Posted on

Christmas in Lubbock

We had a very nice Christmas Day. It was special in several ways. This was Brian’s first Christmas at home as a college student. It was also the first time that Kate’s brother, Ken, and his wife, Virginia, had joined us for Christmas dinner. Rachel’s parents, Linda and Scott Livingston, who live in a small town outside of Lubbock also joined us. It was hard for me to get out of my mind the thought that this might very well be the last Christmas that Kate and I will be here. As noted in my earlier posts, the way things are going so far I suspect it will not be possible (or wise) to bring her back two years from now. I am not even sure that we will make it to Memphis to be with Jesse’s family next year. My only regret is that we didn’t get to spend more time with Virginia and Ken. I’m already thinking about the possibility of another trip to see them in the spring.

It is very difficult for Kate to follow what is happening in a group situation like this. She responds by being quiet and tuning out on much that is going on. She continues to have difficulty remembering that we are in Lubbock. She pulled me aside at the gathering today to ask, “Where do these people (our son and his family) live?” Although she doesn’t say much, I do think she enjoys being in the company of family, especially for Christmas.

We started the day earlier than previous days. Kate was ready for breakfast by 8:00. I had brought breakfast back to the room for myself a few minutes after 7:00. We went back to the breakfast area where Kate had some juice and yogurt. We were there about forty-five minutes before she wanted to go to Panera. We did, but it was no surprise that they were closed. We came back to the hotel until time to leave for Kevin’s house. We were there just before 10:00.

Everyone chipped in to make the Christmas dinner. As usual, we had plenty to eat and good conversation. Kate’s brother and his wife as well as Rachel’s parents left not too long after dinner. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing. Kate worked on her iPad while I watched a little football. We also played a game or two. Kate didn’t participate in the games. She was happy with her iPad. Before coming back to the hotel, we enjoyed some of the leftovers. It was a nice Christmas.

Posted on

More Confusion and Recognition of It

It has been another nice day with our son’s family. It is Sunday, so they went to church this morning. I chose not to go thinking it would be good to let Kate get up leisurely and have a relaxing morning. Kevin called us after church, and we met him and his family at a local hamburger place for lunch. Then we came back to the house for the afternoon. We watched a couple of football games. Kate worked puzzles on her iPad. She did rather well, but I could tell she would have liked a change of scenery. When I asked if she would like to go back to the hotel, she said no. Thus we stayed at the house until time to leave for their annual Christmas Eve church service. We attended with them as we have done in the past. We came back to the house and had chili that Rachel had made. Then we came back to the hotel where Kate quickly got ready for bed. She didn’t even work on her iPad and was asleep in no time.

Despite having a nice day, Kate continued to be confused about where we are. I know she must have asked me almost ten times. That began this morning when we went to the car to go to Panera. She asked, “Where are we?” She asked again as we were leaving and also as we were leaving lunch. When we got back to Kevin’s house after lunch, she got out of the car and started pulling leaves from a shrub in front of the house. She had pulled only a few when I told her I thought we should go inside. Yesterday afternoon at Kevin’s she had said, “I can pull a few leaves.” It was a statement but really a question. I told her this was Kevin’s house and that might not be a good idea. She accepted that without a problem.

Tonight when we got out of the car at the church, she pulled me aside and asked, “Where are we?” I told her we were in Lubbock. She said something about knowing that. I told her she could ask me as many times as she wanted. She said, “And you don’t even make fun of me.”

Apart from the confusion, Kate has seemed melancholy. I noticed the first signs during the church service after we had sung “The First Noel.” After that it appeared that she wiped a tear from her eye. I asked if she were all right. Of course, she said she was. She enjoyed the service. It involved a lot of music. She especially liked a quartet’s version of “O Holy Night.”

We left Kevin’s right after dinner. After we got in the car, she asked if we were in Fort Worth. I told her we were in Lubbock. Then before I got out of the drive, she asked again. When I told her Lubbock, she said, “I don’t know why I keep forgetting that.”

In the car on the way back to the hotel, she said, “I know one thing; I am glad I married you.” I told her I was glad to have married her. I told her I wanted her to know she could count on me. She said, “I know that.” Back at the hotel, she seemed very dependent and appreciative of the ways in which I help her. Before getting into bed, she gave me a hug and said, “I don’t know what I would do without you.” I said, “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I will always be with you.” She said, “I know.”

