Just over two weeks ago, Kate and I celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary. That morning I wrote a post saying the day before she gave me the perfect present. She was in a cheerful mood all day. I commented that if she wasn’t the same way on our anniversary day, it was just fine. She had given me enough to keep me going for a while.
I bring this up because yesterday was my 81st birthday, and the day before that was even better than the day before our anniversary. My feelings were the same. Although I would have loved it, she didn’t need to be as upbeat as she was on Wednesday to make me happy. Experiencing the pleasure of her joyfulness will last a long time, and Adrienne, our caregiver, got as much pleasure out of it as I did.
She was just waking when Adrienne arrived at noon that day. I left soon after for my usual Wednesday lunch. When I returned, she was in her recliner. Adrienne said that she had been happy and cooperative when she got her dressed and out of bed.
An hour later, we took her for a stroll around the interior of the campus. We went to the wellness center and met three of the staff. Then we toured the chapel. Along the way we saw a number of people who hadn’t met Kate. I was glad for them to meet her and for Kate to have the experience of getting out and engaging in normal activities. She was enthusiastic about going out and continued to be expressive throughout out our tour.
When we returned, we went to the balcony where we relaxed about forty-five minutes before dinner. It was a very pleasant afternoon, and we went back to the balcony for almost an hour after eating.
She was very cooperative as we got her into and out of the lift as well as when we got her ready for bed. It was her best day in many months. Everything seemed to go right, and that is something to treasure.
