Humor day

Hi everyone.  I am going to lighten up today.  Humor is so good for caregiver's (at least for me)!  Mom has been with us since February 2010.  When Dad was still alive he used to tell me how much Mom loved to walk around their condo complex.  She would just take off when he was resting, not paying attention, etc...she would just wander off until he noticed her gone.  He had cancer so it was not a pretty picture.  He was proud too and we could not get him to let us help him with Mom.  He felt that by taking complete care of Mom that it helped him fight the cancer, so he could be around longer.

So that leads into what happened after Mom was with us for about 2 weeks.  My husband works swing shift from about 4pm to 4am.  We had been moving Mom's personals into our house and getting her bedroom ready.  We had the basics here such as:  clothes, meds, bed, dresser, shoes, and personal items.  Mom had tried to wander off a few times here too, but we always busted her before she got too far!

My husband asked me on a Monday morning if I had left one of the suitcases by the trunk of the car in the driveway.  He thought I might have because we had brought things from the condo to our house over the weekend.  I said "I don't think so", but with everything thats going on, its possible.  So he informs me that there was a suitcase on the driveway behind the car and that he brought it into the garage.  I went out to bring the bulging suitcase in (Mom's red suitcase) and opened it up.  Mom was in the kitchen watching my every move, not saying a word.  When I opened the suitcase it was completely filled with shoes (Amelda Marcus, that's Mom) and hangers with the clothes on them.  I looked at Mom and said how did the suitcase get out on the driveway by the car?  Her reponse:  I took it out there and tried to open the trunk and couldn't, so I came back in and went to bed.

Now picture this:  a 5'3" woman in her night gown, in the middle of the night, lugging a 70lb suitcase to the driveway!  I asked where were you going?  She said "Back to the condo to live alone". 

So needless to say we had to take measures to prevent this from happening again.  Safety is a big issue with a dementia patient.  Till next time-hang tight!