She did not sleep well because of thinking about anxiety for family and  staying up late – past 11. She was off most of the previous day. More sleep into the morning is impossible.

All indications of the day to come?  She is very tired. At 8:30am, I help her back to bed for a nap.

At 10:15am, oh what a beautiful day! She is awake and only off schedule for meds by 15 minutes.

Interesting conversation when she came out — Isn’t it amazing how much this place looks like ours? She said. Whenever I come out on this floor I’m amazed.  All the same pictures like we have are hanging up. I agree it is amazing. I say it is very much like our old place.

In our old house we had two floors.  She still uses this terminology and I do not correct her. Maybe I inadvertently promoted two floors in her mind? She complains of hunger but is unsure of what will satisfy that hunger. I suggest a couple of the cookies we made a special trip to buy yesterday. She brightens and says yes to that idea.

She is improving while I watch her eat some cookies and OJ.  Working the puzzles in the newspaper is her favorite awakening activity.

She seems okay for the moment.  I will go back to my baking. When I come back from assembling the fruit pocket with yellow crumb topping the conversation turns to Catholic church and thoughts of a female priesthood.

She ponders the future of any of that and compares it to our used-to-be Sunday dinners. A reminiscent memory of times past brings forth tears of regret and sorrow over experiences lost to time. At our old home – a five bedroom house with plenty of space for kids to roam and adults to sit and converse around the table while waiting for digestion to make room for dessert – we often had many for Sunday dinner. Those days are happy ones. They are fond memories.

These days of a smaller place and dealing with Parkinson’s disease do not allow for that in our home. (It is perhaps time for the children to start that tradition but they seem uninclined to do so.) It is understandable. Their families are young and vibrant. Many distractions occur on the weekend. Feeding old folks is not one of them.

The oven beeper rings out its merry song! The baking is done! The baking is done! Come get the baking. It is done. (smiley face) Here is a picture. The only thing left is the icing but they have to cool for that to occur.

Cherry pocket Coffee cake: my drizzle got away from me.

I like to bake. On another part of this blog I published my Cinnamon rolls. I could go through in laborious detail how I make these coffee cakes. They have become Cheryl’s favorite. I make them often.

In the midst of this scribble my sister-in-law in Florida announced she is negative for Covid-19. That’s really good news but her doctor believes she may have clots developing in her lungs. That is ominous.

She walks by to announce she is taking a shower to get cleaned up. We have our listening for thumps segue and she goes to get cleaned up. All was going well again, but, alas it was time for the 1PM meds. In fact she was late taking them.

This has turned into a rambling account of a day in the life. I did not intend it to be but this day, for whatever reason, is hard on Cheryl. I think that even though she knows there is little she can do for her sister from so far away, she is very anxious about her.

These two women slept in the same bed as children. Often in Cheryl’s dreamlike state in the middle of a semi-dreaming world she will see her sister. She has several times asked me in the morning if Jan had gone home or when did Jan leave? Jan is part of her hallucination that occurs often in the early morning brightening gray light. Their connection is strong through PD and yet their symptoms and treatment are so dissimilar.

We are able to take a walk at about 2:30PM. I admire her persistence. It can be hot in Ohio in July. So we take a walk of about a mile around this little park nearby. It is slow going but we get through it by resting in the shade occasionally. The reward is a stop at a nearby creamy whip ice cream store.

We have decided on waffles with fruit topping for dinner. That was going to be breakfast, then lunch. It became dinner. (smiley face) Things take a little longer in the parkie world. Sometimes you get waffles for supper. Other days not. She is laying down again.

No more pertinent updates from the Florida chat line. The text messages have gone quiet for a while. Perhaps we can sup at 6PM.

Time to get started just in case it happens.