As the previous post indicated, we had a great time in Chicago. Kate, in particular, enjoyed being with Brian and especially enjoyed my interaction with him. I don’t think there was anything noteworthy about that interaction. I look at her reaction as another indication of how impressed she is with the things that other people do quite normally that for her are becoming difficult. She thinks many of the people she is around are very intelligent and skilled in many areas. She believes Brian is quite observant because he notices things that she doesn’t notice. One of the things she is losing is the ability to notice things around her. She misses so much; however, that doesn’t keep her from enjoying travel and doing things like attending shows and movies. She also felt that I did a good job of explaining things to Brian. I was, indeed, attempting to teach him things without being too pedantic. For Kate, this was something she can’t envision herself doing. In fact, when she tries to explain things to the grandchildren or anybody else, I can tell that she works very hard to make a clear expression of her thoughts. It is getting harder and harder to express herself.
Lest I paint too glowing an impression of the way that I handle things, especially with Kate, I should point out that Kate told me yesterday that I said something that I should not have said and that there was no reason to say that. After she said she didn’t know something, I had told her that I had told her the day before. That is like saying, “Do you remember . . .?” That is also something she has asked me not to say. Something else occurred today, but it was not a big issue. When she was looking for her computer, I told her that I had taken it to the shop for servicing before we left for Chicago. As it turns out, I had told her, but she had forgotten which is not surprising since that was a week ago yesterday. I did not tell her I had told her before, but I did say that I was sorry to have caused her some distress. She said she wasn’t distressed, she just wanted to know where her computer was and that I should have told her (which I had but didn’t want to say so).
The final thing that I believe is important to say about our trip home is that she was very eager to be back home. She repeatedly expressed how much she wanted to be home. When we finally arrived at the airport, she had a hard time moving quickly off the plane. She was just whipped and emotionally drained.
