For years, I’ve noted that mornings are Kate’s most difficult part of the day. I call this her neutral time. Typically, she is not cheerful. As she gets more stimulation throughout the day, she becomes happier. Her best time of the day is generally late afternoon and evening; however, a change has taken place over the past year or so. She occasionally wakes up earlier and with a smile, but it doesn’t usually continue all-day.
During the past few weeks, she has become more cheerful at various times of the day. Saturday was one of those days. It began early in the morning when I walked into the bedroom to see if she might be awake. Her eyes were closed, but she had a smile on her face. I walked over to her bedside and ran my hand across the top of her head as I often do. She gave me a bigger smile. She knew who was stroking her hair. Then she began to talk. As usual, I couldn’t understand much of what she said, but it was clear that she was happy and enjoyed talking. I wanted to take advantage of the moment and spent a good part of the morning next to her in bed.
We had a different caregiver that day. She had been with us once before, but it had been more than a year since we had seen her. I thought that might have an effect on Kate’s mood. I quickly discovered I was wrong. Kate’s cheerfulness continued throughout the whole process of getting her up. She even laughed a few times. That is saying a lot because she doesn’t like to be rolled back and forth to take off what she is wearing and replace it with her clothes for the day.
When I left for lunch, she was eating and still happy. Upon my return, I found her listening to the caregiver who was reading to her. She greeted me with a big smile. Then she and I talked for a while. She is often happy when I come home, but her facial expressions on this day conveyed that she was especially happy.
A little later, we went to a café downstairs. While Kate was eating ice cream, she and the caregiver talked as though they were longtime friends. That is very unusual. Normally, Kate is pretty quiet when we go out. Another resident stopped by to say hello and was amazed to see Kate so talkative. From there we went to dinner and then back to the apartment for the night. Kate continued her cheerful mood. She and I talked and listened to music on YouTube until she fell asleep. It was an amazing day.
