I was told to go and keep Charlene company. ‘She is having a hard time.’ I find Charlene contorted in her wheelchair, and trying to get up.’ Safety first, she has been placed right against a table, brakes on her chair. She is restrained, for her own good. The aide comes by to make sure I know. There is music playing, and people singing along. The activity person wants her to join in. ‘She likes to sing, she sang earlier.’ Right now, it is obvious Charlene does not feel like singing. She does enquire about my name, several times, and lets me touch her hand. When I suggest that maybe we could take a ‘walk’ together, she nods. After a few circles around the big activity room, I stop, and kneel by Charlene’s side. I see tears streaming down her face. “You are sad, aren’t you?” She says yes but cannot tell me why.
Later, I see her in the dining room, sitting alone at a table. When I come to say hi, she manages to pull the chair next to her, and motions for me to sit. Who says persons with Alzheimer’s do not remember?
I ultimately learn that Charlene comes from a nursing home, and that she is recovering from a traumatic experience she had in that facility. No wonder she is so upset. Again, another evidence that her memory is still working . . .
