Cognitive Impairment

I met up with my second grade teacher today. I wouldn't have recognized her in a million years. We could have passed each other on the street and I'd have never known. We are complete strangers drawn together by a space of 10 months over 44 years ago. Today we sat and talked, looked at my old class picture, and remembered former students and classmates. Some of them we remembered multiple times.

Cognitive impairment is stealing her mind and memory. "It is what it is," she says, and she smiles. She has learned to be thankful for the day, to live in the moment, and to laugh. Old memories come easier than new ones and she both asked for and gave the same information multiple times. In spite of not always remembering how I knew her or why I'd looked her up, we had a wonderful visit.

We ate a late lunch in a local diner. The waitress seated us and we visited for a while before the man from an adjacent booth slipped into the seat beside her. "I'm going to risk being rude," he said. He turned out to be a fellow teacher from the old elementary school I'd attended so long ago. I asked him his name and found him to be the only grade 4-6 teacher whose name I would have recognized. I'd gone to a different elementary school after third grade, but my oldest brother had been in his class and I'd heard all kinds of stories as a child. Too bad I didn't recall any of them today. (Or maybe it was a good thing...)

After our lunch I took my new old friend back to her house. As I headed for my own home, I found myself feeling slightly teary. Although I'd had an inkling of her memory impairment from last week's phone conversation, I'd hoped to find her mind more intact. Thankfully, as much as I hate it, God has prepared my heart and mind to love and accept those who struggle with cognitive impairment. What had been so difficult to face in my mom, is now easier to accept in others. I must be getting better at it because this "new friend" looked me in the eye, smiled, and said, "I like you. If you're not too busy and would like someone to talk to, you can come and visit me again anytime."

I didn't take any pictures, so The Naughties are here for your viewing pleasure. :0)