She slept very late. Peacefully until about 8:30am when I began to tease her into wakefulness. She was very resistant. I did not succeed until 10:30am. At this point she off her medication schedule by 3 1/2 hours. That fact is important to a parkie. She is going to have a rough day.

She awakened in a delicate mental state. Dream like, probably, from her perspective. I heard her get up and use the toilet and waited for her to pop out of the bedroom door. She did not for some time but I thought she was putting on her morning clothes which is usually a pair of sweatpants and her favorite brown jacket. After waiting for a suitable time, I went to check on her. She was sitting on the bed waiting for someone to come get her.

In my usual fashion I asked how she was feeling. She responded with “Okay.” And then she asked, “Who else is here?” I had the television on listening to a Sunday newsy blather about nonsense in the rest of the world or, at least, New York City and Washington, DC. I told her no one but us was here. She did not want to come out if other people were here. I helped her to the kitchen table for medication and breakfast. Worried a little that I had let her go too long.

7am medication dose at 10:30am at this point. She eats some Life cereal to go with it. Crane-Apple juice and Dove chocolate round out the meal. Dove chocolate has become a passion. She eats one or two with every meal or simply to snack. I always buy some when I shop at the grocery or pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. (Walgreens and Walmart have the best selection but she only eats the dark chocolate(red) or milk chocolate ones.)

I sat with her for a bit and tried to not hover over her while she was eating. She brightened slowly. Read the newspaper. Looked at the comic section. She came over to sit with me and I restarted the recording of CBS Sunday morning. It is a favorite show of hers that we watch together. Usually while enjoying some bakery treat and tea for her, coffee for me. Most times it is a restful Sunday relaxation. Today, though, she watched about 30 minutes and wanted to lay back down. I helped her back to the bed.

The day moves on. Twenty minutes or so later she is moving around thinking perhaps a little Coca Cola and some cheese crackers will help. So she has a bit of lunch. And some Dove candy, of course.

I am assured that we will get through the day. Live in the moment. Parkinson’s disease sucks.

Later in the day, as we were eating a simple dinner of soup and a sandwich, she explained more of what she was feeling and seeing this morning. She sees small children in our bedroom sometimes at night and sometimes early in the morning. We have a queen size cannonball bed. We bought it early in our marriage. It is comfortable. The foot board has pillars at either end with a ball shape at the top. These transform themselves into little black girls at night. We also have some needlepoint pictures that she did many years ago. They are hanging in an oval frame and often at night transform themselves into a couple of people peering over the back of the chair that they are hanging behind.

The Parkinson’s affected brain perceives things differently. A neurotypical brain constructs reality from the sensors it has to detect the surroundings. A parkie brain often no longer is able to construct the same reality from what it sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells (if smell is still available).

As was noted earlier Parkinson’s sucks.