Variety Show

Mom’s community put on their 2nd annual variety show this evening. We called mom last night and suggested the three of us sing On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at. Mom was game!

I created a lyric sheet this morning that was mostly English, but had the bit of the Yorkshire dialect in it; the version of the song we sang as kids.

We ran through the song once with mom. She was spot on, even remembering secondary parts to the song we weren’t adding in, just yet! What they say about the musical center of the brain remaining intact despite dementia is SO true.

We went down stairs to enjoy the show.

We were the second to last act, the only family act, and were very well received. Mom killed it!! She loved it! I’m so glad we did this.

Interactions of note:

The activities director (AD) is leaving. She was part of reason mom settled into the community. She reached out to mom individually. They are both Jewish, and the AD took a shine to mom. Mom said to me over dinner, “You know the AD is leaving to work at a dementia unit for this company. I don’t think she knows what she’s getting into!” I replied, “Mom, I think that sort of work is a calling, and she’ll do very well.” Mom agreed. She loves the AD. The AD, while staying in the industry, is leaving the company.

The chin, upper lip, and now cheek hair growth continues, and seemingly without mom’s awareness. Lip and chin, I get. the cheek I don’t. I need to reach out to Dr. O again.

Mom’s knee has her using her cane again. I don’t know how to effect this. She won’t do PT. Again, I’ll ping Dr. O. I’m pretty sure she can’t take things like Advil for more than 2-weeks… Maybe there’s an non-steroid anti-inflammatory that’ll help.

Mom actually remembered us telling her that I had a new job (in her apartment) at dinner. She didn’t remember what it was, but asked my DH when I went in search of her ice cream. This tells me her empathy is still beautifully intact!

As dinner wound down, mom asked if we were going to take off soon. I said we were. She did a wee deflation. I felt bad. Guilty. It’s time to spend a little more time with her, especially now that she’s so much more relaxed.