shopping in spain

Sometimes it's nice to get away from the younger generation for a little while. I had a wonderful surprise this afternoon when Rachel suggested that two folks from our Dementia care unit (the "Terrace") join us for our monthly shopping trip to Petco.

A little backstory: Our long-term care facilities subscribe to a philosophy called the "Eden Alternative". One of the benefits of this program is lots of animals to keep our residents company. Animal supplies can be expensive, so we applied for a grant from the Petco Foundation. And Petco, in their infinite wisdom, granted our request. They give us a carload of pet supplies every month. All we have to do is pick it up. And today, two wonderful ladies (let's call them "Joan" and "Beatrice") joined us for the ride.

People with Alzheimer's can be a little like high school kids, in their own way. They tend to ask the same question over and over and over and over and over. And they like to carry on the same conversation all the time. But Joan thought we were not in Petco, but in Spain, and she couldn't wait to get back to America because no one would believe where she had been. Delightful.

And we shopped. Actually, it wasn't exactly like shopping because we weren't shelling out any cash. Just went up and down the aisles with a shopping cart and a list. Joan pushed the cart the whole time and loved every minute of it, even though it got pretty heavy in the end. And Beatrice has a cat of her own (Marmalade) so she spent most of the time looking for a good catnip mouse.

When we finished, the Petco folks bagged it up for us and we headed out to the car. Oops. Forgot I drove a Beetle. I never have a problem fitting all of this stuff when it's just me in the car. But now there were four of us and it was not easy. Crammed everything I could into the back hatch, then Joan and Beatrice held stuff in their laps on the back seat. And we made it back with no trouble.

On the way back, as Joan and Beatrice were carrying on in the back seat, I asked Rachel if the repetition ever got to her. "Mmm. Sometimes," she said. "But most of the time, not at all. Even when they're having bad days, which can be pretty rough." For the first time in my life, I really understood that. I've never been a direct caregiver for our residents, so I've never been close enough for the stress to get to me. But I can definitely relate when I think about my students. Somedays, they drive me absolutely nuts, but most days they couldn't do anything that would bother me.

After we had carried everything in and Joan and Beatrice headed off to dinner, Beatrice turned to me with a big smile and said, "If you ever need help shopping again, I'd be happy to go along!" Truly made my day. Thank you, both of you. And thanks, Rachel, for suggesting it.

Posted: Fri - March 5, 2004 at 09:35 PM

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shopping in spain

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