Friday, July 11, 2014 

One of those days. I spent much of the morning cleaning the porch and the house in preparation for company tomorrow, my cousin and her friend. Mom is now up and in rare form. 

Is your brother married, Rob?

Does he have any children?
Yes. Five of them.

Oh my God.

Well, mom (I said), you came from a family of ten.

I did not. That’s ridiculous.

Then I named her siblings.

Rob then produced the family portrait and asked her to name her family members, which she did with no prompting, except for two youngest siblings.

See, mom, there are ten children.

How many children does your brother have, Rob?

That’s a lot.

Do you ever visit him?

It must be nice there.

Yes, it is, but it’s no better than this.

Is he married?

Where does he live?

In California.

Does he like it there?

Have you ever visited him?

Yes.

Is he older than you?

How many children does he have?

Oh come on. He’s too young.

How old do you think he is, Paula?

I don’t know.

He’s 77.

Oh come on. He’s not that old.

Well, he is.

How old is your brother, Rob?

He looks younger.

Does he have any children? 

And so it goes. Mom only has a few sentence structures left and she uses them as frequently as she can. 

Yesterday, we went to the GP for a checkup. When I told the doctor I hoped to escape dementia because I read, am a musician, and continue to study, he said that was no guarantee. Just this morning after I wrote about this exchange to my uncle, Rob came in to tell me that Dr. Schnetzler, a brilliant scientist for whom he worked, developed Alzheimer’s disease. He was killed by a car while wandering one evening. How horrible. Blew a hole in my theory. 

And you only have one brother? That’s it?

No more?

Did you ever meet his wife?

And your brother lives in California. Where do your parents live?

They are gone.

What did my little sister Marge die of, Rob? I don’t remember.

Heart disease.

Rob, your brother didn’t come with his wife, huh?

And what did my big sister Marge die of, Rob? A heart attack?

Old age.

What what did my father die of?

A heart attack.

Oh. Where did you get this cup, Rob. It’s cute.