3-12-2012

It was so beautiful out today, I had to take Mom outside to get some fresh air.

I got to her place around 6, and she was sitting in the main room.  I asked how she was doing “Oh, just lazing around,” she said kind of drearily. I had brought her a cup of coffee, and sat down at the table with them.  She said they had just finished dinner, but hadn’t really done much today.

‘Want to go outside?’

“Really? Is it cold?” ‘No, it’s beautiful outside.'

Unfortunately we had a little issue finding her walker.  There was one sitting right beside me that looked just like hers, but it didn’t have the scarf I had tied on it.  When I asked if that was hers, the other lady at the table put her hand on it and gestured rather sternly that it was hers.  I checked her room, and no luck…then one of the nurses went and found the other lady’s walker and helped us switch.

Mom was talkative as we were making our way down the elevator and to the front door.  She seemed to pick up in mood and energy.

“I almost called you last night.  I didn’t want to wake anyone up, but I thought Jaymz could come over and fix my television.” She also asked about my job, and whether I liked it.  She asked me that 3 different times, at different points of our conversation, and phrased in the exact same way.  Her short term memory is deteriorating, I think.  We got downstairs and just relaxed in the rockers out front.

“What’s Paula doing this weekend?” ‘I don’t know.  Taking care of her kids would be my guess.’

She continued rattling on and on, mostly voicing frustration about the other ladies.  She tried to describe some sort of argument they had over onion soup, and complained that no one ever wanted to go outside with her because they always thought it was too cold.

“So how’s Paula getting along, ok?” ‘Yep.  She’s doing great as far as I know.’

We just sat there in the rocking chairs for almost an hour, marveling at the flowers, the birds and the trees until she started to get cold.  At that point we decided to make our way back upstairs.  I made sure her television was working ok and then headed out.  “I’m so glad you stopped by.   It’s nice to see you every once and awhile.”

‘I’ll be back tomorrow, Mom.  Have a good night.’  I missed my Yoga class tonight, but somehow felt just a relaxed. Hanging out with her just has that effect sometimes.