Yesterday our pastor had invited Kate and me to lunch at noon. Normally, that would lead me to be concerned about Kate’s waking up in time to get ready. That was no problem since we had two of the work crew who installed our new windows finishing a couple of things. They were here at 9:15. I let her know that one of the workers was in the house and suggested she take her shower and dress in our bedroom and bath. She got up easily which gave us time for almost an hour at Panera before meeting our pastor.
We had a grand time at lunch. Our pastor and his wife had just returned from a trip to Rwanda where their daughter is doing research related to post traumatic stress disorder. We enjoyed hearing about her work as well as their hike through a gorilla preserve. We also shared some of our favorite travel experiences.
After lunch, we went directly to our car dealer’s for a routine service appointment. They have a nice waiting area where we stayed while they worked on our car. I think Kate thought of it as another alternative to Panera or Barnes & Noble. I know at one point she said something about its being a very nice place.
We relaxed at home for an hour before going to Casa Bella for jazz night. The music was unusually good, and we had a guest from Houston at our table. She manages a project that her IT company has with the state of Tennessee. On a previous visit to Knoxville, she had eaten at Casa Bella and learned about their music nights. Normally, she would have flown back to Houston in the afternoon but stayed over a night for jazz night. She is an interesting person, and Kate always enjoys meeting someone with a Texas connection. She sat beside Kate. When she asked her where she was from she couldn’t immediately remember the city. I jumped in and said, Fort Worth. After talking with her a few minutes, Kate asked her where she was from although she had just finished telling us that she was from Houston. No one acted as though they noticed anything inappropriate. I suspect the couple with whom we always sit noticed since they are aware of Kate’s Alzheimer’s.
When we got in the car for home, Kate said, “It’s been a nice trip so far.” She often thinks she is in Fort Worth. I suppose that is what she was thinking.
At home, I stopped in the kitchen for a moment as Kate walked into the family room. She called to me. I went to her, and she said, “I’ll follow you.” She obviously didn’t know how to get to our bedroom. It’s possible that she didn’t even recognize that we were home.
Even with this confusion, we had had a nice day. I am very glad she can still enjoy so many things.
This morning she surprised me when she was ready to leave for Panera shortly after 10:00. She was holding a pair of socks in one hand. I said, “I see you have some extra socks.” She said, “I always need extra socks.” I needed to do a few things before we left and asked if she could work on her iPad while I finished up. After she was seated, she said, “Could you hold these” and handed the socks to me. I said, “Yes” and took them from her. We had time to get to Panera where we saw several of our friends from a nearby Catholic church who are regulars. We hadn’t seen them in a couple weeks and had been wondering about us. I told them that “we” had been sleeping a little later recently.
