Congratulations to David Axelson, of Redmond Oregon. He won $2,000 worth of free housecleaning, provided by Merry Maids, for submitting his favorite caregiver moment to AgingCare.com. Thanks to everyone who entered.
Here is David’s winning story:
Mom was having great difficulty in maintaining cleanliness in her side of our joint residence and asserting "independence" absolutely refused to consider ANY help at all. Finally, my wife scheduled a commercial house cleaning (to take all day) and we told Mom we were taking her, her companion, and her dog for a short drive to "go for breakfast". So the trip began, with Mom constantly saying "Let’s go home now," but we kept proceeding further out in the country, with my continually making "wrong turns" and "getting lost" and Mom clearly frustrated by having the stupidest son-in-law imaginable, and finally reaching a small town close to civilization in time to stop at a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we arrived home (as unoccupied then as it had been before we left that morning). The house of course was sparkling clean, nearly all the home cleaning supplies had been used, and the house smelled strongly of cleaning compounds throughout. All went unnoticed of course and an enjoyable "short drive" was had by all. Now if we could find a way to get her in a shower.......
View member profile: Daxelson
Our other favorites:
One morning, I thought I heard my dad talking to someone. He was saying, "Hello? Hello?" I looked into the living room to see him talking into the control for his electric warming blanket. I asked who he was talking to and he responded that he was talking to my uncle. I told him I didn't think that phone was working and I picked up the phone next to him and dialed my uncle's number. He happily chatted away for the next half hour or so. I think he must have been dreaming about talking on the phone. Dreams seem very real these days and he often wakes up thinking that whatever was happening in the dream is real.
View member profile: Bbweb
One of my most memorable moments is actually a funny one. My husband, my mom and myself went to the Cracker Barrel in our area one morning and when the waitress came over to see what we wanted to drink, my mom (she's 88 and in the late stages of Alzheimer's) looked at her and said "well, I've got this". She stuck her hand in her coat pocket and handed the waitress a dog turd!! Needless to say that waitress never waited on us again....lol!!
View member profile: Pkpurs