Yesterday it was 5:00. Today it was 4:00. The experience was similar but not exactly the same. Yesterday she seemed afraid of something that happened in a dream. This morning I felt a wet spot in the bed and asked her if she wanted to go to the bathroom. She said she did. I walked around to her side of the bed and asked if she would like me to help her to the bathroom. She said yes. I helped her sit up on the side of the bed. She said, “Thank you. Who are you?” I said, “I am Richard Creighton, and I am your husband.” She didn’t act surprised or in disbelief as she sometimes does. She held my hand all the way to the bathroom. On the way, she asked my name again. I told her I would get her a fresh gown and underwear.
This was a time I had to make a quick decision. Do I take off the sheets and put on clean ones or do I put something over the wet spot? I decided to do the minimum and focus on getting back to sleep. I got two towels to put over the wet spot. Kate brought another one from the bathroom that I placed over the others.
When we got back in bed, Kate thanked me several times. I said, “I like to help you. I will always be here for you. I want you to count on that.” She thanked me again and said, “What’s your name?” She said, “Oh, I knew that.” That started a conversation that must have lasted thirty minutes. It was very much the same as the previous night. After asking my name, she wanted to know her own name. Then it was her mother’s name. That led to her asking the names of her father and children. After my telling her each name, she asked me to tell her again.
Like the previous night, she never sounded anxious. She was very natural in asking and receiving what I told her. As on other occasions, she responded with good feelings about her mother and her family. She was especially pleased when I told her that our oldest grandson, Brian, is in his second year at TCU and that his sister, Heather, would be a freshman at TCU next fall. I told her that her father was one of eight children. She asked me to tell her their names.
