Got Mints?

"... a peppermint fix!"

It's 5 am in the morning. Angelo and I are finally enjoying the most blissful part of our sleep. There is a knock on our bedroom door.  "Renee!" (not my name!) "Renee, are you awake?" I stir somewhere between sleep and and not so asleep. "Ma'am?" "Renee, are you awake?" "Not until you started knocking on my bedroom door! Mom, what do you want at 5 am in the morning?" I'm so sorry to bother you. But, do you have any mints and cough drops?" My brain is now screaming, What?!? OK someone's sanity meter has just pivoted between loco and wackadoo! "Mom, really! You woke me up for candy?" I ask, still trying to wake up. 

Odd as this experience was, I read in a medical journal that a person with dementia frequently shows little sympathy or empathy for others.  As dementia progresses, dietary restraint decreases while cravings for sugary foods increase. I guess this is to be expected. It doesn't keep me from wanting to open my bathroom window across the hall and scream, HELP! I wobble back to the dresser draw scratching my head. I grab a handful of mints and hand them to her. Now all is right in her world so she thanked me profusely and again apologized for interrupting my sleep.

Maybe, I'll put off opening the bathroom window and screaming for help. After all, most of our neighbors are still sleeping.  And although it's not quite right in my little corner of the world, I'll have no problem getting back to sleep. "Night, night sweetie. Love you." "Good night Mom. Love you too." Getting back into my bed, Angelo rolls over, looks at me and whispers "Are you actually smiling?" Turning over I grin at him and I sigh myself back to sleep.

Keywords: stories about aging, losing dietary restraint, cravings for sugary foods, dementia and loss food cravings,

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