Saturday with Maggy

Today was Saturday with Maggy, my very part-time gig as a caregiver for a woman with Alzheimer's. She was in great spirits today, if a little bossy, but I don't mind too much. Even when I have to make her eggs over again because they aren't soft enough. I pride myself on being patient enough to grin and bear it.

We decided to go to a movie, "The Time Traveller's Wife." This wouldn't have been my first choice in movies, but Maggy wouldn't have appreciated "District 9" either. The movie is basically about a man who can time travel, but can't control when and for how long he does it. In the process he gets married and the story line focuses on this relationship. The most gut-wrenching part of it all was when he, "Henry," randomly time travels at really bad times, making his life chaotic and unpredictable. And in a way, this is just like Maggy's life. She has no control over what she can and cannot remember. She fades in and out like a light bulb that's about to go. And she certainly time travels. Sometimes when I see her, she's 90 year old Maggy, grumpy and bossy. But sometimes, like today, she is 20 year old Maggy, asking me to call her mother to let her know where she is, and thinking the senior discount is for seniors in high school.

Usually, I over think all this stuff, wondering how it relates to my life, what meaning am I supposed to glean from these experiences? But today I'm taking Maggy's advice, "just be happy. It's just the easiest thing to do. The easiest way to be."