Thursday, February 24, 2011

Am I turning into my grandmothers?

Well this wasn’t my intended subject for today’s post but in light of what happened I decided to write about my lack of brain matter. I seem to be following in my grandmothers foot steps only they were in their 70’s and 80’s while I’m only my fifties.  
My grandmother on my mom’s side would get up in the mornings, put on her clothes, shoes, grab her purse and head out the door to town, the store, to a friends or wherever. She never learned to drive so she walked everywhere no matter how far. She would walk down the highway toward the next town that was 23 miles away. She was in great shape physically. Not sure how far she got before someone would pick her up and drive her rest of the way. I’m talking small town so everyone knows everyone and a majority of them are related to me. Now all this was okay in the beginning but as time passed Othermom (that’s what I called her) couldn’t remember how she got to the other town or why she was there. My mom and uncle started getting a lot of calls from concerned folks from our hometown in Missouri. When David (my husband) and I went up to visit one time she hide the Fluffo on me while I was cooking breakfast. (Fluffo is like Crisco in lard form.) I found it later that evening when I went to pull the ice cream out of the freezer. Othermom had no clue why or how it got there. You see Alzheimer’s was setting in. While I don’t really think I have the on set of Alzheimer’s, I do have problems of getting side tracked sometimes.
Then there’s my Grandma Flossie, my dad’s mom, well she smoked and would leave still burning cigarettes just about anywhere in her apartment. She’d just forget where she left them. Her bed, the couch, or the kitchen counter, you get the idea. She almost burnt down the little apartment building down more than once. My dad would stop by to visit her in the mornings and would find the gas stove burner on. Oops not a good thing.
Now my personal stories – Monday I was getting ready for work, plugged in my hot curlers and once I was finished I walked out the door. Did I forget something? Well David came home that evening walks into the kitchen and asks “Where are you going tonight”
I look at him like he’s crazy because I’m cooking dinner and in my comfy clothes. So I say “No where”
He replies sarcastically “Your curlers are plugged in and I know you wouldn’t leave them on all day”
Well I won’t repeat the rest of that conversation.
Now last night I’m cooking dinner. I put the vegetables in the steamer on low-medium heat so they would be done by the time David walked in from work. No biggy right? Well I went upstairs to my sewing/crafting area, Next thing I hear “Are you trying to burn the house down”. Hmmm. My 10 minutes had turned into just a little over 15 minutes and the kitchen was full of smoke. I had put butter on top the veggies and the water had boiled away and the butter was smoking and the bottom of the pot was black. Again won’t repeat the rest of that conversation but I’m sure your imagination can come up with something.
So you tell me .. Am I turning into my grandmothers?  Maybe when I’m cooking I shouldn’t multi-task.
Or maybe it’s this upcoming birthday getting to me? I’m hoping it was just a bad week.

Until next time……. I’ll try not to burn the strawberries or the house.

2 comments:

Linda said...

May I ask if this is a recent condition or has it been like this for awhile and you are just now noticing? Amber was worried about me once....I would run water in the sink and walk off thinking to come RIGHT back....only to discover the water overflowing and filling the drawers and pouring off the counter like a waterfall! (my kitchen counters are permanently WARPED!) Summer...my oldest daughter, told Amber, "Don't worry about Mom! She's been this way my whole Life!"
I suppose we are kindred sisters, Carla!!

Carla said...

Linda it's an on going condition. Some days better than others. LOL