Her mood makes me think that she is recognizing her loss of memory. I doubt that she is associating it with her Alzheimer’s, but I believe she knows something is wrong. She is feeling more dependent on me. I think traveling brings this out because she has no idea where we are or where things are around the hotel room. Several times she has asked me where the bathroom is. Since I have packed her clothes, she has no idea what things I have brought for her, or where they are. There is good reason she is confused. My deeper concern is that this confusion is not just a result of being in strange places but that it represents a sign of further decline. I fear what things will be like in the next few months. I hope my fears are unfounded.

Posted on

Yesterday in Lubbock

Yesterday was a nice day for us. We met Kevin’s family at their house and then went to lunch. Following lunch, we went to TopGolf for a couple of hours. Kate was a good sport. She didn’t want to play. At first, she was disappointed when she realized where we were. It turns out she thought she had to play with us. When I told her she didn’t, she was pleased. I told her I would get her iPad from the car, and she could work puzzles while we played. I brought it to her, but she never used it. She just sat there. She didn’t really seem to be bothered, but she wasn’t enjoying herself. Two hours is a long time to sit while others are having fun. She never complained, and I doubt that anyone else noticed that she would rather be doing something else. I felt sorry for her. We were all having such a good time, and she was just passively sitting there.

As we were leaving, Kevin asked if we might want to come by the house or take a break at the hotel before our having dinner. I asked Kate, and she chose to go back to the house. After a while, I sensed that she might like to return to the hotel. She did. We stayed there until time for a barbeque dinner at our favorite place here. We all enjoyed ourselves.

Despite having a good time, it bothers me for Kate not to have the same level of engagement as she used to. It really is impossible for her to understand and keep up with the conversation. It brings back memories of my mother when she was going through the same thing. I can’t imagine what is going on in her brain. At one point, she asked me, “Where are we?” At the hotel, she has asked a couple of times where the bathroom is. Before leaving Kevin’s family last night, he told us about a game they had bought, Telepathy. His family had learned about it from Kate’s cousin, Tina, who lives in Fairbanks. Kate has always loved Tina. Ken explained that Tina had taught them, and that everyone loved it. It was clear to me that Kate did not understand what Ken had said. I simply called attention to what he had said and made it clear that Tina had introduced them to the game. She understood, but I know she forgot soon after that.

Soon after we returned to the hotel, Kate got into bed. I went over to her side and kissed her. Then I said, “I like spending Christmas with you.” She said, “We’ve had a lot of nice Christmases.” I said, “And we’ll keep on having them forever.” She said, “There are limits you know. We’ll enjoy what we can.” I said, “Yes, we will.” It was said as though she could tell the “light is dimming” on our time together. I know she recognizes that she has lost much of her ability to do things, but I find it hard to believe that she recognizes how close she is to the last chapters in our marriage as it presently exists. The fact that I was perceiving how lost she seemed today makes me consider the possibility that she does.

Posted on

Start of Our First Day in Lubbock

Kate and I have had a good night’s sleep. I don’t know if it is not having adjusted to a new time zone or just my normal custom of waking up early, but I was wide awake before 5:00 this morning. I remained in bed until almost 6:00 when I got up and dressed. If Kate got up during the night, I didn’t hear her. That is most unusual. She didn’t get up until 8:00. She was a bit groggy and confused when she woke up. I thought maybe she was wondering where she was. I told her we were in the Residence Inn in Lubbock. She didn’t react at all. She asked where her clothes were. I showed her where I had laid them out before going to bed last night. She picked them up and took them to the bedroom and tossed them on the bed. She had said she was going to take a shower but ended up back in bed for another fifteen to twenty minutes. Then she got her iPad and worked jigsaw puzzles another fifteen minutes. She got up and came into the living area of our room where I was reading the paper. She still looked groggy and confused and said nothing. I asked if I could help her with anything. She never answered and went back to the bedroom. Shortly I heard the shower going. I try to imagine but can never fully grasp what it must be like to get up in a strange place and have no idea where I am. I think I would be a little confused myself.

We are to meet Kevin and his family at their place sometime before noon. Before then, I will take Kate to the lobby for some juice and yogurt. After that, we are going to Panera for Kate’s muffin and to the grocery to buy a roast for the Christmas dinner. I am looking forward to a pleasant day with family.

