“Happy New Year!”, Mom greets me this morning. The TV is on, they are welcoming the year in London.
“Happy New Year, Mom! What year is it?”
Long pause.
“I don’t know what you mean…”
“It’s a new year. What year is it?”
Confused look. I try again,
“What’s today’s date?”
“What’s today’s date?”
“It’s okay. Happy New Year!”
The other day when talking to me Mom referred to my daughter as H__.
Now H__ is my paternal aunt who used to live with us when I was a child. Now with grown children of her own, my aunt is living in another city and we last saw her a couple of years back.
Mom said her name so naturally, she was not aware anything was amiss.
That set me wondering, was Mom transported back in time to the years my aunt was living with us? If so, and Mom thought my daughter was her sister-in-law, did she think I was her mother-in-law?
Am I now mistaken for my GRANDMA??
Or perhaps Mom just affixed the name to my daughter, as there is some physical resemblance between my daughter and my aunt. That would indicate Mom is no longer able to distinguish clearly between some people.
It is quite a sobering thought.
Mom loves outings, and it is often challenging to think of safe and interesting places that all the family can enjoy. Shopping centres are busy, crowded and can be difficult to navigate. Also I think Mom gets distracted and slightly confused by all the lights and things on display.
I think a good outing should be physically do-able yet not too easy, and better still have content that trigger and stimulate Mom’s memory. A few weeks back, we had one such outing and it was fun! The fun even started on the way there as we drove down quiet narrow roads with plenty of greenery on both sides with not a tall building in sight. Mom kept saying “I didn’t know Singapore has parts that look like this!”
Bollywood Veggies is an organic farm owned and run by Ivy Singh-Lim, the self-styled Gentle Warrior. She’s a real charming lady, I must say! Full of zest and lives life entirely her own way. Way to go! She runs a restaurant there too, and it’s called (tongue-in-cheek, of course) … Poison Ivy Bistro.
Mom had a great time strolling amongst the fruit trees and other plants. There are lots of humorous signs about too. A most enjoyable outing.
Dementia, Caregiving and Life in General 