Unchanged Melody

I want to talk to you today about the inconsistency of Mom's days. I may have given you the impression that she never knows her name or other daily details. Mom must have had some negative experiences with "imbeciles" in the past because for some time now, she has expressed to us that she is not an "imbecile." Wow, I had not heard that word for 50 years! Nevertheless, I do not want to give you the impression that she in any way resembles - her words - an imbecile, if you still remember that word and what it implies.

Yesterday was a good day. Last night at mass, mom recited almost all of the responses with only a few glitches, even The Lord's Prayer. And after church during our dinner at you-know-where, mom ordered her "butterfly" pancakes with strawberries. Joe laughed and was quick to inform her that they were "buttermilk" but it didn't matter, David, our usual waiter knew what she wanted. Mom also tried to join the conversation about the priest and other things. When it came time to leave a tip Mom took out Daddy's old wallet from her purse and said she had decided to use it instead as she withdrew $2.00. As we sat longer, Mom pulled out a zip up glasses case that was full of change, mostly quarters. Then she took the conversation to the coin collection in the top of the closet and talked about the white pennies and how she and daddy had started collecting the coins when I was little. That part is probably not factual, as I am fairly certain they did not have two pennies - white or otherwise - to rub together when I was little. I believe the coin stuff started later, like when Deena was little.

The point is, that some days, things click and some days they don't.

Let me go back a moment to singing. Mom loves music. Depending on her mood, I play an old time country music station on the radio or a great CD that Bonnie gave her that has the old songs like The Old Rugged Cross on it. She sings along and taps her toes! Sometimes she knows the words and sometimes she doesn't. But that does not keep her from singing! She said something some months ago that I think is very profound and descriptive of this time of her life. She said to me that she does not always remember the words, but she remembers the melody. She remembers about showering, but does not always remember the steps to it.

Mom remembers the melody of her life but the details are often lost. And each day can be a different melody!