A Surprise for Shannan

From my friend Shannan … In July 2018, after 23 years in business, I closed the doors to my office.  It was time to start a new era of traveling and riding my horses. In fact, I was enjoying a six-week trip out west when my husband’s sister asked if their mother could come to spend a month with us in September. I said that would be fine.

Well, to our surprise, mom arrived a month early, on August 3, 2019. So, unfortunately, the retirement I was so excited about didn’t last long. Additionally, my sister-in-law never intended for her mother to return to live with her, so consequently, my life as a 24-hour caregiver had begun. You see, at that time no one realized, or told us, that mom had memory issues.  We soon learned it was dementia.

A Lesson Learned

Skip forward to December 2020.  From the time my mother in law came to live with us, she has followed me around staying within 2-3 feet of me. I am always running into her, or she is standing where I need to get something. My husband thinks it’s funny and goes around singing “Just me and my shadow”. One day, she realized that he was talking about her and told him that she is helping me. Since then I had a new appreciation for her following me. I realized it made her feel useful by thinking she was helping me.

Stay tuned for more Surprises for Shannan.