Monday Memories With My Mom

The Adventures of Caring for a Mom With Alzheimer's Disease
    This week marks a significant anniversary -- it was a year ago this week that we moved my mom into the American House senior living facility where she currently lives.  It was a big deal for us and I blogged about it last year here and here.

We Made Her a Little Sign

    Since Sunday was a nice day and this week is busy busy with kid stuff, we decided to take grandma out for dessert Sunday afternoon (we had missed lunch time and my mom gets more confused/"sundowning" at dinner time).
     I usually don't give my mom too many choices, as it overwhelms her and is hard for her to make decisions.  However, I said where would you like to go for dessert or ice cream??  Before I could give my list of choices, she said, "Alinosi's"....  That was funny because it is an old ice cream shop that I am not sure if I have ever been to.  If I was there, it was when I was a kid, and I don't even know where it is.  (Remember, for my mom the long term memory works must better than the short term...)  I just Googled it for spelling purposes and it appears to be in Detroit.
     So, then I said how about Dairy Queen, McDonalds, Big Boy, or a place that has Sander's hot fudge?  She said, "Oh, Sander's hot fudge".  (I knew she would...lol).  Jacob and Kristin were with me.  Luckily we remembered a restaurant in Clarkston that served Sander's.  (The milk chocolate fudge really is the best -- like worth ordering online -- not kidding!!) 
     We told my mom we were celebrating her one year anniversary of living at the American House!!!  Truth be told, she didn't care what we were celebrating!.  When I saw the size of the Sander's Cream Puff Hot Fudge Sundae, I was sure she would not be able to finish it!!!  I was wrong!!  I started panicking because I didn't know what this big dessert would do to my mom's system physically or mentally!!  So, we each grabbed a spoonful before she finished the whole thing.  In the end, my mom would have and did finish it and couldn't stop talking about it.
     Mission accomplished -- got my mom out, got her a treat, and celebrated her one year anniversary.   Although there were times I definitely doubted we would make it to this one year anniversary, giving her the gift of as much independence as possible while keeping her safe is the best thing that has happened for both of us in awhile!! 

Congratulations on One Year!!

Our Little Outing

My Mom and Kristin

Before

After
(and yes, she got the plate totally clean after this picture!!)