A memorable day

Wow. That pretty much describes today. Gramma woke up crying this am, said she missed her husband and had a hard time sleeping last night. I don't wonder why, she wouldn't get up yesterday. So....We made a plan to make sure she was up and active. At 9 am I got her up for breakfast, which she had with just me. We chatted, things were normal as normal goes, then off to her room she went, asking to be woken up within an hour. I went in to see her and opened her window up for natural light and started to unpack some of her belonging. Tessa joined me and before long Ashley joined too and all 4 of us were laughing, remembering, having a great time. We must have spent an hour together with Gramma telling us all about where she acquired the item we were looking at. It was a total history of where my mom has travelled in the last 20 years. She rested then for a bit, I took Ashley out to her lessons. At 2 pm, Gramma came out again for lunch, we chatted, she was/is very clear today, asking very deep questions, wondering about who she is , why she is here, etc. She called me in later to ask about where my dad was buried, she remembered the area, we talked about the area and the headstone and things. We talked about Mike, my brother. And then Gramma came out, looking for Ashley wanting Ashley to look something up on the Internet. She wanted to know about DEMENTIA. And she wanted to know about Alzheimer's, so Ashley read to her. Oh, the various things she talked about amazes me. She being so here today, alert, alive. She asked to learn how to be transported around town by herself, not sure I'll let her go that far yet. She wants to go and meet people. She said yes to bingo and to the exercise class at the senior center,things she has said no to. Oh boy this is different. Ashley asked if she thought she would be as clear tomorrow or back to just wanting to be in bed. Who knows.We found a worry stone today and she likes that bronze piece of stone, mentioning just how great it works for her. I'm thinking more worry rocks!

The biggest thing she said is, "I can't just sit her all day in bed watching TV. I need to be out doing things!!" Yes, gramma is homeschooling with us, coming to her own ideas of what is best for her. Trusting that even with dementia, she knows what she needs.

Later tonight at dinner she was asking to be reminded about the twin towers, she wanted to know the state of our country and safety about terrorism. She was remembering, asking, questioning...living. Great to experience her so alert and interested in interacting. Tomorrow we go buy her a new TV, something she asked for and is looking forward to, plus she asked for new lipstick. Davis, Marie Gehlen is now Here!