About 2:15 yesterday morning, I heard Kate say, “Hey.” I asked what she needed. She said, “What do we do now?” I told her it was the middle of the night and that the best thing would be to go back to sleep. She said, “What about them?” I didn’t know who she meant but told her they were gone. She repeated, “What do we do now?” I reminded her of the time and that it would be good to go back to sleep. She wanted to go to the bathroom.
When we got back to bed, neither of us was sleepy. She wanted to know where we were. Then she went back to her question about where “they” were. It was after 3:00 before she was asleep, but I didn’t get back to sleep until close to 4:30.
Fortunately, this was a rare event. Kate usually sleeps through the night and gets up to go to the bathroom at 7:30 or later, sometimes not until she gets up for the day. When she does wake up very early, I think it usually relates to a dream she has had. It is not unusual for her to talk during her dreams, but she doesn’t usually wake up. Although she got up around 4:30 the previous morning, I believe it’s too soon to say this may be a new pattern.
Having lost a little sleep during the night, she went to bed before 8:00. She awoke briefly when I got in bed at 10:00. I moved close to her. She smiled, and I said, “I love you.” She put her hand on my cheek and said, “I love you too. <pause> What is your name?” What more could I ask at this stage of her Alzheimer’s? She loves me. She trusts me. She depends on me. Moments like this keep me going.
