The Longest Stroke-Dementia Road To Somewhere Journal

December 23, 2018 Our White Elephant Christmas Party

After attending Cornerstone Church, we made a quick stop at the Hope of the Valley Thrift Store to see if we could find some last minute treasures for the White Elephant Christmas Party. The day before I had found lots of fun gifts for the party at a garage sale. We also picked up our prepared Turkey Dinner from Stater Bros. Caring for Mother, allowed no time to really cook a dinner so I did the second best thing, purchased it prepared and just added a few of my specialty dishes.

As I coordinated all things together for the party, Mother hoovered around so I gave her many chores to do. First she folded all the napkins then she sat the table with plates, napkins and cutlery. Primarily used her left hand as I encouraged her to use her right hand. She complied, forgot and then back to using her left hand which now has become her dominant hand. When she is busy, she doesn’t think of going home. So I kept her busy with lots of activities. Outside of the usual going home question, she seemed to be fine but not wanting her to get agitated during the party I gave her melatonin in advance.

In the preparation and planning stage, I was so excited because I hadn’t done anything for me or us since Mother’s arrival. This was our first Christmas in our house and…