Policing the Place

Dad is going through a spell right now where he is in "clean-up" mode. He'll pick up your glass or plate or anything else that he thinks is out of place and then put it where he thinks it should be. This can be quite interesting.

Thursday evening, we picked up Mom and Dad and took them out to eat with us. We had coupons to use and I tore off the ones we used and wanted to keep the rest. Mom is the coupon keeper. She always has coupons for eating places saved up. If you want to go out to eat anywhere, just go by Mom's first and she probably has a coupon.

After we finished eating and were sitting there talking, I folded the coupon page and put it in front of Mom for keeping. After a minute, Dad reached over and picked it up and put it on the trash pile on the tray. Mom said, "We don't want to throw that away yet." and picked it up and put it back in front of her.

Well, having Alzheimer's means Dad can forget something that happened just a minute ago and in another minute, he picked it up again and put it in the trash pile. I said, "Dad, we want to keep that for the next time" and I picked it up and put it back in front of Mom again.

In another minute (yes, that fast!) he picked it up and put it in the trash pile again. Mom and I looked at each other and she said, "Don't put that over there." and she reached over and took it again and put it on the table in front of her. Dad said, "It's just paper, I was throwing it away." She said, "It's coupons, and we want to save them for the next time we come." He looked at me and rolled his eyes. We all laughed. I picked up the coupons and said to Mom, "Put these in your purse before they disappear!"

Dad isn't just being ornery, he honestly doesn't remember from one minute to the next. A couple weeks ago they came to my house for a meal. While we sat at dinner, Dad asked me four different times minutes apart, "How long have you been in your house?", and "When did you get moved in?" By the fourth time, I looked at Mom and we almost busted out laughing, but Dad was so serious. He did not remember that he had asked me that question already. It was a new place to him and he was interested.

A big concern for me when we moved was how Dad would react to our new home. It has proven to be a good move. He seems to love our new house and is very comfortable here. He's been out several times in the 2 months since we moved and each time he really relaxes and seems to enjoy himself.