How's Wes?!

A few weeks ago, I went up to Inman by myself, to spend a long weekend with my mom & dad.  At this point, I hadn't heard my mom say my name in several weeks.  Here it was, the middle of January & it was before Christmas since she had called me Jennifer.  Usually, she would refer to me as "mom" if Sadie or Hudson were in view or just wave her hand at me so I would know she was talking to me.  I was okay with this.  I knew she knew who I was, not necessarily her daughter, but she knew me.  Most of the time, she was still able to call my kids by their names.  Every now & then, I would hear kids, or girl if she was talking to Sadie over skype.

I drove up on a Friday afternoon, so I just met my parents at a restaurant for dinner that night before going to their house.  We order our food, sit down, & start to eat.  She had told me hello & asked how I was in the parking lot, but never said my name.  So, imagine my surprise, when she just looks at me & said, "How's Wes?"

Now, for those of you who don't know, Wes is my husband.  We are coming up on eight years of marriage in May.  Granted, we started dating when I was eighteen, & I'll be (yes, I'm going to say it) 33 on Tuesday (feel free to send me a gift, lol!).  So, Wes has been around a while.  But, I have been around for almost 33 years, not to mention the nine months & 10 days (because I was 10 days overdue!) that she carried me before giving birth to me.  See, in most Alzheimer's cases, the newest memories go first, & they usually remember the memories from childhood the longest.  In my mom's case, its not like that.  There have been gaps, big ones at that.  Why can she remember my kids' names but not mine?  Its crazy!  Then, she asks me, "How's Wes?" when he's not there, she hasn't seen him since Christmas, and neither myself or my dad has mentioned him!  I've always known they love Wes, but this takes it to a whole different level.  

Wes, of course, thinks its the best thing ever!  In his mind, my mom confirmed that he's her favorite!  I approach it as at least she knows Wes is part of my life, and she cares about him.  We have to take the reminders anyway we can now.  I know there will be a day, when she won't remember Wes' name, or my children's names, or who I am.  But for now, I'm cherishing every moment, even if that means that Wes is her favorite, lol!

Jennifer