Ever since I have given up driving, I haven’t made
the time to go out and see Harold – mom’s boyfriend of five months or so – though
I have written to him. I sent the last
letter on the first. He just got it
yesterday.
Jenna happened to be off on Friday, and I found a
way on public transportation that would get us close to Alta Ridge. But our pass expired on the 31st
and I wouldn’t be able to get a new one until Roland got paid. Jenna suggested that we go visit him after I picked
her up from school on Thursday – but I knew that unless Roland was willing to
pick us up from Alta Ridge that we would never make it home before him. He told us to wait on our visiting Harold.
It was really too bad as the weather was so
awesome on the 31st. It was
snowing when we left the house yesterday.
Jenna and I both wore our snow boots, It turns out we really didn’t need
them.
By the time I left Jenna at her school it had
stopped snowing and the sun was showing its brightness. I put my sunglasses on and headed towards the
bus stop where I got off. But I
continued in the same direction.
I took the bus to the train station and got off at
another to board a bus that would take me to the east side. I grew up on the east side and so recognized
all of the locations we passed. I really
do miss that area and the familiarities that I had become accustomed to over
the years.
The distance from the bus stop to Alta Ridge is
not a bad walk in awesome weather – I bet it’s a bear in foul weather though. Desa – the assisted living activities
director- takes the bus to work on a daily basis. She knows what routes will get her where and
shared information on two different methods.
I was talking to Harold when his mail was
delivered. That’s how I know he received
it yesterday. I think he is going
bonkers living there as he is easily annoyed by the elderly–childish behavior
and having to repeat things as only a few of them can retain information for
more than a minute. Mom would tend to repeat herself, but she took him on
journeys through her descriptions – I guess.
He said that she had taken him to the house where she used to live. I knew that wasn’t right and couldn’t believe
he was telling me that.
He said that she had been excited to show him her
bedroom as she was really proud of it.
He said he wasn’t impressed and that somebody had really let the place
go – especially the yard. I told him
that it was not the same house where I had taken her to for the last time in
January – the house I grew up in. For my
niece and her husband had been living there and had actually taken better care
of it than she had.
I told him that I didn’t know what he was talking
about. Maybe he had a dream and hasn’t
been able to differentiate between having dreamed it and having it taken place
for real. I know for a fact that it
wasn’t real. Mom had a lousy sense of
direction – even before the dementia.
And really, how would they have gotten out anyway? Or gotten to where the house supposedly was?
He didn’t have an explanation for that part.
After my visit, I thought I would give Desa’s
alternative route a try, but then realized that I was hungry. And I had to cross the street by Arby’s if I
went back the way I came. And it just so happened to be Roland’s lunch time and
he is not that far from Alta Ridge. So I
called him.
He was excited and really wanted to be with me –
said he’d come pick me up, but he was on the phone with a student FOREVER. Seriously. Three buses had come and
gone. I should have just crossed the
street after purchasing my sandwich instead of returning for another sandwich
and two drinks – one of which I ended up throwing away. Not to mention that I had waited for over an
hour. I really should have known better. I definitely will next time.
So by the time I was almost home, Roland was STILL
on the phone (same student) and I was just shaking my head. By the time I returned home I had less than
an hour before I had to leave to get Jenna – but my socks kept on sliding off
my feet and into my boots (My feet are between sock sizes – Jenna’s fit, but
they’re tight. The heels of “ladies”
socks are usually always longer than my own.
They never fit right – and so I often have all this extra fabric in my
shoes) and so I did want to change into sneakers before I continued on my
journey.
The bus comes every half hour and so I can arrive
at Jenna’s school a half hour early or ten minutes late. Last month I went for the half hour
early. That actually annoyed Jenna who
has always preferred dawdling and specifically asked me yesterday morning: “Can
you please take the bus that gets you there ten minutes late?”
Okay then.
No more waiting for her for 30 – 40 minutes in the cold. I can deal with it. But Roland actually beat us home today. Don’t know how well that’s going to work
out. I think I’m just going to have to
crock pot dinner each day.
It feels like I’d spent most of the day on the bus
or the train or waiting. It didn’t seem
like it had been that long. Though it
might have felt longer had I not been reading.
I may not have been the wisest with my time but overall I thought it was
a really nice day. And though I felt
like I had wasted both time and money waiting for Roland and that Roland too,
was disappointed about not having made the opportunity to see me, Harold and
Desa had both expressed gratitude. I
guess it’s all just what I wish to focus on.
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