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You have an amazing outlook on your Mama's situation, I can't imagine being as upbeat as you are in those circumstances. Well done SuziQ!

I would be crushed to have my Mom here but yet not here, not recognizing or remembering me.

One of the things I did when I was unemployed (I always tried to find something to make myself feel better) was visiting nursing homes with my little cocker mix and my big orange kitty number 6 (the one that is still at dads).

They didn't have any organized group in town doing that, so I put up a flyer at the vets office and put my own group together from some folks that called and wanted to do it with me. We would go on Wednesdays, and visit four different nursing homes in town. They sure loved having us come!

My big kitty would follow me on a leash and the dog would run loose. She learned "go visit". We visited most of the rooms where the residents looked like they wanted us to come in, and I would plop the dog and the cat up on their beds if they couldn't get up. I think there is something powerfull about a 20 pound cat on your chest that is purring so loud he shakes the bed. It would wake up people who were barely responsive, and they would pet him, or the dog... It was neat.

My whole reason for telling you this is that my favorite of them all to go to was the Alzheimer's home. There was a woman there who would just squeal and laugh at the sight of my dog, and Zulu, knowing her well, would run up. The woman never remembered that we had been there the week before, and told me often the same story about her dog that was a lot like mine. Every week I gave her a brand-new experience! That was neat!

Others at some of the homes would sneak parts of their breakfast back to their rooms in the hopes that we would be coming. Treats for the dogs.

When I finally found a job, I couldn't do it anymore, but the other three in the group kept going, as far as I know. One woman I am sure is still doing it. It gave her an excuse to dress her dog in all these silly outfits she would make. [snicker]

Every week I gave her a brand-new experience! That was neat!

Oh Hair, that is so funny! My sister told me her son remarked on Mama's inability to remember recent events, saying that if there are 119 other residents in the home, then Mimi will make 119 new friends every day! And that's so true!! She really is a social animal (I get it honest!), and up til now, wasn't interested in being around people because she knew that she just was 'all there'. But now she's lost that ability to realize her impairment, so she's back to the chattering stage! When my brother left her there the first day, she was already bending the ears of the staff members! She'll enjoy being around other people now.

Actually, she still remembers who we are; she's fuzzy on the grandkids because they haven't been in her memory as long. It would be neat if someone brought pets to the folks at her place. She has a little dog, a mutt named Chuckie, and my oldest brother took him home with him. Chuckie is about 13 yrs. old, so he may not be around much longer either, but he's a sweetie, and Mama always loved having doggies around.