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it was a good time to come home to visit the family. my sister and family live in concord, new hampshire and my mother lives a street away in her own house. she is 85. she loves her house and her privacy. she has said that she never wants to move and that when she finally leaves her house, it will be horizontally. she has been getting more and more forgetful for many years now. call it what you want: alzheimers/dementia /senility /forgetfulness/memory impairment.

little neurons have been gradually disconnecting in her brain, or getting clogged, but she seemed to still be able to get along. in the last 2 weeks there was some little connection that was lost, that was a critical one. she suddenly cannot find rooms in her own home. my sister has taken a month off from work. she has basically moved in, being with my mother round the clock, and at night getting up every 2 hours when my mother gets up, to help her find the bathroom. i always wondered how we would decide that it was time for her to go to a facility, but now it is very clear. there is no question about it. i was happy that the timing of our trip allowed me to be back so i could relieve my sister a bit.

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