I am often worried that I will have a problem getting Kate up on days when the sitter comes or when we have some other commitment. Yesterday was one of those. I had planned to attend a luncheon sponsored by the health foundation on whose board I had served. It had been a while since I had attended any of their events and was eager to be there. Cindy, Kate’s Monday sitter, had an opening yesterday, so it was all arranged.
To top it off, getting Kate up was no problem at all. She woke up on her own around 8:30. and wanted me to take her home. That meant getting her ready was easy. We drove over to Panera where I got her a muffin and brought her home shortly before Cindy arrived. As usual, Kate was tired and got on the sofa to rest. She was wide awake when Cindy got here. She greeted her warmly and showed no reluctance to my leaving.
I enjoyed the luncheon. I got to see a good number of people I hadn’t seen in a while and sat by someone I hadn’t known and got acquainted with her. It was a therapeutic outing for me.
Kate was still resting on the sofa when I got home. Cindy said she hadn’t moved since I left. She also went to be early.
I watched some of the coverage of the New Hampshire primary and went to bed later. I know that Kate was asleep at least off and on before then. When I got in bed, I discovered that she was very uneasy. We began what turned out to be a long conversation. She wanted me to help her and asked where she was, who she was, who I was, and who her parents were. She repeatedly asked the same questions over and over again for almost an hour. As quickly as I gave my answers, she forgot them. I spoke to her very calmly and suggested that I would be able to show her some photos that might help her understand. She didn’t want to look at anything then. Throughout our conversation she was very comfortable with me even though she didn’t recognize our relationship. I told her we had been together a long time, and she asked if I were her husband. When I told her, she didn’t express surprise. It was a simple acceptance of what I had said. At one point, she told me that these were important things that she ought to know. I agreed and told her to count on me to answer all her questions.
It was a sad situation and one I couldn’t solve. It wasn’t like some other incidents in which she was frightened or desperately worried about why she didn’t know these things, but she was concerned and felt she should know. Finally, we both thought we should get some sleep, and we did.