Posted on

To Lubbock for Christmas

Kate and I left for Lubbock this morning. For a couple of years, I have made it a point to take later flights than we used to. That is because she can be slow to wake up in the morning, and I don’t like to rush her. That creates a bigger problem than it solves. I’ve learned that from experience. Today’s flight was a little earlier than I had wanted (11:00), but later flights would have gotten us in later than I wanted.

I had done almost all of our packing the day before, just saving a few things that needed to be done at the last minute. I skipped my walk so that I could avoid any surprises. The one unknown was whether or not Kate would wake up early as she sometimes does or if I needed to wake her. It turned out that she woke up about 7:40. I wanted to leave for the airport by 9:15. I was encouraged until she went back to bed. Before 8:30, I decided to get her up. She didn’t want to get up but said she would. I made a trip to Panera to get her a muffin and brought it back home. When I got back, she was in the shower. I picked out clothes for her and put them in the bathroom where she had laid out the clothes she had worn yesterday.

After she dressed, I noticed that she hadn’t worn the top I picked out. She picked out one that was fine but wouldn’t be as warm as I thought she might need for today. When I explained she accepted my suggestion. It turned out that we got to the airport in good time for us to sit down and relax. She ate her muffin and drank some orange juice.

The only slight issues we had involved going through security. Although I like to carry both her ID and boarding pass along with my own, sometimes they request that each of us hold our own. When the main checking ID asked her to scan her boarding pass, she didn’t immediately understand how to do it. She placed it so the bar code was not over the scanner. I helped her, and we got through that part. The next part was not being sure what she was to do when they asked her to walk through the body scanner. I walked her to the scanner and pointed the way through and told her to walk through it.

After we boarded the plane, she picked up my jacket that was across my lap and put it over her knees and legs. I asked where her coat was. She had no idea, and I didn’t see it. I couldn’t remember seeing it where we had been waiting and thought we might have left it going through security. I spoke with a flight attendant who said I couldn’t get off the plane, but the agent working the gate could look for it. Then it was time to go. They said if they found it, they would leave it with lost and found. When we landed in Atlanta, I asked Kate for my jacket. When she gave it to me, she was also holding her own. It turned out that I had worried for no reason.

The rest of the trip went smoothly although I lost her twice for just a moment. The first time occurred in Atlanta as we started out for our gate. I looked back and could not see her. It turned out that she didn’t see which direction I had turned coming out from the plane. I looked back a short distance and found her. She was just standing there looking around. That happened again as we left the plane in Lubbock. She was right behind me as I was getting ready to turn and walk through the door of the plane. As I walked down the ramp, I looked back and did not see her. It turned out that she had gotten into a conversation with the flight attendant at the door. These are little things that had no serious consequences. They do, however, reveal how easy it is to get separated especially in large crowds. It reminded me of why I feel under more pressure when we travel.

One other thing happened in the Atlanta airport. We walked to the escalator to catch the train to another terminal. I looked back to help her get on the escalator because she has had some trouble recently. She didn’t want my help. I got on the first step and reach out my hand for her. She didn’t want to take it. I started going down, and she wasn’t getting on. I tried walking up but it was moving down faster than I was walking up. Fortunately, a woman came by at that time and helped Kate. Later in the Lubbock airport, we took the elevator instead of the escalator.

As on other trips, I noticed some confusion. In the car from the airport, I mentioned our seeing Kevin and Rachel. She asked if they were staying in the same place that we are staying. I told her they would stay in their own home, that they live here in Lubbock. Then she asked, “What are their names again?”

For dinner, we all went to a Mexican restaurant. As we walked out of the restaurant, we said good night and said that we would talk in the morning about our plans for the day. Kate asked, “Aren’t they staying where we are?” I should add that this comes after we had been at their home less than two hours earlier.

I am happy the day went as smoothly as it did. I am optimistic that we will have a grand Christmas.

Posted on

A Great Day In Asheville

As expected, we had a nice day in Asheville yesterday. I had made reservations for lunch for 12:15 at one of our favorite places. I never quite know how easy or difficult it might to meet a specific time like this and also get in her muffin at Panera, but she had been getting up early enough for us to make it. It turned out that I had to wake her, something I don’t like to do. That meant I did have to “gently rush” her to get ready. She wasn’t entirely happy about it, but we avoided a big problem. I called the restaurant to get a later reservation.

