Yesterday was a good day for me. I had taken my dad to the memorial service of his Kiwanis friend at First Presbyterian where we both saw some of Dad’s Kiwanis friends and others we knew including someone from Dad’s writing class. Afterwards we went to Ruby Tuesday where Dad had a bowl of clam chowder and Buffalo shrimp. We both had a cup of coffee. I thought it was a special time and enjoyed every minute. I called Kate to say I was leaving the restaurant to take Dad to back to his place and asked if she would like to go with us and then we could have dinner after that. She sounded down but indicated she would like to go with us.
We dropped Dad off and went to dinner. The meal was good, and it was a special time for us. The day ended on a high note.
A week before Thanksgiving Kate had a painful day. I could tell she was discouraged when I got home. That evening we looked over a photo album that her father had put together. We both enjoyed going through it and reminiscing. When we got in bed that night, she said, “This is the best I have felt all day.”
Friday night before Thanksgiving we went to Theater Knoxville. Just before the play started, she asked me for cough drops. At intermission she couldn’t find them. She finally found them in her purse. She said, “Welcome to my day.”This is a very typical experience nowadays. It is always something that is misplaced – keys, purse, wallet, power cord for computer, etc.
On Sunday night before Thanksgiving we stayed in a Residence Inn in Houston. We were there to celebrate the holiday with our son, Kevin, and his family. She said she had forgotten her tooth brush; so I got one from the front desk. While preparing to leave, she found the one she had. She said, “Honestly, Richard.” I have a tendency to think that when she discovers something that was misplaced, she would feel better knowing that she had not done something strange with the item. She had simply overlooked it. On balance, however, I can easily see that she knows that the forgetfulness is getting worse and it bothers her a great deal.
It is not simply forgetting. She also overlooks things a good bit. For example, yesterday she told me that she couldn’t print because the printer cable was missing. When I went in to see, I saw that the cable was connected although it was mingled with a cord from a lamp.
