A little act of kindness

One day while waiting at the register to make a purchase. I was standing in line holding Josephina's hand. There was a little hispanic looking boy with his dad waiting in line behind us. The boy must have been around 5 years old. Mom was looking around saying her usual hi. When she said hi to the boy, he motioned her to come. She bent down to meet him, and he planted her a kiss on her cheek. Surprised and happy, she said "Que Dios te bendiga." The boy just smiled back at her. I looked at his dad and said thanks. His dad said, "that was all him not me." I smiled at both of them and said thanks. It is nice to see a little act of kindess.

Zzzzzz

I had a good nights rest. She only woke up to go the bathroom, and she went right back to bed. Everything is quite today. Just enjoying a cold snowy winter day inside.

Somewhere in Between

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She went to bed at 6pm last night. She woke up at 2:30am. She is calm. She asked for something hot to drink. I made her some tea. We haven't been up this early before, but I am not tired today because I went to bed at 7pm.

Yesterday we had a visit from my daughter-in-law and my 2 grandsons, ages 4 and 3. She was happy to see them all. During the visit, my 4-year old grandson tried to hug Josemeana and she said, "If you hit me, I will hit you back". She looked so mean that it hurt his little heart. He cried. While consoling him, I told him that great grandma is not in her right mind. She did not mean to hurt him. She is confused, but we still love her anyway. Maybe I should keep my grandsons away from her. She was only mean for that incident. She was nice and quite for the rest of the visit.
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Meet Josemeana

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Its 3:45am.
She yells, "No, No, No. Get me out of dis dawkness. Somebody tun awn deh light, please!"

I am angry at myself for forgetting to leave the light on for her. I turn the light on and I don't recognize my own mom. She looks mean. It's Josemeana.

She says, "Get out, get out, why you gat me in dis dawkness. I want to go home now." I say, "Come let's go to the bathroom." She agrees. We are at the toilet. I tell here to sit and she doesn't want to. I tell her to sit down. She says, "No. Dat thing is cold." I say yes I know, but you have to sit to use it. She sits. I walk her back to bed. She does not want to lay down. I take her hand to guide her back to bed. She yells, "Oww. You huttin me". I let her go. I say OK you dont have to go to sleep. I'm tired. She follows me out of her room to my bed. I lay down and tell her to have a seat. She sits for 30 seconds. She starts to pace. I'm tired. She talks under her breath. I can hear, "I going home. I want to home." I tell her to sit down. She keeps pacing.

Its 6am.
I'm tired. I ask her is she wants to go the bathroom. She says yes. After she uses the bathroom. I guide her to her bed. She lays down. I tuck her in, she says "Thank you, God Bless You", and she goes to sleep. I go to sleep.

Its 7am.
She's up. I go to her room. She sings out to me, "Good Morning!" I am relieved. Its Josephina.
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Sweet Josephina

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When I was a child my mom, taught me all about good manners. One of the things that I admire about her now is that even with dementia, my mom always remembers to use good manners. She always says please, thank you, and excuse me. She greets everyone with a "Good Morning" or a "Hi, how are you?". She does not seem to care if she gets a response. She just has good manners. Josephina is her name, and she is a sweet, friendly, and loving woman. Some day when you are grocery shopping, you may get a greeting from a 72 year old saying "Hi". It just might be Josephina.
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