When we arrived at the restaurant, our server came up to the hostess desk to greet us. I had made the reservation on Open Table and requested Melissa. This was the fourth time she has served us. We like her and she seems to like us. She even brought us an order of their warm banana bread on the house, a recent addition to their menu. The last time we were here was in September. At that time  I told her about Kate’s Alzheimer’s. I didn’t get a chance to say very much before Kate came back from the restroom; I’m afraid it was a more abrupt announcement than I had intended. Her eyes were filled with tears as we left. As we walked to our table, I was able to let her know how well Kate has been getting along even though her memory is just about gone.

Near the end of our meal, I got a call from our hotel letting us know that our room was ready. When I picked up the key at the front desk, they let us know it is the “Christmas” room. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas and is the only such room in the hotel. Right now, I am sitting in front of the fireplace in a sitting room adjoining he bedroom. At the end of the sofa to my left is a gorgeous Christmas tree. It’s no wonder we always choose to stay here. They have always been so very nice to us.

A few years ago, I told the front desk about Kate’s diagnosis. I usually do this at the hotels we visit. It may not be necessary, but I like them to know in case she should come out of our room and not be able to find her way back, especially if is during the night. On a few occasions, she has gotten up to go to the bathroom during the night and tried to go outside. On one occasion she had gotten into the hallway before I caught her. I have been confident that I would wake up when she gets out of bed. Recently, however, there have been a couple of occasions that I haven’t waked up.

At 3:00 yesterday afternoon, we went to see the musical Annie. We have seen other productions at this theater and been pleased. I wondered how well they would do with this one since the cast consists of so many children. I got my answer. These were exceptional children, especially the young girl who played Annie. This is a very upbeat musical. I knew Kate would like it, and I was not disappointed. She expressed her enthusiasm throughout the show. In fact, this is one of the things that I am trying to watch carefully. She gets so excited that she expresses her emotion audibly with things like “Wow” or “She is good.” She frequently says these things after many of the songs. So far the volume of her expressions has been low enough that I doubt people around us felt disturbed. It does make me wonder though if the volume might increase as she declines further.

On the way back to dinner after the show, Kate said, “Where in the world are we? New York? San Francisco? Dallas?” I told her we were in Asheville. She said, “I knew that.” She has asked the same question at least one other time on this trip. That is not unusual and is understandable given the limits of her memory.

At dinner, we had a nice conversation with a couple sitting at the table next to us. We learned that they were members of a church whose former pastor is a former student of mine at UT. They were both educators, and we discovered other connections we have in common.

During the night, Kate got up twice to use the bathroom. This hotel has a very good night light for the bathroom. There are two small ceiling lights that are controlled by a switch just inside the door. They provide a soft light that enables you to easily find the bathroom in the dark. That is something about which I would have given a thought before Kate’s diagnosis. Now it’s a very important thing. I wish they were available in all hotels.

Kate is still sleeping. She awoke about fifteen minutes ago and started to get up. She asked, “What can I do?” I told her she could get up and go to breakfast, stay in bed and work on her iPad, or sit on the sofa with me in front of the fireplace. She chose to stay I bed. I told her there is no hurry, that she can stay in bed as long as she likes. I may go back to the lobby where they served a continental breakfast and bring something back to the room for her. That is just in case she gets up after 10:00 when they take up the breakfast.

I am happy to say that our visit here has been a good one.

Posted on

Looking Ahead

It is often said that “it’s good to live in the moment.” I believe that. I believe that Kate and I have tried pretty successfully to do that since her diagnosis; however, I tend to be a planner. I am always thinking into the future and about possibilities that might require consideration right now. I wish I could accurately predict the future, but I’ve never been very good at that. That hasn’t prevented my continuing efforts to plan ahead. With respect to Kate and our time together, I have tried to focus on the moment and found that very rewarding. I have also tried to anticipate the future with respect to a number of things that I believe are especially important. These include our annual trip to Chautauqua as well as visits with our children and grandchildren and special friends.

Long before the end of this year, I had been thinking that this Christmas might be our last one with our son and his family in Lubbock. I was never sure that we would make the trip this year, but my optimism increased as we approached the Christmas season. Our travel arrangements are made, and I have no doubts about our making the trip and that it will go well.

