things seem better, at least for now

The shadows lengthened before I had a chance to do any leaf collection today. Instead, I drove up with Mike and his kids to see Mike's parents. After that visit, we drove back to my parents' house and took Mom out, together as one big family, for a walk at Fort Hunt Park. Mom did pretty well, chugging along nicely, and was far more alert and reactive than she had been yesterday. She wasn't very verbal, but Dad said that she had spoken some words when he'd quizzed her earlier in the afternoon, in my absence.

After the walk, I headed home with the parents while Mike and his kids drove back home, which is about an hour south of Alexandria. Meanwhile, when we got home, Mom insisted on climbing the steps instead of walking up the wheelchair ramp. Once we were indoors, I noticed that Mom was back to her old perseverative ways: she began compulsively wiping the kitchen counter with her hands. We eventually got her onto the couch; her bum still hurts a bit from yesterday's fall, so we've got her lying down and watching TV.

Mike's father is doing a lot better. He's looking and sounding stronger, and it's good to see that he's no longer bleeding profusely from the stitches on his face (the stitches were from a procedure performed the day before his cardiac crisis; the bleeding was a result of the Coumadin he'd been taking). His grip was strong, his balance looked good, and his demeanor was very positive. I left the house happy that Mike's dad had been properly stabilized. He's got followup appointments to look forward to, so he's not quite out of the woods yet, but things are looking are a lot better now.

My brother David will be here around 7PM; tonight's dinner will likely be leftovers. I hope David doesn't mind.


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