If you are a regular reader of this blog or someone who knows me well, you are aware that I have a few OCD tendencies (well, maybe more than a few). Kate has never been this way at all. Alzheimer’s has made our differences even more pronounced. Recently, it has come as a surprise to see her exhibiting some of my characteristics. After a long period of time during which she didn’t put up her clothes, she started doing so. She doesn’t always do this immediately after taking them off, but she no longer lets them accumulate on the beds, furniture, and floor as she did in the earlier stages.
The next behavior involves making up the bed. Over the course of our marriage, I recall hearing her say that her mother had taught her to make up the bed right after she gets up. This is something she has always done and continued for the first few years after her diagnosis. Gradually, however, she got out of the habit. Over the past few months, she has started again. She didn’t do it immediately and not nearly as well as she did before, but she was making a good stab at it. Within the past week, I have noticed that she takes more time and is doing a much better job. I’ve even noticed her looking over what she has done and doing a little straightening where she thinks it is needed.
What has been more surprising is her cleaning up at Panera. Their drink dispensers can be a little tricky. It is challenging to fill your cup without some of the drink dripping down the side of the cup and often spilling on to the counter. When this happens, she has started getting a napkin or two and wiping the entire counter, and she does it with as much care as she can. That’s not something she would have done before. In addition, crumbs always fall from her muffin to the table. When we are ready to leave, she has become very careful about getting up each and every crumb.
One final behavior involves a white board on our island. I got it a few years ago to let her know what day it is, appointments we have that day, and where I was if I were not at home. Over time, she stopped reading what I was writing, so I just put the day and date. I finally got tired of that, especially because I could not tell that she was reading it. I bought a digital clock with very large print that provides the same information and the time as well. It sits on the counter across from the island. Now the white board has a single purpose. That is where I put her morning medications. I use that because she can see them easily against the white background.
That was a lengthy introduction for what is a very short story. The other day when she was taking her medicine, she turned the white board at an angle. Then she said, “I keep changing this, and someone else changes it back.” To the best of my knowledge, that is the first time this has occurred, but what struck me was her desire to have it in arranged in a particular way. That seemed to be totally out of character. On reflection, I do recall that she has always had particular arrangements for the knick knacks on furniture or book shelves. Maybe she is just treating the white board in the same way. It’s a Knick Knack on the island. If so, that would make it a normal behavior for her. At any rate, I am leaving it at an angle just the way she arranged it.
