After a rocky start, had a very enjoyable, if unconventional, Easter weekend. We went to Alison's for dinner on Saturday with Joel, Jen, and Tristan (Joely was at his cousin's and asked to stay). "T" is so funny and cute: He crawls rapidly after what he wants--and that's everything. I had to wrestle Lulu's food dish from him and when we were eating, he tried to swipe the tableware and plate. He goes after Lulu and actually grabs her tail to pull himself up. What a kid!
Alison served ham, corn pudding, a rice/feta cheese/mint dish, roasted veggies, and a few other dishes and I contributed the devilled eggs and cake. I brought a basket full of different salad dressings--and completely forgot the salad! Aagh--it's that kind of thing that throws me for a loop, but I controlled my chagrin and we had a great time.
Yesterday, I drove up to Alison's in late afternoon while Pat was at the bay. We packed up the leftovers, picked up Mike's brother, David, and went to the assisted living facility where their mother lives.
Mavis is considerably more "with it" than she was the last time I saw her about a year ago. (Alison said that after strokes, the brain can sometimes develop new pathways to do what it used to do on the damaged ones, and that seems to be what happened with Mavis.)
Right next to M.'s room is the "tea room," with a working fireplace, polished table and chairs, and easy chairs. It also has a big, fully equipped kitchen, and we were given tablecloths.
Alison had brought everything else, including the food, plates and utensils, and we put out a big spread. Had a good time; Mavis reminiscenced about camping trips and so on when her three boys were small, and some of the stories were genuinely funny. She does think Lee is still alive and sometimes slips into a little delusion otherwise, but generally is pretty good.
We left about 7:00, dropped David off, and got back to Alison's about 7:30. An hour later, I was home, had my popcorn and wine, and slept well. Pat was fine, having made himself a ham sandwich for dinner (I had left as much laid out as possible) and said he had stopped at Old George's and talked to his sister-in-law.
My emotional equilibrium is much improved now. Will still go with Leslie to the support group meeting tomorrow, but I'm in a much better frame of mind.