Are You My Husband? Pt. 03

For Janie and Scott, Beverly was simply, Mom, and losing her was terribly difficult.

For Kathleen, after the funeral, it was as if her mind, which had held on so tightly to everything that it could for as long as it could, began to unwind. First, it was forgetting where she had put things. Then she had difficulties remembering birthdays or things that happened in the past. That was when she realized that she was going downhill fast.

Then she began forgetting names and faces. She had her good days and bad days. On her good days, she would call her children and relive memories with Janie, Scott, and Dina. Sometimes Blake and Annabelle would come by. Also, on the good days, she would orient them in the bed so that she was in the middle, and she would love and stroke the faces of her loved ones and kiss them frequently. As much as she could, she wanted them to know how much she loved and appreciated them all these years.

For Janie and Scott, it was spirit renewing and soul-crushing at the same time.

On her good days, she was wonderful. On her bad days, she was...wonderful, but more docile and disconnected.

One thing that was always consistent, though, even on her bad days, if Scott or Janie entered the room that she was in, she smiled, every time. Even if she couldn't remember their names, she still smiled. She may not be able to remember why there was a connection between the three of them, but she had an innate understanding that these two people were special to her, even if she couldn't recall why.

Whereas some people with early-onset Alzheimer's become agitated or frustrated, Kathleen usually was not. She was patient with Scott and Janie, and they were with her as they took care of her, including helping to bathe and clothe her and helping her in the restroom.

Dina, now in her early seventies, helped where she could. She ran the house for them and tried to make their lives easier so they could focus on taking care of their loved one, whom she loved, too.

They decided to start bringing a nurse in from time to time to check on Kathleen. Her health was still good, so they didn't foresee any problems. She was still allowing them to take care of her on her bad days, which made the situation manageable.

She would ask them questions regularly, and they were always happy with the questions and the answers. Usually, the questions were related to their earlier lives and their children, or how they happened to be in her life. The answers, which often involved pictures of family, usually brought all of them joy because they had lived good lives.

Eventually, the nurse was needed more frequently, and the good days were further and further apart. Kathleen kept her wonderful smile, though, and she continued to love those strangers who took care of her.

After eating breakfast with the strangers one morning, they were sitting together on their patio furniture which overlooked their beautiful backyard, and she had another vision. She knew right away that it was one of the ones she would enjoy.

There was a peahen walking on one side of her and a lion padding along on the other. She was always happy to see the lion because she knew he was protecting them. She knew that she loved the peahen because she seemed so familiar and looked so much like herself.

As she walked towards a stream, she could see a parliament of owls whooing with each other. Oddly, one of them was wearing a pair of glasses and another was wearing a robe. Two larger, older owls soared overhead.

As she looked around, she could see an entire flock of peafowl following behind them. She couldn't remember their names, but she knew that they belonged there with them.

She stumbled for a moment, and when she looked down, the feathers on her front were strangely wet. It seemed to bother the other peahen, but it didn't bother her nor the lion.

The grizzly bear was back this time but on their side of the stream, which was a first.

The lion had laid down as he often did and pulled her to rest against him comfortably to enjoy his warmth and protection. He always was comforting her, and she loved him for that. She noticed that the other peahen continued to be very animated for some reason as was another peahen that she couldn't quite recognize.

The grizzly was also watching the two peahens rush around, but she lay on the ground next to the lion, waiting.

"No matter," Kathleen thought. She lay on her lion and admired the beauty of the scene while those two peahens rushed to and fro. The scene really was beautiful, and she was quite comfortable resting against her lion, surrounded by fowl that she loved and loved her. All was right in her world. She was feeling tired and thought a good nap was in order for the day. The lion wouldn't mind because he liked to nap next to her, too, as he did so often.

She looked up and smiled at the lion who was watching her with tears in his eyes, and she closed her eyes to sleep.

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Dina was rushing to bring Janie more towels to help soak up the blood that continued to pour from Kathleen's nose. Scott held her tightly, but she did not struggle. She continued to look through him with a far-away look, but she continued smiling.

He was glad. If this was the last thing she experienced, he was glad that it was a good vision while being held by him. He couldn't stop the tears in his own eyes though. As his wife bled to death in his arms, he was helpless to do anything as they heard the ambulance sirens approaching.

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Without enough room for all of them in the ambulance, Scott drove behind, following it to the hospital. He was lucky that they weren't in an accident given how distraught they all were.

He and Janie were covered in blood upon entering the emergency room, where Kathleen had already been pronounced dead.

