For quite some time Kate has followed a morning routine that involves her sleeping until 10:30 or 11:00. Once in a while, she breaks this routine. She is awake earlier than usual, sometimes as early as 6:00. When this happens, she often sleeps off and on until we get her up at 11:00; however, in recent weeks, she has remained awake. I gladly put aside other things I had intended to do so that I can spend that time with her. They are very pleasant times for us, but she is rarely talkative. Typically, she doesn’t say a word until after lunch. Yesterday was not a routine day.
She was awake about 8:00. Not only that, she was cheerful and talkative. Despite her aphasia, she spoke more words that I (or anyone else) could understand than I have heard from her in a long time. For a while, I stood at her bedside talking with her and making 10 short videos. I followed that by getting in bed beside her. We talked and talked. I stayed with her until she closed her eyes around 10:30.
She was asleep when the caregiver arrived at 11:00, but we got her up for lunch. She continued to be in good spirits. I went out for lunch and a haircut. When I arrived home, she was still cheerful and responded as well as her aphasia would permit. She was unusually happy while we were out for ice cream and dinner and also said a few words to people who spoke to her.
We closed the day with a very nice evening together. We talked intermittently while we watched YouTube music videos. I should add that on other days when she has been talkative, she has seemed hyper, but yesterday she spoke naturally except for her aphasia. I can’t recall a day when she was so consistently cheerful and at ease. It was truly an “awesome” day.
