The adventure continues as she works hard at learning something new. Twenty years of familiarity are gone, replaced by a much smaller home that has to contain all the memories. Decisions to be made: what picture goes where, how to make the favorite sofa fit, how to find the important photo albums, what to give to the church rummage sale. Days of work have culminated in a house a little neater – a little more like home.
Time to go to the supermarket for the first time.
The grocery list she made was written in her usual impeccable penmanship: milk, yellow, green box food, candy, coffee, and candy (black, blue) (sic).
So, off she went with her son. Like most men, the son is not entirely familiar with the supermarket, so when he offered some advice, he got this reprimand:
“You’re a man. You don’t know anything about shopping.”
Her confusion was evident, but there was no way she was going to let on. When she found the milk,
she didn’t know whether she wanted whole milk, fat free, or skim – but she knew the color of the cap should be blue. The selection in the juice section was a bit overwhelming, so it was easier to just get something orange in a box.
Gentle Readers may assume that this is a lady who needs a lot of help, but I take a different view. Short term memory loss does not mean she is helpless – she just needs time to absorb new information. The next trip will be a little easier, and with each successive trip, things will become a bit more familiar.
Her son was given a task appropriate for his gender as he carried her wares to the car. Her first shopping trip was successful. She did pick up a few more items that were not on the shopping list, but we never did find “green box food.”
The next adventure. She will sleep in her new home tonight rather than in her son and daughter-in-law’s home.
And her son is not worried.
