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Continues To Be Tired

When I hadn’t heard from Kate to pick her up from her PEO meeting, I drove over to the house where the meeting was held. I waited for about 40 minutes Then she came out to the street with two of her friends. I wasn’t sure whether she had arranged for one of them to take her home. I started the car and moved up to where she was entering the street. She got in the car with me as though we had arranged it along. In the car I asked her if she had planned to call me. She said yes. That may have been the case. I’ll never know.

When I had dropped her off earlier, I gave her my business card with my cell number written on it. She was offended. I was just remembering that the last time she was confused.

She seemed tired on the way home. I asked her how the meeting went. She said, “Fine.” She was not talkative. I didn’t push it.

She came home and rested for about an hour before we went for haircuts. She was tired on the way home and rested for another hour before getting up for us to go to dinner and a play at the Bijou. She dressed in something unusually casual. She told me that I had told her she could wear anything she wanted because we wouldn’t see anyone we know. I told her I couldn’t guarantee that and that we were going to Bijou. When I said that, she immediately decided she was too casual and has gone to change.

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A Few Observations

Kate came downstairs just before 9:00 this morning. She had some yogurt and juice. Then she went back upstairs to rest a bit before we went to  a local coffee shop where we often go in the morning while we are in Memphis. She came back down before 10:30, and we left. While there, she was sleepy and put her head down to rest. It seemed a little early for lunch; so I encouraged her to hold on 15 minutes or so which she did. Then we had a nice lunch at a pizza place by the waterfront. We had a nice lunch. She continued to feel a little tired up until our meal arrived. After eating, Kate said she wanted to go to the rest room. I pointed to the area where it is located. She gave me a scowl indicating she didn’t need my help. I watched as she went in that direction. When she got near, she looked at a sign beside a door. I believe it was the sign for the men’s room. She then turned and was out of sight, but I know the rest room was down that way. When she came back she apparently didn’t see me in the booth where we were eating. She walked right by and spoke with a family with a small child. Then she went toward the front of the restaurant. I finished taking care of the check. When I finished, I got up and saw her standing at the reception stand at the front of the restaurant. Then we walked out. I am sure she lost me and realized the best place was to wait at the front. She was right.

As we drove home, she closed her eyes and rested. When we got back, I told her she would have plenty of time to rest. We came in, and she walked with her iPad into the living room and sat down in a chair. I got my computer and sat with it in a chair near her. In a few minutes, she asked, “Is it all right if I go upstairs to rest.” I told her that would be fine. Then she said, “What if I want to go to sleep?” I told her again that it would be fine. She is so childlike when she does this. It doesn’t happen often, but it sounds as though she is really seeking my permission. I wonder if she does this because she can’t remember plans that we might have coming up and is making sure that her rest doesn’t interfere with whatever is on our agenda.

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Last Day In Interlaken

Yesterday was another special day. We went paragliding. I had planned for us to make a day trip to Bern, but I had been watching the paragliders float down to the Village Green since our arrival on Monday and wanted both of us to try it. Wednesday night I began to think of paragliding and saving the trip to Bern for the time we are in Zurich. That is what we did. Kate was also interested and never expressed any reservations. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. Each of us went with a separate pilot who asked if we wanted “to do the roller coaster.” What a thrill that turned out to be. Paragliding could well be the highlight of the trip.

One of the behavior changes I have observed in Kate over the past year or so is the use of very large amounts of parmigiana cheese on her Italian food. Last night for the first time, I observed an extreme form of this. After her ravioli was gone, she simply picked up a spoon and ate several spoonfuls directly from the bowl. I did not tell the waitress about this but she could see that it had spaghetti sauce in the bowl with the cheese. Someone had told me she used to carry a card to give to the waiters telling them something that would explain any unusual behavior on the part of her husband who had dementia. I can easily see the need for this in our future.

Something else that I am more mindful of is her need to rest. Although she seems to do well when we are out for long periods of time as we have been the past 3 days, she grabs every chance she gets to lie down. For example, after taking her shower this morning, she immediately got back into bed. She got up in 15-20 minutes and got dressed for breakfast? When we returned to the room, she got back into the bed where she remained for 20-30 minutes. We both packed for our trip to Lucerne and were about to go to the lobby to pass a little time before leaving when she decided to rest a little before going. She is now in bed under the covers.