Sweet Moments

Ken arrived home after another emotionally exhausting visit with his wife, Elaine, at the memory care center. He told me, “Every day with an Alzheimer’s patient is different—some being down-right difficult.” The phone rang, and it was the nurse at the care center. “Ken, Elaine has a request,” she said. Immediately, Ken wondered what she could possibly want; after all, she rarely talked, and had everything she needed. The nurse said, “She wants you to bring her cookies.”

When Ken became the full-time caregiver of Elaine, he took over the cooking and discovered that he enjoyed baking. He figured if she wanted cookies, she’d get them. He forgot about being tired and grabbed the ingredients out of the cupboard and within an hour had a batch of chocolate chip cookies cooling on a rack. As he packed them away, he discovered that it felt good to do something fun for Elaine.

Ken shared that he had discovered over the several years of caring for Elaine that he needed to cherish the little things that brightened his day. He never thought Elaine’s request for cookies would have made him happy, too.