So the move into the house across the street on October 31st went quite smoothly, thanks to a lot of helpers.

Day 1 went pretty well! Dad popped over every few hours, but I didn’t mind that. Whatever problem he is dealing with is an emergency, in his mind, and has to be dealt with right away. He comes right over to get help, but he struggles with describing the problem. I followed him back over to their house armed with extra pots, soup bowls, and a casserole dish…because I couldn’t figure out what the problem was! Turned out that he couldn’t get the microwave to work. Not unlike playing Charades.

So I sent over a package of post-it notes so that Mom can send a note along with him.

No 6am doorbell ringing this morning like he did yesterday! That’s good.

My husband Steve saw Dad just as he was leaving for work this morning, then called me later to say, “Your dad just seems happy.”

This morning, I took Dad to the grocery store with me after we dropped my son at high school. When the checker was finished, he turned to Dad to say thanks for help bagging up the groceries, but then noticed that Dad had just filled the cart up without using any bags! The checker was great–I had introduced Dad to him yesterday and intentionally went to the same guy again today. After the checker very nicely bagged the groceries, Dad pushed the cart to the exit and I whispered to him that my dad has Alzheimer’s. The checker said, “I know. I could tell. So does my mom.”

But Dad really does seem better–especially in the morning. Those are sweet moments for me. He sits at my kitchen counter and reads the newspaper and eats cereal and has a cup of coffee. Nice!

Mom is getting needed relief, too, which was the whole reason for moving over here. And so far, I’ve been able to take Dad on errands that I would be going on anyway.

So that’s where we are on Day 2! So far, so good.