Alzheimer's Coincidence Or Divine Intervention

This happened about a week and a half ago. Better late than never. Ever notice that even with the best intentions to sit down and get some work done things happen to distract you from it and in the end it seems like you were being guided. I had one of those days. Mom was more interactive this day and kept asking me to come out to the room she was in. She just wanted to spend time with me.

This happens often but this time she was pestering me every few minutes. With Alzheimer's disease it's unusual that she could keep that idea going for as long as she did. I resigned to the fact I wasn't going to get anything done any way so I went out and sat down.

Being with a person that has Alzheimer's disease you become aware of things most people might not notice. When I'm at the computer I constantly listen for the slightest noise or vibration or movement caught out the corners of my eyes. You begin to notice patterns of normal activity. Anything that is outside of that pattern catches your attention. Your awareness of everything around you is heightened.

The room we were in has large windows one next to the other. You see around outside very well. The road isn't far about 50 or 60 feet but with the trees and bushes you only see a glimpse of part of a car or person. We live on a corner property and it's normal for people to turn onto the road and stop to get their bearings or pick something up that slid off their seat.

If you look toward the bottom of the yard you see a longer stretch of road. Well I see a car slowing down but I don't see it stop because of the bushes. I looked toward the bottom of the yard and I see a car the same color almost stopping and then doing this again and again. I've seen this before when a cat or dog is on the run to freedom.

If a pet gets free in the area it often shows up here. The yard is full of bushes that were planted as food sources and cover for birds. This landscape seems to attract runaway pets too. About 15 minutes past and I see the car go by again. I go out but it's to far down the road for them to notice me. I go back in and sit down and about the time I expect the car to come past again I start looking out the door. Instead of the car I see an elderly woman walk past the door, go down the steps onto the driveway and head for the backyard. Now that was out of the ordinary. I went out and asked her it I could help. Was she looking for her pet?

By her response I could tell she had memory problems. Not lost to the world but not all there either. I asked her where she was trying to get to and who she was. She new her name (RUTH) so that helped and she was going to her son's house. She gave the name of the road we are on but said she was looking for the big house and didn't know the address.

All the houses are about the same size one this road. I asked where she was coming from and she mentioned her daughter and pointed up the other road and said it was over the hill but didn't know the address there. Her house was about 10 miles away. She was visiting her daughter and no one was there because her daughter had to work. So she decided to walk to
her son's house.

It was hot out and she looked a little hot so I got her to come into the air conditioned house and I looked for her son's name in the phone book. His name wasn't but there was a women in there on my road with the same last name. Two numbers and both had answering machines. I left messages. She knew her son's name but not his wife's first name. I didn't know for sure so I also called the operator for more help but she had no listings for Ruth's son.

I got her something to drink but you need to take care because you don't know if they have health issues. Can they have sugars or are they allergic to anything. Now I had 2 elderly women with Alzheimer's in the house. I lucked out. Both pleasant, happy and talkative. She mentioned she had been walking for quite a while. She was ready to get on her way so I kept talking about different stuff to distract her. I didn't feel it was safe for her to wander off on her own.

If she did take off I would have to call the police and get them involved and I hadn't ruled that out for the current situation. She was starting to say her goodbyes and thank you for being so helpful when the phone rang. It was her son. It was him driving slowly past just before she showed up here and was driving all over the area looking for her. His sister called him and said she wasn't there when she got home.

He said that three other people had left messages on his answering machine and one had mentioned giving her a ride to the corner I live on. Nobody had taken her into custody and kept her. They just let her go. I'm happy to say this had a happy ending. It worked out well for the son because I had gone through my mother running away. I was able to calm him down and let him know other people go through the same thing.

The poor guy was so worried he was shaking. He didn't seem mad about it but he wasn't very open about what he was going through. You could tell it was forcing him to make some mental adjustments. This isn't unusual when your a newbie caregiver or family member trying to deal with Alzheimer's.

Being experienced I gave him some tips and what he should consider doing so this doesn't happen again. All the talking in the world isn't going to give you the skills you need. It does help when something happens but experience gives you the skills. He seemed to look like the shaking had stopped. He was off to get home and tell everyone she was safe.

See what I mean. If things hadn't happened just the way they did. If mom hadn't kept coming in and asking me to come out to the back room and sit with her. She must have come in and asked me seven times. That's a pretty long time for her to stay focused on something. It was as if there was some guiding force nudging her to nudge me.

It seemed it was meant that I saw Ruth go past the door. I thought it strange that her name was Ruth. My mothers sister is also named Ruth. She also has Alzheimer's disease like symptoms. It might have been Ruth's last chance to get home safely. I didn't notice as it was happening but when it was over I thought how many things had to fall in place. I wonder was this all a coincidence or was there some sort of divine intervention happening.

In some strange way I feel like I was being gently guided into the right place at the right time. What do you think? Do you feel like you have ever been nudged or guided? To do something or that you ended up somewhere at a certain time that made you think. What if?