Who do you think Mom is looking at?
Her Grandson and Great Granddaughter of course! Her room has a door to the outside, and it was a pleasant day, so we kept the door open during their visit. Of course, Addie wanted to be outside most of the time. She was collecting rocks from the rock garden just outside the door, bringing them and putting them into a pile. At one time she had a dozen rocks. One time when she was 'gone', Mom said, "Where are you?" She comes back to the open door, her upper body bent over to the open door side to look through the door with this look (and smile) that said "Here I am!", and then starts laughing. She is saying a few words here and there. One time a small dog that lives there barked and she said, "Bow Wow". Some other words we heard were mom, bye, oops, and she even used sign language to tell Michael that she was thirsty.
I texted Michael later to thank him for coming. They are headed to Italy with Ann's mother at the end of the week for ten days, so it was a busy time for them. His reply was that Grandma was doing much better than last time he saw her about five weeks ago...just another sign that the infusion was working...so far, no signs of any UTI's.
When I arrived for the visit, getting there about 30 minutes before Michael and Addie arrived, Ben (one of the 'chiefs' of the Assisted Living Home) was giving mom a quick manicure. Two of the staff were watching training videos, which when I asked Ben said that they are required by the State of California to keep their training up-to-date. Good to see that.
A week earlier when I was there to visit, I surprised mom with a Hot Fudge Sundae from Leatherby's. (click the link to see what Leatherby's is) Before her infusions she had an appointment with her Primary Care Doctor, and after she told Sandy that she wanted Ice Cream, real Ice Cream, not that stuff that McDonald's sells. That meant a trip to Leatherby's and she had a big Hot Fudge Sundae that day. Well, she was suppose to see her Primary Doctor again, but both Sandy and Patti were not able to take her. I don't mind taking her to other appointments, but not the Primary where the doctor might suddenly say, "Let's remove your shirt so I can hear your heart and lungs better." So they rescheduled, and on that day I took over the Hot Fudge Sundae so she did not miss out on that treat!
The previous week I took her to see her Dermatologist, and like last time, we went by Sonic. This time she wanted a Burger...and a Shake. Can you believe she finished them both! (Although she saved just a little of the shake to take back to the "Home" so the others can see that she had a wonderful treat, and they didn't! And I am NOT kidding...)
Besides the visit at Mom's place, I went down to see my Granddaughter, Son and Daughter-in-law a few times. The house across the street from them has this lady living there. Her longtime partner had passed a few years ago, and she LOVED Halloween, so the survivor still loads the front yard each year with decorations in memory of her deceased partner.
Note: It is interesting to watch the developing of my little 1 year old granddaughter...learning to walk, learning to talk, letting her personality shine through....while at the same time watching my mother, 93 years old, as she heads in the other direction...losing her short term memory, seeing things are not there, being disturbed because she can't do what she wants to do (I don't want to get up out of bed, I don't want to go to bed this early, I want to eat in my room, I want to go home). Circle of life...
