"You all liked the same things?"
"No, not always, but we made concessions to each other because we loved one another's company." Instantly, a strange look passed across my mother's face and she moved back, startled. She stared from one of us to the other. "I think you people are in the wrong room. Who are you here to visit? Where's my bell? I'll call the nurse's station."
I jumped up, alarmed at the change, but Karen patted my mother's hand. "That's all right. We'll be leaving now. I'm glad we stopped in." She rose and gently kissed my mother on the forehead and walked past me as if I wasn't there. At the door, Karen turned. "Good bye, Grandma." My mother remained perplexed as I too kissed her before following Karen from the room.
Once outside, I walked a short distance ahead of Karen and let the tears flow. She stood off until I'd finished. Neither of us spoke until we left the back roads and were settled on the Interstate. I turned to Karen, silent tears still running down my cheeks. "Thank you," I said. "You were marvelous with her. I've never known anyone your age who could be so gentle and caring."
She ignored my tears. "I had a lot of practice."
"It's much more than that. Don't minimize your virtues, Karen. They're extraordinary."
"She's a very nice lady. I can see how she was a great mother. You and Aunt Suzie were fortunate to have her. Why did you stay away from her?"
I had all I could do to respond. "I shouldn't have. I was wrong."
Mercifully Karen didn't press. Instead she said, "Perhaps now you can make it up to her and visit frequently."
I agreed. Time passed before I spoke again. "I'm glad you were able to meet her when she was lucid, at least for a little while." I looked over as Karen sat pressed against the door. "Did your mother fade in and out like that?"
"I told you; I don't want to talk about my mother."
I sighed, wiped my face and concentrated on my driving. "What do you want to talk about? It's a long trip."
"Nothing. I have a lot on my mind."
So did I, but I'd rather have spent my time in conversation with Karen than in silence. To make matters worse, our return trip was delayed by an over turned vehicle and the resulting clean up, so we'd barely crossed into Massachusetts before darkness fell.
"May we have a civilized dinner together with at least some conversation? Driving in silence is one thing, but I don't want to eat that way too."