Between downpours of rain, Mom made her way out into the back yard to rock on the swing. She's a bit like the Pied Piper as both cats always come to lay on the patio with her. You can never see them but they appear out of nowhere as if they have been waiting for her to arrive.
I was working on the computer, but I'd get up to check on her about every 15-20 minutes. I know she'll be there a while once she gets situated.
After about an hour, I heard her coming in the back door and she made her way through the house to the back room where I was sitting. I looked up and she was upset.
Mom: I didn't know where I was. I didn't know how I got here or how I'm getting home.
She'd been crying but was okay when she started talking to me. I brought her back outside, sat on the swing with her, and explained where she was and that she owns this house. She couldn't get it through her head. We went over it and over it.
When she's on the swing, she thinks she's at the camp on the lake that her parents owned — and sold in the mid 1970's.
After living in Southern California for 20 years, I returned home to upstate New York to watch over my mother who was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. My brother and I did everything we could to keep her in familiar surroundings at home and avoid assisted living. We were successful until June 2009, two weeks short of her 80th birthday. These Alzheimer's Moments document her life and the challenges of being a primary caregiver.
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2 comments:
Fascinating and scary. I'm noticing spatial/location problems with my Mum, too. When she stayed with me she asked me which way out of my kitchen led to her apartment (she didn't want the other residents seeing her in her nightie). Last time I saw her, she confided quietly that she suspected that she was still in the Care Home, as she had noticed the letterhead on some correspondence. Every turn in the corridor opens up a surprise for Mum. Thankfully, she finds it all delightful.
Ah yes...my mom and I would have many conversations about where she was. She did not believe her house was her house (even after living there for over 40 years!). She kept trying to leave to "go home", especially in the evenings (aka the sundowning). Where was "home"? It was back in N. Ireland, circa 1950's.
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