Camelot

"Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot."

Mommy's in her usual routine, of late, sleeping all day then awake in evening.

I saw that the movie "Camelot" was on so I turned it on for her. It is another musical which she has loved for years (she used to always play the album of the soundtrack, singing along - stirring in me images of what she told me the story was about: King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot), but she doesn't recognize it anymore, and turns it off. This saddens me, because if she can't remember her music - only a few months ago she still remembered the songs from "The Sound of Music" - and she can't comprehend reading... what does she have to enjoy?

The next morning, Pastor is coming to give her communion. Mommy actually wakes up early, but is very grumpy and won't eat any of the good breakfast I got ready for her.

We try out new tub. With its cut-away wall, it is easier for her to get into and out of. Once the shreiking stops (beccause she thinks I am trying to drown her with the shower spray), it goes okay, and she thanks me afterward for getting her clean.

As she waits for Pastor, she still refuses to eat anything.

After he goes, she starts to slip back into more confusion.

I find her on the couch, after supper, pulling sandwich bags out of the box and biting one open. What are you doing? "Knitting."

Aroung 8pm she is lying in bed, but with all the lights on. I say I am just checking to see if she needs anything, since the light is on. She says she is "waiting for that thing to pop." What thing? Pointing to the ceiling, "That big black bubble."

* * *

In the last scene of Camelot, a dying King Arthur instructs a boy to carry on telling the story, so that it is never forgotten. I try to do that for Mommy and for all of us - telling "our story".

"Don't let it be forgot
that once there was a spot
for one brief shining moment
that was known as Camelot "