Christmas 2006

The big news is Miss Dixie turns 90 on January 14, 2007. Yes, she would love to have a card from you! Interestingly, Roane County said she turned 90 on January 13 this year. Not true, her real birthday is yet to come!

Last year she wanted to know how old she was. I told her. “Wow,” she said.

Miss Dixie is still able to attend the Arlington County Day Care program. Technically, this program is just for individuals in the early stage of dementia. Mother is in an advanced stage, but is still able to function well enough to go to “school” in Arlington County.

Despite good health -- we’ve had our moments this year: cataract surgeries (bandages ripped off within an hour), skin cancer treatment, several urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and one scary fall in October. And, we’re practically on a first name basis with the Emergency Room staff. Life is still manageable -- but, I won’t kid you, it is wearing for me.

Briefly, here’s where we are in Mother’s disease cycle: stage 6 out of 7 stages, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. She currently asks about Dad several times a day. When she doesn’t like the answer, she makes up a story. She knows my name is Barbara, but doesn’t know that I am her daughter. At night, she often worries about feeding her horse – no, that’s not a typo. She still smiles and laughs, but can no longer smile on command for the camera, for example. She can still feed herself and walk, but I expect those skills to go at any time. When they do, she will have to leave the day care program and the next phase will be more complicated.

Most of all, more nights than not, she says, “Thank you,” when I tuck her into bed. That, of course, is why I do it all.

My greatest challenge this year was a hundred year rain that flooded the IRS, the Archives, and the addition to our house. At the time, Mother was also very sick with an infection that needed a different antibiotic. The blessing was that she slept through the actual flooding while I called everyone I knew to help. Eventually, I found a pump that would do the trick of running water down the driveway. (I now own the pump.) The two-year old wood floor was removed. I was afraid of mold and installed a new floor – stone, thank you. I think I’ve figured out the problem/s, but my level of confidence was not sufficient to re-do a wood floor.

Happily, most of the angst from that event is behind us and we continue to be enormously grateful to good friends who helped us out in so many ways.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday and New Year—

Love,
Dixie and Barbara