Good Taste Above All Else

In the midst of trying to plan a 3 week RV trip and Mr. T deciding retirement wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he retired last year, Mah Mama had a small stroke. She is living in Assisted Living which is yet to become assisted living so I am keeping a closer watch on how she is doing. (They took in residents with the promise it was only a few weeks from being fully credentialed for assisted living and that was 5 months ago!) I don't want my blogging to turn into a depressing chronology of trying to provide care for an aging parent with dementia but it might. Unfortunately, there's not much humor in dementia and watching the sad decline of a loved one--but Ah Declar'--mah Mama found it.

I'd called doctors, gotten ignored, sat in the ER for hours, treated by doctors who looked barely out of Junior High, rounds of tests, etc. The medical conclusion is "nothing can be done" which might be true but not what I want to hear. I hired a caregiver to come in each day just to make sure Dah Mama gets her meds and to take her down for at least one meal. DM can find her way to the dining room--she just usually finds her way there at two in the morning.

Anyway....I was helping her get dressed and we were doing pretty well. (Translation: she agreed to put on the clothes) But then we got to the shoes! I had pulled out some white sandals that I know don't hurt her feet. 

STOP THE TRAIN! No, she was not going to put her bare feet into sandals--she wanted to wear hose. I talked her out of that by convincing her that it was acceptable to just wear sandals in May. Okay, that might be alright--she didn't think she'd run into anyone she knew anyway. 

STOP THE TRAIN!! Daughter! What are you doing? Those are White Sandals!  Yes, Mama, they are indeed.

But Daughter, is it after Easter???? I simply will not wear White Shoes before Easter!

Now how can someone have dementia when they can remember one of the first rules of dressing like that? True, she didn't know Easter was the week before but hot damn! she remembered not to wear white shoes until afterwards. Things are not as far gone as I thought.