Kate got up a little later yesterday morning. We didn’t get to Panera until just after 11:00. By that time most of the morning crowd had gone. There was only one man in the area where we sit. He is someone we see periodically. We chatted with him briefly, and Kate had her muffin while I finished up my earlier post.
From there we made our regular visit to Carla’s for lunch. It was especially crowded and, thus, a little noisy. Several of the regular staff have not been there during the past few visits. That has made a little difference in how I have felt about the place. It’s been a reminder that it is not just the food that is important. We liked our server and would be happy to have him again if one of our regulars is not available. As always, our food was good. We also saw our pastor who was having lunch with another church member. We had a nice conversation with him. Before leaving, the man who owns the building across the parking lot from my office walked in. We talked briefly with him as well. So as it turned out, we had a good meal while enjoying brief conversations with people we know.
When we got home, we had almost an hour before both of us had appointments for haircuts. Since Kate’s hairdresser retired about five years ago, we go to the same person. That’s a nice convenience. During our time at home, I put on my album of Les Miserables. After seeing how much she enjoyed the DVD, I was curious to see how she would respond to the audio version. I can’t say that it had the same impact as the DVD. Visuals really do make a difference. However, she was quite taken by it. She had been working on her iPad, but put it down on several occasions just to listen to the music. I can’t fully express the pleasure I get in seeing her respond this way. I love sharing the music with her.
When we returned from getting our haircuts, we sat in the family room and listened to more music until time for dinner. I selected a number of things that I knew she would like. I have an album of the Susquehanna Chorale singing several songs she especially likes, Danny Boy, Shenandoah, Loch Lomond, and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. I looked over at her and saw that she was softly singing with the music. Once again, I could see the power of music. As a result of my reading Judy Cornish’s The Dementia Handbook, I have a better understanding why.
