Finding my underwear

Several friends have told me that I must keep my sense of humor about Mom having Alzheimer's. I have found that to be very difficult, but this incident requires a good laugh if not just a smile.

Since Mom has gotten so bad, I have taken over the laundry duties up to folding the clothes. After a load gets done in the dryer, Mom wants to fold the laundry, and I want her to feel as useful as possible, so I just leave her alone, she doesn't want me to hover, and she takes as long as she likes as she folds and puts everything away. Although I need to rearrange things every once in a while, she had been doing very well until yesterday.

I couldn't find my undies. I looked in every drawer that I could imagine and I still couldn't find them. She has put some of my things in her drawers in the past, so I went into her bedroom and searched through every drawer in her dresser, still not finding my lost laundry (and realizing I have to clean out her drawers - it's no wonder she complains about not finding anything).

Finally I give up and begin to go through my drawers again and UREKA! There are several pairs of panties neatly tucked under some undershirts in a drawer directly under my usual stash. I laughed and placed them in their proper place. And when I quit laughing, I became sad. My "old" Mom never would have done that. She taught us to always keep our dresser drawers tidy. My "new" Mom is kind of doing the same thing, only she has several sock and underwear drawers now and her undergarments seem to be scattered everywhere.

For the first time this morning, too, I looked at Mom as she was eating her breakfast and thought, "Who is this person?" She's not really my Mom, although she looks like her. But when she looks at me, I don't see my Mom any more. I don't see Mom when I look into her eyes. I see this stranger who is in my Mom's body.

I guess it's time to get to know her.