I lost Kate once again, but this is the time that has concerned me most because I believe it signals a new stage in her decline. We had been to the Brick Walk Café to get her a Dr. Pepper. Then we went to the Maple Group Real Estate to arrange for next year’s visit to Chautauqua. From there we were going to watch the Scott Roselle Talk Show. As we passed by our apartment, I told Kate that I would like to get some papers up to the room and that I would be right back. When I got back, she wasn’t there. I looked all around and couldn’t find her. I went back to the Brick Walk Café, to Roselle’s show, in the library, around the Amp, as well as the streets around the inn and Bestor Plaza. While I was looking, I ran into a friend from Long Island. He offered to help me look for her. I told him he needn’t do that but he did anyway and stayed in touch by text. After an hour, I called the Chautauqua police and asked for their help. I gave him a description of her and what she was wearing. He said he would send someone to meet me at Heather’s Inn. In five minutes or so an officer arrived and took the same information from me. He said there would be two of them looking for her. He asked me to stay around the inn in case she showed up here. In about 20-25 minutes I got a call from the police saying they had found her and that they were taking her to the inn. I looked over there and saw her getting out of a security golf cart. I went over and thanked him. Kate did not seem flustered. I suspect that might have been a little different had the police not been there. She told the officer that I know how bad she is with directions. I gave her a hug, and we went upstairs to our apartment. Neither of us said anything about where she had been, how long she had been gone, or what had happened. We both understood just about all we needed to know. I did say, “I’ll bet you got hot.” She had been walking for an hour and a half. Later I asked her about her walking away. She did not want to talk about it. My interpretation is that she doesn’t really know what happened or why.
The troublesome aspect of this is that this Is the first time she has gotten lost by walking away, and it happened so quickly. In prior situations it has occurred because she did not follow me or she simply got lost because she forgot where she was supposed to go. I fear that this means she could mean we are reaching a point where I cannot trust that she will stay in a given location. This afternoon I did take a chance by leaving her at the apartment while I went to a session in which she had no interest. I was gone a little less than an hour. Before leaving I asked her to promise me she would not go anywhere. It was clear she understood why I said that and that this morning’s experience was one she didn’t want to relive. She said, “Believe me; I’m not going anywhere.” Of course, she may have already forgotten this experience. I know she will have forgotten by tomorrow morning.
