Thursday, February 28, 2008

Deja Vu (Or the third time moving into the same house)

We have officially moved out of our old house (though a lot of our 'stuff' is still there) and into our new house... which is in fact a much older house. This house has so much history in my family. You see, this is the third time we move into this house. This house is the one my parents brought me home from the hospital to. In fact, I am sleeping in the same room I slept in as a newborn. We moved out long before I can remember, but my parents bought my grandparents' house in another area of Miami, and my grandparents bought my parents' house. They just swapped houses!!! Several years later we sold our house in Kendall to live closer to my aging grandfather. He passed away before we could buy a house nearby, so we just stayed with my grandmother for a few months. That was the second time I moved into this little house on the prairie. And now, we are looking at the third move into this house. I thought I would hate it, but I just love it. It took us a while to figure out how to distinguish the two houses, since they are only 8 blocks apart, but now I just call it home. Even though it was grandma's home. And sometimes 'the new house' though it is much older than the one we just moved out of...

It's nice to downsize. I realize all the stuff I held onto is stuff that I just never use, or even look at! My grandmother will have a smaller house she has to get around, which is good for her! I get a normal bedroom- good for me to get used to, since I've been spoiled with a studio apartment-like bedroom! And my dog- she gets a huge yard to run around and play in. Plus- the kitchen, dining room and living room are all connected, so I can watch TV with my parents while I cook in the kitchen (though it's hard to hear). There's a screened-in porch in front, and an orchid house in the back. I plan to grow a little garden- with gerbera daisies, and calla lilies; with oregano, parsley, carrots, cilantro and sugar snap peas! Maybe I can enlist grandma's help. We'll see. Right now we're working on getting her to remember what we're doing in this house. Every other day or so, she'll ask, "Are we moving in here?" or "Are we living here now?" followed by "Why?" But I'm pretty sure the old house will be gone from her memory soon enough... which means an end to these redundant questions. At least this is the last time we move into this house (I think)!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Is Dementia Contagious?

The doctors say dementia is not contagious, but I am beginning to wonder. In my haste to book an exciting trip to New York, I checked my calendar to make sure I don't have anything going on, scanned my (inconsistent) brain, and decided to buy tickets with Lauren to go to New York - April 3-6. One problem: Grandma's birthday is in there. That doesn't move every year. I have celebrated it with her every year. I am pretty sure that dementia is contagious, because I completely forgot until the next day. I was so apologetic to everyone, but considering Grandma has no memory, we decided that I would just make it up to her. We'll still celebrate her birthday on the 6th, but we'll have a bigger deal some other day to celebrate that she's 80!!! Who knew? She's like a little energizer bunny. She just keeps going, and going, and going. And I get to celebrate her birthday AND go to New York because in the long run... she just won't remember. Still, we will - so I'd better make her souvenir a good one.