Family time

Tomorrow I'm off to Raleigh, NC to spend a few days with my mother-in-law and her husband.

My MIL was recently diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and Gregg and I have been trying to visit as often as we can while she's still in the early stages of the disease. I've been promising her a visit for almost two months now but what with one thing and another, it hasn't worked out. After deciding not to take the new job, I arranged for a couple of personal leave days so I could go. She sounded so happy when I called to tell her I was coming! I love her like a second mom. She's always treated me just like a daughter since the first day we ever met. I truly lucked out in the mother-in-law department.

 I'm hoping her husband can get a break while I'm there to go play golf or do something else he enjoys. I know that her declining condition has been difficult for him and he doesn't get many chances to get away. She can no longer drive and so all the shopping and errands fall on him now.  She doesn't have the concentration to cook anymore, and they've hired a woman to come help with the cleaning once a week. Then there's the burden of helping her remember to take medications and getting her to her never ending medical appointments. The man has the patience of a saint and has been so good to her! We're lucky she married such a good man late in life. (They married 15 years ago when they were both in their mid- sixties). His health is still good and his mind is sharp. I feel so sad for him and want to support him as much as possible--he watched his first wife die slowly of cancer. I can't imagine how painful it is for him to see his second wife declining to a disease as cruel as dementia.

But....for the time being, she's still doing reasonably well, and Gregg and I plan to make the most of whatever good time she has left....and to support his stepdad as much as possible throughout. I wish we didn't live almost 3 hours away, though.