On the other hand, I am also more confident now that this will be our last holiday in Lubbock with our son and his family. I am not ruling out the possibility that we might make a late-spring visit, but it is hard to imagine that Kate’s situation will make it possible to go back next Thanksgiving. That would be our typical pattern, Christmas one year and Thanksgiving the next. We always rotate the holidays with our daughter’s family and our son’s family.

My reasoning about the future involves her continued decline. She is simply losing even more of her memories, and she experiences more confusion than in the past. On top of this, travel itself is troubling for her. She can’t remember where she is. I have concerns about her walking out of the hotel room at night. There are also issues of her needing to use the restrooms in airports. These issues have existed before. I have worked around them in a variety of ways, but at some point, I will need to say it is best that we not make the trip. I believe that time will occur in the coming year.

With that in mind, I am grateful that we are having such a good time during this Christmas season. There are still more things to come before we leave for Texas, and I expect our visit there will be special as well.

Posted on

Our Visit with Ellen

On our way home from Memphis, Kate and I stopped by for a visit with Ellen in Nashville. We continue to try to visit about once a month. This was the first time that she has been in bed when we arrived. She was surprised, but pleased, to see us. We always check with her daughter before each visit to make sure it is convenient. I am sure that her daughter told her. I find that I am always interpreting Kate’s behavior in light of her AD. I am probably doing the same with Ellen. Knowing that she is in a memory care unit, it seems like her forgetting is a pretty good bet. The only reason I make note of this event is that she has always seemed so sharp in the past.

When she got up, we found her quite talkative, a trait that has always been characteristic of her. The only complication now is her speech. I don’t think we could detect any change in that since last time. We could still only understand about 25% of what she says. Despite the speech problem which does make conversation a challenge, we stayed longer than on any previous visit, almost two and a half hours.

This time we stayed with her while she ate her dinner in the dining room. We didn’t intend to stay through her dinner, but she seemed like she didn’t want us to leave. At one point, when we said we needed to leave, she was ready to leave her dinner. We decided to stay a little longer for her to finish.

I have always been curious to see if Kate’s visit to the memory unit would have any impact on her. So far as I can tell, she hasn’t seemed to notice. I have been concerned that since most of the residents are rather non-communicative, it might make Kate think about her being in this same condition sometime in the future. I just don’t see any reaction. In fact, as we were leaving yesterday, she spoke to a resident sitting at the table next to us. She told the resident her name was Kate. As it turned out, the resident’s name is also Kate and she just beamed at the coincidence.

After leaving Ellen, we dropped by a local pizza place I had heard about. Then we headed back home. The trip home had been a smooth one. Kate was tired and very quickly got ready for bed. I have noticed that she has been tired after our previous trips, so it is not surprising to discover that she is still in bed this morning. That is quite a contrast to the past week or so when she has been getting up early enough for us to be at Panera by 8:30 or shortly thereafter.

Kate got along well on the trip, but being in different places is confusing for her. Several times while we were in Memphis and in Nashville she asked me, “Where are we?”

On the other hand, I am very happy that she still is able to handle herself well in social situations. She is quiet after a while. It is hard for her to follow conversations and to interject her own comments. Sometimes when she jumps in, she says something that is not related to what we are talking about. But she displays the poise she has always had when meeting people. I hope she retains that ability for a long time.

Posted on

A Nice Thanksgiving

We had a very pleasant Thanksgiving with Jesse and her family. Once again, we ate well. I suspect that is true for most of you reading this message. It was a relaxing day. The four adults were awake and downstairs before 8:30. The boys didn’t come down until a good bit later. Kate and I were mostly observers in the day’s activities. Jesse and Greg worked off and on the entire day. Jesse fixed everyone’s favorites. That meant mac ‘n cheese for Randy, bow tie pasta for Ron, and asparagus casserole for Kate and Jesse. The only sad part for me is that Kate no longer remembers that the casserole was a holiday dish that her mother made when she was growing up. She simply ate it without comment, and in the midst of all the activity, I forgot to tell her how much she had always enjoyed it. She loves reminiscing about her mother and would have liked thinking about other holiday favorites that she made for her family.

