Senior Moments…

My folks are having an epic number of senior moments these days, and thank God – they keep me sane to hear them, even as their moments are a sign of the times and a sign they are getting much older. Managing their health is another job for me and my family these days. To preview, my mother-in-law who rarely leaves her couch except for daily Mass and a cinnamon cruller at dunks, now wants to suddenly travel. ‘Anything you want to do with all that time you have ma, now that you can’t go to church?’ ‘Well, Bry,’ clearing her throat, ‘I’ve always wanted to travel…”. Well, ma, I’m not sure travel is a good idea right now I said gently, reminding her about the coronavirus restrictions, but maybe in the fall. “Well that’s a shame,” she said, flipping through her wall calendar. “I mean, I have a hair appointment in October.” In ma’s defense, she’s been losing a few brain cells from the dementia for a years now, but has kept her humor. My dad’s memory is, in contrast, healthier though he’s losing other things. He’s now agitated because the elderly hour at the Stop ‘n Shop has turned into an old lady traffic jam in aisle 5. His never-diagnosed ADHD can’t handle the molasses-speed shopping. “I turned down to get turkey but all these ladies were congregated around the deli…I’m just going to go back to the normal hour.”