I just went into our bedroom to wake up Kate. She opened her eyes right away. The soft music I turned on about fifteen minutes before must have worked. I sat down on the side of the bed and told her good morning. She looked up at me and didn’t say anything. I said, “I love you.” When I did, tears welled up in her eyes. She had a very sad look on her face. As I have noted before, she is not one to cry. She held back her tears but didn’t say anything. Then she said, “What’s your name?” I rubbed her back for a few minutes and then told her I would always be here to take care of her. She said, “That’s good.” I told her I would like to take her to lunch. After a few minutes, I helped her up and showed her the clothes I had picked out for her. Then she went to the shower.
I can’t be sure what brought on the tears or the anxiety last night. Her tears followed my saying that I love her. I wonder if my expression of love and her not knowing my name hit her in some way. It hasn’t done that before. I don’t believe she remembers that she has Alzheimer’s. I know, however, that she recognizes the changes that are taking place. She has expressed that concern before. I believe that is causing her anguish. She knows she is losing touch with the world around her and wants it to stop.
It is ironic that when I was at Rotary on Monday, one of the members asked me how Kate was doing. I told her. Then she said, “At least she is not aware.” I quickly said, “Oh, no. She does know, not that it is Alzheimer’s, but she knows she is losing her memory.” I must admit that I thought by this time she would just drift away without realizing she has a problem. That’s another of my expectations that was wrong.
As I have mentioned many times, the most difficult part of this journey is the sadness I experience at moments like this. It is very painful knowing that she is troubled. I don’t look forward to the next part of this journey when she won’t have the same recogition, but I hate to see her suffer now.
The sitter is coming this afternoon. I have a meeting at 1:15, a dental appointment at 2:00, and another meeting at 3:15. It’s going to be harder than usual for me to leave her. I think I will set up the DVD of Les Miserables so that Mary can play it for her while I am gone.
