Kate’s Intuitive Abilities Shine

Yesterday could have been just an ordinary day or, possibly, not as good as an ordinary day. As it turned out, it was a very good day. That wasn’t because Kate’s memory or confusion lessened at all. There were plenty of signs that her “rational” abilities continue on a downward slope.

She began the day slowly. I woke her up shortly after 11:30. She got ready for lunch rather quickly – just over an hour. On the way to lunch I played an album by The Kingston Trio, a popular musical group during our college days. I can’t remember the last time I had played it. I just thought it might appeal to Kate. She really enjoyed it.

When we got back home close to 3:00. Our housekeeper and her helper were in the midst of a major cleaning project. Fortunately, they had completed their work in the family room, so Kate and I hung out there. I played another Kingston Trio album. Kate picked up her “Big Sister” album that her brother Ken had given her in the spring. It’s a photo book that contains a large assortment of family pictures that begin at the time of her birth and goes through January of this year. She has enjoyed it immensely since receiving it.

She looked through it two times in succession. The first time I joined her as she turned from page to page adding her comments about the pictures. When I refer to her comments, I don’t mean the photos call back specific memories, at least not in terms of recalling specific facts. They are exclamatory. For example, “That’s a wonderful picture of Mother,” “Look at the way Daddy is looking at me,” “I love this picture,” or “Oh, there’s Nana.” There are a number of pictures that she singles out as favorites each time she goes through, most notably, the one of her and her brother on the cover.

She spent a good hour going through it the first time. Then she went through it a second time while I started to work on my earlier post. She couldn’t go through without expressing her reactions. This wasn’t like a silent reading of a book. She was enjoying what she saw and expressing it as she went along. That led her into talking about the two of us and how glad she was that I had become a part of the family. She mentioned what a good marriage we have had, the wonderful things we have done together, and how proud we are of our children. Then almost without skipping a beat, she asked, “What is your name?”

While she asks about names frequently, it seems like she is now focusing more specifically on my name and “Where are we?” This is a subtle difference, but I think she is losing her memory of things around her. Those are the things that are upper most in her mind. People and places that are far off simply drift out of her mind until something happens to bring them back like my mentioning our children or other friends. I’m always here, and we’re always in Knoxville. She can’t remember the names that seem most relevant at the moment and wants to know.

After finishing the book a second time, we went to dinner. When we returned home, I put on the Les Miserables DVD. We had seen most of it the two previous nights. This was icing on the cake for a day during which she had already enjoyed herself. I hope that as we go forward, she will continue to derive as much pleasure as she did yesterday. I’m going to be optimistic.