Last night, Kate and I attended a special Christmas dinner at Casa Bella. This is an annual event done in conjunction with Broadway Night. Christmas music makes up the entire musical program. That includes not only the musicians who entertain us, but also those who are in the audience. The formal program consisted of selected music from “The Winter Rose,” a cantata by Joseph Martin. Neither of us was familiar with the music, but we and the rest of the audience enjoyed it. Apart from the beautiful music, we sat once again with the same couple we usually sit with. They are both 93 and in great shape. We loved sharing another evening with them.
That was the second of a number of Christmas events we will be attending this week and next. I am happy that we are able to enjoy the season in this way. I only wish Kate were able to fully appreciate it. She does enjoy the specific events like last night, but her memory doesn’t permit her to retain any sense that it is the Christmas season and to reflect on how much we have enjoyed it in the past as well as the present. She doesn’t say anything about Christmas or anything about the outside decorations I have put up. Even when I showed her what I had done, she was only able to say, “That’s nice” without a lot of enthusiasm. This is another characteristic of her AD. She is simply much more even in her expression of emotions except for things that she especially likes or dislikes.