Like many families, we had the football games on all afternoon and into the evening. We didn’t sit down and watch any of them, but we kept up on the scores and periodically sat in front of the TV during critical portions of the games. After dinner last night, we watched Christmas with the Kranks. I hadn’t seen it before. It was one that Jesse’s family had seen before and loved. It was fun to watch as a family. Jesse and I were the primary viewers. Kate worked jigsaw puzzles on her iPad the entire time. She got in a lot of that yesterday. Greg had a football game on his the bedroom. Ron went back and forth from the movie to the game, and Randy was playing games on his phone. Despite the fact that we were not all watching the movie intensely, I felt it was a nice family time that allowed each person to pursue his personal interests while still being together.

As I have noted on other trips, large blocks of time can be a problem for Kate. She doesn’t like to stay in one place for an extended period of time. That is an issue whether at home or on the road; however, it is easier to change locations at home. For example, we can run to Panera or Barnes & Noble. She can work in the yard. We are always moving from one place to another. This desire to change locations is compounded when we travel because she is also confused about where we are and when we are going home. Early in the day yesterday, she asked me when we are going home. I told her we were going home “tomorrow.”

During the middle of the day we played Uno with Jesse and the boys. We had a good time and had a few laughs as well. I didn’t grow up playing lots of games at home, but I have come to recognize how good they are at facilitating group engagement. Everybody has fun most of the time except when someone loses too much. Playing with Kate adds a special dimension to games. She can’t remember the rules, and when I would try to help her, she would resent being helped. She had a real sense that we didn’t believe she could do anything right. At one point, we all knew that she had a “wild card” in her hand with a good opportunity to use it. We kept telling her what a wild card is and when to use it, but she never recognized that she had one in her hand. It was only one of three cards. She simply didn’t perceive it. Despite this issue, the game was a success.

Sometime during the night, Kate screamed, “Help!” I asked what was wrong. She said something about “her.” I asked, “Who is she?” She said, “My helper.” I had been thinking things were going so well with the sitter. Suddenly, I wondered if she had been afraid of the sitter. I asked if she had done something to make her afraid. She said, “No.” The she told me the sitter was with her. There was apparently something else that had scared both of them. I asked what had happened. She said, “I don’t know.” She mumbled a bit. Then for the next few minutes, she periodically said something about her (the sitter) as though she were concerned about her safety. I told her everything was all right, that it was just a dream. She said, “I hope so. I would feel better.”

Dreams like this are not typical for Kate, but she does occasionally have them. Fortunately, most of them involve her days in the classroom. She is always giving instructions to her students in a very kind way.

It is now 9:30 a.m. Kate has not yet come downstairs, and I want to leave in the next 30-45 minutes. I think I will go upstairs to check on her. Jesse has gone to work. The boys are still sleeping. It’s been another good holiday with family.

Posted on

Going to Memphis for Thanksgiving

This morning we left for Memphis where we are spending Thanksgiving with our daughter, Jesse, and her family. We usually break up the trip by stopping for lunch in Nashville to visit one of several friends who live there. This time we had a short visit with  Angie and Tom Robinson, a couple we have known since our undergraduate days at TCU. She is a retired English teacher with the public school system. He is a retired philosophy prof from Vanderbilt. Tom and I are two of three TCU grads who have kept up and for a number of years have kept up an active daily email correspondence.

We  met them at a local Tex-Mex restaurant where we spent about an hour and a half catching up on our lives. They are both very much aware of Kate’s AD. Of course, Kate is not aware that they know. That has not been a problem since they never say anything that would even hint of any awareness. Of course, this is almost always the case with everyone. It would be a rare person who would say anything to a person who has AD.

Although were not together long, we had a pleasant visit. When we left, Kate specifically mentioned how well it had gone. She even noted that everyone got to talk, something she is sensitive to, at least with respect to her getting left out.

The rest of the trip wasn’t as pleasant. Not too far out of Nashville, we ran into heavy traffic on I-40. One lane going West was blocked for construction. That exacerbated the problem created by the holiday traffic. It took us almost an hour longer than normal to get to Memphis.

We all went to dinner at a pizza place Jesse and Greg thought we would like. It is one of those down home places with a lot of character in one of the older sections of Memphis. Jesse knows we like places like this and has taken us to quite a few on our previous visits. When we returned to the house, we didn’t waste any time in calling it a night. Although the drive from Nashville to Memphis wasn’t so pleasant, the visits with the Robinsons and our evening with Jesse’s family more than made up for it. It was another nice day.