My brother arrived at Mom’s assisted living and found she was not home. So, he called me (the keeper of the “calendar”) to see if I had taken her for an appointment. He was going to put a new shower head on for her. He had looked in all the usual places – dining room, living room and the Bingo Hall but, to no avail. I even told him to check the salon and the sign out book. Again, no answers.
I was not worried; thinking maybe one on the grand kids took her for a short outing. So, my brother got the facility to let him into her apartment so he could complete the task of installing the new, handheld shower head.
Mom is normally on oxygen for long outings but does fine 2-3 hours without it.
Low and behold, we find out that she got on the assisted living bus without signing out and went to the “Jelly Belly Factory”! Not only is this her favorite candy, but I was so pleased that my 90 year mother did what gives her pleasure, without asking she just “went for the gold”!
She does have some dementia related to strokes – the vascular variety. Many might have been upset that she got on the bus without her oxygen but both my brother and I were glad she went for the moment! A reminder that life is only moments and when we overprotect, we can deny the joys that can come from just “doing it”!