In the past two weeks I have noticed Kate’s making a more concerted effort to be on time and do things right. For example, early this week a neighbor called to invite Kate to go with her to an orchid garden of some type. Yesterday she called, and I answered the phone. She said the tell Kate that she would be by to get her at 9:00 this morning and that the admission fee is $6 that would be applied to any purchases she might make. They were going to lunch afterwards. I was a bit uneasy because this is during the time that I would be at the Y. It was clear that she was confident that all would go well, but I very carefully prepared her to take her debit card and some cash. I put them on top of her dresser in our bedroom. I also put a sticky note with tipping information. I told her it would probably be best if she just put the cards and money in a pocket rather than carrying a purse thinking that she might leave the purse someplace.
This morning I was prepared to set the alarm for her to make sure she got up. I also set reminders on my phone for me to call her to make sure that she was ready. The good news is that she woke up when my alarm went off at 5:00. She asked that I turn the radio on. She got up and got back into the bed with the radio still on. I was calling her around 8:30 when I got a call from her. She was telling me she had found the receipt for her lunch with Ellen on Wednesday. She also said she was dressed and ready for our neighbor.
At 9:15, I received a phone call. She asked where I put her card and money. I told her it was on the dresser. She said it was not there now and that her ride was there. She hung up to look for it. I won’t know until this afternoon if she found them or if our neighbor told her she would pay and Kate could reimburse her.
All of this follows the 3-4 crises we had 10 days to two weeks ago as she was trying to get ready to go out. I am trying to interpret everything that is going on right now. It is interesting that Kate and I both told people about her condition within one day of each other. I told Tom and Stan on Monday of last week. She told Ellen on Tuesday of last week. Perhaps we both felt the crises of the preceding few days was a sign that Kate’s condition is getting worse, and we just had to tell those closest to us.
I also think Kate is frightened because she is clear-headed enough to grasp that she is losing her ability to do many things. Naturally, this affects me as well. As I always said in connection with my visits to Dad, when he was doing well, I was doing well.
