When Mema returned to South Bend
after spending a few months in Florida,
she began attending Milton Adult Center
two days a week.
This is a place where older folks go
who have dementia, or Alzheimer's,
and need a place to be.
The first morning she was to attend,
Mom went to wake her up.
She was laying in bed with her eyes opened.
"Is it time to go to school?"
she asked.
She hopped up, got dressed, put earrings on,
ate breakfast ans was ready to go!
When she arrived, she got a name tag and signed in.
Waving goodbye to Mom, off she went.
A few weeks later,
it was my turn to pick her up.
She goes from 10am-2pm, Monday and Wednesday.
I arrived a little early so I could observe.
I was buzzed through the secure door, and waited in a room
where I could watch the activities in the next room.
The staff was playing that suitcase exchange game
I have forgotten the name of.
Mema was sitting at a middle table with another woman.
The other woman was facing away from the table.
There were about 25 people in the room.
One lady came into the room I sat in,
and observed me for a while.
I believe she had Alzheimer's,
as she kept trying to get out of the door into the lobby.
After a while, all the folks came into my room for story time.
I sat behind Mema, and she introduced me as her daughter in law.
The young volunteer took a while to find the right book to read,
and when she did, she had quite a bit of trouble
with punctuation and vocabulary.
At one point she came and asked me how to pronounce a word.
No one really seemed to be paying much attention,
and some folks were sleeping.
I didn't see the point of reading a story about Christmas
in early September.
Right before they began their chair exercises,
Mema and I decided to leave.
She told me all about the big lunch they had,
that they had played ball outside on the patio,
and about one lady that didn't speak at all.
Mema felt sorry for her, but said it was better
than the lady sitting alone all day.
She seems to think
that she has been coming here for many months.
Or that she is still at Whispering Pines Apts,
where she used to live.
After that afternoon, I was very upset.
The staff seemed disinterested and inexperienced.
However, Mema just adores going to school!
She has the grandest of times,
eats as much as she wants,
and both she and Mom get to spend some time apart,
which is a real bonus for both of them.
We still go to the mall on Thursdays
to watch the children playing.
We are a little unsure about how much we will go to school
when the weather turns bad,
but I will drive in any weather if Mema wants to get out.
She loves being with people!
Over all, I think this is a very good place for her
to spend a few days a week.
Most of the staff is very friendly, that I have seen.
They have activities planned for everyone.
And Mema really doesn't remember most parts of the day.
She just enjoys getting out, and being with people her own age.
I am sad because she is slowly losing her short term memory
and repeating herself much more.
She is very healthy and feisty most days.
Some days she seems to be under a cloud,
and doesn't talk much.
I need to try to get to see her more than I do.
