others were really nice about being accosted by her. Kind of wish I had a camera for the startled looks on their faces when she first heads their way. That would make an interesting website!!