Visit with Tim

Tim's dementia is significant, and he is struggling. I don't even know how to come to terms with the fact that 3 out of 5 of my siblings have Alzheimer's. Tim is only 59! I just can't even wrap my brain around that. I was worried about him flying alone, and the worry was justified. No one helped him transfer planes, and he was pretty frustrated.

Lynn and Wendy were leaving for Ohio the day after Tim arrived. Chase is starting dental school at Ohio State. They came by for breakfast before they left. The last time I saw Lynn was when Marjie was here last year. His dementia has significantly advanced. Brad and Teresa are putting their papers in to go on another mission.

We hiked, and I got poison ivy! Good times.

We saw "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" at the Centerville Playhouse. It was really stupid, but Tim loves Snoopy, so it was worth a try.

When I took Tim to the airport, I got a gate pass to take him back and arranged for a wheelchair transfer to Dallas. I even talked to the gate agents to ensure they had a wheelchair waiting. I was so optimistic. A couple hours later, I got a call from a freaked-out Tim. No one met him, and he was totally lost. I told him to go to the gate, ask for help, and give his phone to someone so I could talk to them. It was like a social experiment. I could hear people telling him to go somewhere else. Thanks to technology, I can turn a call into a Facetime call. I had him turn the camera around so I could see where he was. I saw a black middle-aged woman wearing what looked like an AA shirt. I told him to go ask her for help. He did, and she talked to me. I told her what was going on. She gave the phone back to Tim and then disappeared. I asked him where she went, and he said he didn't know. A minute later, someone put him in a wheelchair and took him to the other terminal. His phone was still on, so I listened to the 10 minutes it took to get him to his gate. He made it home without any other problems. That was the last time he would fly alone; it was terrifying. That's the third time I've had a middle-aged black woman go out of the way to help with a lost family member.