Chapter 6: Hmm…That’s Odd

October 2022

I suggested to dad that for this school year, perhaps he could bring mom by on Wednesday afternoons on his way to the gym. Wednesday is the one day of the week we do not have…activities. The kids are usually back from school by the time mom arrives so I’ve asked her to start giving them formal piano lessons individually. I’ve been a bit of a delinquent parent on that front – just like mom before us, my sister and I were being signed up for all kinds of piano recitals and competitions much earlier! I have to get some sense of music into them before it’s too late…

Things have been going reasonably well…but today was…a bit odd. Dad had to meet with someone after his workout, so he came by to get mom a bit later than usual. If there’s one thing this family craves, it’s a sense of routine so we went ahead and had dinner while mom was still here. We were eating at the breakfast bar – there are 4 chairs and 5 of us. My husband was eating while standing up and doing a few other things in the kitchen. Mom must have asked him at least 10 times if he wanted to sit down. But the way she asked was so weird. It wasn’t the “no, really, please sit and I’ll stand…” – it was more like she had absolutely no recollection of the previous times she had asked if he wanted to sit down. Like she was asking each time as if the idea had just occurred to her.

I am probably being hypersensitive and worrying about nothing. What’s that thing called – the frequency illusion? You become aware of some new idea you never thought about before, and now you’re seeing it everywhere? This is probably that. I am sure mom is fine.

Although, I have been having regular sessions with Dr. Google. Now that this idea of “Mild Cognitive Impairment” has been put into my head, I can’t quite get it out. It’s hard to know – and there doesn’t seem to be a formal diagnostic “test” to prove anything. Besides, I re-read the exhaustive list of risk factors and other than being over 70 years of age, mom has absolutely none of these. She’s also not complaining about anything in relation to her physical health. Though mom never complains about anything, so I suppose we would be the last to know. But I have been asking her how she’s feeling about a bunch of things and the answer is always “fine.” I might have to space out the questions a bit, she’s starting to look at me funny when I ask sometimes. But I suppose that just proves my point, right? She’s completely aware of what I’m saying, there’s nothing wrong with her brain in that sense.

She has never really been a good sleeper. Maybe she’s just extra tired today. So, I’m not going to worry – yet. But still, I can’t quite get her facial expressions from dinner out of my head. Today was definitely weird. I suppose I’ll have to keep an eye on this…

Questions or comments? Contact me!