After the pain of Friday night, we were back to our new normal routine yesterday. I say new normal since Kate is sleeping later somewhat more consistently now. It appears that the new pattern is to sleep late a couple of days in a row. Then she gets up at a normal time the next day. If that pattern holds, she will probably sleep late again this morning. I woke her around noon yesterday. We went directly to lunch, arriving about 1:30.
We came back home where we relaxed over an hour. I got out a three-ring binder with photos of our children and grandchildren as well as Kate’s brother and his wife. I had also included several pages of information about us. It included basic family information like Kate’s parents and grandparents, her brother and his wife, and our children and grandchildren. There is also a section to which I will continue to add information. Right now it includes our dating, engagement, wedding, and honeymoon. First, I’m going to revise what I have. I’m going to format the information as an outline rather than a narrative. That will be easier for her to comprehend. I also don’t want to overload her. I think having little snippets of information is better than trying to tell a more complete story. Kate was interested in what I had put together. That made me happy. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
When we finished with Kate’s Memory Book, I picked up her Big Sister Album that Ken made and gave to her in the spring. It’s 140 pages with multiple photos on each page. She went through the entire album. For Kate, it was just like seeing it for the first time. I am struck by the fact that there are a few pictures that she always singles out as especially good. She loves the picture of Ken and her on the cover. It was taken when they were 6 and 3. I think the album is especially important for her right now when she is beginning to lose so many of her memories.
When we finished, we had about an hour and a half before dinner. We went to Barnes & Noble. From there we went to dinner and back home. We relaxed a while in the family room before adjourning to our bedroom where we watched a portion of Sound of Music. She was feeling tired and got to bed at 9:30. I got in bed shortly thereafter.
Neither one of us said anything about the previous night. We were back to where we were. This is a good example of the pattern of changes that occur over time. There is never an abrupt end of one thing and a beginning of another. That is the way it has been with names. She sometimes forgets names but remembers them at other times. As time passes, the forgetting becomes more common. Most of the time, she no longer remembers the names of our children, but sometimes she does. She is forgetting my name more than in the past, I see that it won’t be long until my name and hers will be lost.
This gradual process helps me adapt. I am bothered by the first signs of new things that mark the progression of her disease. Then I begin to adapt. Then something else happens. I try not spend a lot of time worrying about it, but I do wonder what our lives will be like 3-6 months from now. I hope that we will be able to make a trip to Texas for Thanksgiving with Kevin and his family as well as to Virginia to be with Jesse and her family for Christmas. It is still too early for me to know if this will work out.
