(From Feb 24th)

Even in her very forgetful state Mom enjoys watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, so of course we do so every night. Through all the sadness that comes from living with someone with dementia you really get a big kick out of the simple joys that you can share. These TV shows offer me that because when I get an answer right on Jeopardy or guess a puzzle on the Wheel of Fortune, Mom will look at me with amazement and say things like “Wow you got it! How did you know that?!” It is fun and funny how impressed she gets no matter how simple the answer or the puzzle.

So tonight I knew she was having one of her moments of lucidity when we were watching Wheel of Fortune and I guessed a very long puzzle. The fact was it only had about two letters left in the whole damn thing not filled in, so it was pretty obvious by the time I read it aloud what the “phrase” was. I looked over at Mom expecting my usual out of proportion reaction of praise, when she looked at me slyly and said “My, what a detective you are….”