Kate was a little more alert when she got up yesterday. She seemed to know me and didn’t express any confusion about where she was. She was very consistent in her failure to know where the bathroom is. I don’t mean to suggest that she can’t find it but that she doesn’t know which direction to go in to find it. She consistently asks me where it is in the morning as well as most other times during the day. There are sometimes when she gets there on her own. In those cases, I doubt she knows in advance exactly where she is going. I think she remembers the direction. As she gets closer, she recognizes how to get the rest of the way.
Several times during the morning, she asked my name and our relationship. Each time I told her I was her husband. It was hard for her to grasp, but she believed me. I don’t recall her asking again the rest of the day.
She continued to have trouble remembering Frank Sinatra’s name when we were at lunch. I won’t hazard a guess as to how many times she asked his name. She specifically commented about her inability to remember his name. She thought it was strange that she has to keep asking me.
For some reason that makes me think about something else I haven’t mentioned before. Even though she doesn’t drive, she sometimes talks about the way to get home from wherever we have been. She says she needs to be sure how to get home if she were driving. She says this as though she is still drives even though it has been over five years since she has driven a car. Similarly, she talked about working on her computer last night although it has been at least three years since she gave that up. I’m not sure why she does this, but I think it is good that she senses that she is involved in things that have long since dropped out of her life.
I gave out another of my Alzheimer’s cards last night. As we left the restaurant, a man stopped us and introduced himself. It turned out that he is a member of our church. He and his wife were just finishing up their dinner. We talked with them about ten minutes before moving on. During our conversation the topic of colleges came up. The man asked Kate where she had gone to school. She blanked. That is somewhat surprising because one of the memories that seems to be the strongest is her connection to TCU. I stepped in and told them a little about her family’s history with the university and that our grandson is the 60th member of the family to attend. We talked about several other things before we started to leave. That’s when Kate wanted me to tell them about her family and TCU. She had forgotten my having told them a few minutes earlier. I gave them a brief review of what I had said. I also got a card out of my wallet and placed it on the table in front of the man before we walked away. I was never sure that I would find an occasion to use them. I’ve had them about a month and given out six or seven during that time. I suspect I’ll use more in the future. They are handier than I had expected.
Yesterday was a beautiful day weather wise. We enjoyed the weather and our time together. Life is good.