"It was probably an aneurysm," said the doctor, but it didn't really matter. Scott knew before the gurney had been rolled into their backyard to take her to the ambulance that she wasn't coming back.

Dina had called Ramon, who called everyone. Rather than meeting at the hospital, they all went to Scott and Janie's house. Emilia was on the phone ordering food for everyone because that is what you do during times like these...or at least that is what she had always experienced.

She would make sure that these people, her family, would be looked after for the next several days.

Even though everyone could see the direction that Kathleen was taking, it still came as a huge surprise for her to be gone so suddenly. Maybe it seemed suddenly because nobody wanted it to happen.

There was a short funeral service at the funeral home and Janie and Scott shared the extremely difficult eulogy at the gravesite, which was only one hundred feet from her parent's. Several years earlier, knowing this day was coming, Janie and Scott had purchased a plot for three graves.

It took a week to have the gravestone made. Only the immediate family went for its viewing. Nobody was surprised to see it say,

"Kathleen Winter Parker

Our peahen

She loved her family and her life"

A few weeks later, one of Aimee's children, who had gone on to work at the museum, too, approached the Parkers and asked if she could pull together an exhibition featuring Kathleen's works.

It was an earnest request, but Janie replied, "Not now. Maybe in a year or two. Our kids will help you, and Scott and I won't stand in the way, but I don't think I could be any help. I still cannot look at a picture of her or one of her drawings without breaking down. Maybe after some time. Work through our kids."

Scott nodded his approval. He felt the same way. Every time he saw the picture Amanda painted of his two wives in those peafowl dresses, he had to stop himself from tearing up. It was only because he still had Janie that he could make it through some days.

___________________

They all missed her. Even though she had been slipping away for years, for her to actually be gone left an enormous hole in each of them.

With the work required to look after Kathleen gone, Dina asked, "What would you like me to do now?"

Scott and Janie looked at each other for a moment, and they both replied, "Stay!"

Janie said, "It's our turn to love and look after you."

That brought fresh tears to all of their eyes because it was the three of them even before Kathleen had moved in. Except for the few years she had lived with Beverly, Dina had been with them for over forty years.

Ramon and Emilia had moved into Wade and Beverly's house and hosted the entire family, often.

With plenty of grandchildren around, there was no shortage of stories to be told. The older kids would usually be sucked into their phones or tablets, but occasionally they were all in the back yard, together.

One of the younger ones was asking Scott to tell her about her late grandmother.

Scott chose to tell a more recent story about how wonderful she was even as her memory began to let her down.

He said, "She was always so inquisitive. She would ask many of the same questions over and over wondering how certain things came to be. I would show her pictures of all of you, and even though she couldn't remember our names, she would smile, understanding that we were her family and that we loved her."

The little one he was talking to, Jena, was sitting on his knee, and he was saying, "You are so cute, though," then he tickled her, and Jena cackled, "I think she could recognize you. Your eyes are just like hers. I'll bet you'll be as pretty as she was one day."

Connie smiled at her dad. She hoped Jena would be as sweet as her mother was. Who cares about looks?

Jena asked, "What did she ask you the most?"

Scott looked over at Janie who was smiling at him. Everyone's aunt Dina was sitting next to her. Janie and Dina knew the answer to this already. Even though Kathleen needed no reassurance that she was in a loving relationship and was loved, she would ask this question during every single one of her bad days. Janie suspected it was just because Kathleen liked hearing the answer.

Scott said, "She would ask me, 'Are you my husband?"

Excitedly, little Jena asked, "What did you say? What did you say?"

"Even though I would choke up when I would hear the question, I gladly answered, 'Yes. Yes, I am."

Fin.

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I hope you enjoyed that, and it wasn't too sappy. (I know, I know). I really enjoyed writing this even though I hit a huge block right around the museum exhibition and had to walk away from this for months.

Before I typed the first word, I knew I was going to open and close the story with that question, the title of the story. (I hope it wasn't that obvious from the beginning).

I lost a grandmother to Alzheimer's several years ago. She was a member of the 'greatest generation.' Even though she grew up on a dirt farm in the middle of nowhere down south. She had a very good life and was well-traveled (internationally) for someone born so poor. It is unfortunate that at the end she couldn't remember most of it.

I'm told that she rarely was agitated or frustrated but was often confused until pneumonia caught up with her weakened condition from not eating well.

Live while you can people. Tell those you care about that you love them...often. Especially those that are older.

Also, credit to StangStar for the Hannibal quote. I watched the original A-team growing up, but reading that line in one of his stories was a ding-ding-ding moment.