I took my Mom to church today, as I do every Sunday. She has Alzheimer's disease, and I recently get her to stop driving. So instead of meeting her at church, I pick her up on the way. I used to call her once I arrived at her condo building, and then she'd come down from her apartment. Once she waited in the lobby, but since she doesn't have a cell phone, it made more sense (to me, anyway) for her to wait in her apartment in case I had to call her about a delay.
Because of her disease, she is losing her ability to keep track of plans and upcoming events. Last night when we spoke on the phone, I told her to wait in her apartment. She didn't really understand why, even after I told her, but she said she would. She would have preferred to wait in the lobby.
She called back a few minutes later and asked me to repeat those plans so she could write them down. I did: "On Sunday at 8:00 AM, I will wait for Paul in my apartment. He will call me on the phone when it's time for me to come down to the lobby." When she read it back to me, she said "On Sunday at 8:00 AM, I will wait for Paul in the lobby..." but I stopped her and said "No! Wait for me in your apartment!" She corrected herself. I don't know if she wrote it wrong or read it wrong.
She called back a few minutes later and said she didn't know what to do Sunday morning. "Should I just wait for you in the lobby?" I said "Yes! That's a great idea! And no matter what, no matter where you wait, I'll be able to find you."
This morning, I arrived on time, and there was Mom in the lobby as planned. She doesn't wear a wristwatch anymore, she was sitting there holding her alarm clock on her lap. It was a little bizarre, like I was picking up the White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland.
Gratitude
I'm grateful that I can still take my Mom out to church, and then leave her on her own at her Independent Living apartment for the day. I'm grateful she still can make sense of the church service. I grateful we still enjoy each other's company.
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