“Once you’ve arrived at the airport, how do you get to the next place?” Maga asked.
“My house?”
“Yes. Do you take a taxi to your lodging?”
“Sure do.”
“Do you have any more trips planned?”
“Not in the immediate future.”
“Oh.”
“What did you do today?”
“Oh, not much. It was a quiet day.”
“Those are necessary some days.”
“Yes. Some days are rushing days and those aren’t as fun as the quiet ones.”
“I’ve got a bunch of quiet ones in my near future.”
“I guess so after a trip like you just had. You need to catch up.”
“You got it.”
“Did Aunt J stop by today?”
“Yes, she did. She had such an interesting gadget with her to show me the pictures. Like a TV screen.”
“Her phone?”
“It was connected to it.”
“Oh, I think you mean her iPad.”
“Sure.”
“Maga, you have one of those!”
“I do?”
“Yes. It’s got a red cover and is sitting next to your TV.”
“Oh, why yes. I do see something like that on top of the TV stand.”
Looking at the TV tore her attention away from our discussion and lodged it on the “crazy creatures” on screen. Admittedly, the break in conversation was a relief from answering the “do you have any upcoming trips” question, which she asked no less than nine times in the span of five minutes and which I’ve edited out of this post for brevity.
Having just seen her three times over the course of four days showed me why she often gets stuck on one particular topic. Her mobility is severely limited and as such she’s often within her small apartment. The TV broadens the room a bit, so I can’t fault her for often tuning into it while we’re talking. Her memories would expand the room as well, but her memory’s definitely not what it used to be and so she focuses on the present, which more and more often resets every minute or so.
Hard as the truth of 98 is, gratitude at the opportunity to know this about her and to have recently seen her warmed me as I answered in a variety of ways that, “no, I do not have any upcoming trips planned.”
“Come again anytime,” Maga said. “You know the route.”
I’m not sure if she heard, but I do happen to have a rather empty calendar… ;)
Abigail Mumford 