Doggie distractions

Mom in quiet good spirits today. She is receiving her mail again, and there was a cute post card (picture of a momma duck with baby duck) from Wende and a long letter in a card from Donna. We talked a bit, mostly about the postcard and letter, but also about trees turning red and gold.

In the social circle, mom couldn't pull her attention away from the letter. I don't know how much she understood, but she was totally absorbed in the typewritten page for a very long time. I shared the picture with the other ladies, one at a time - I hold it up in front of them, then watch their face change as the sweet photo registers in their mind. They all melt when they see these wonderful animal pictures Wende has found on postcards.

Then the dogs came in. Little tiny dogs, two of them, bouncing for joy and touching each lady on the leg or foot, testing to see if they are welcome. All the ladies are fascinated, watching every move. Except mom - she's reading the letter. Finally a dog came up to sit on her lap, and she turned over the letter to me to focus on the dog.

Notice I keep referring to the ladies. Bill, the only male member of the group for the last several months, is gone and now his room has been cleaned and emptied. Over 100 years old, he held on until his family could be with him. The Activity Ladies were very involved in his dying, but the ladies around the circle seem unaware of such changes in the group's makeup. Doggie distractions assist this, as does loss of memory.