Kay decided she would go for a walk... Without me and without telling me. I was on the computer with my blind eye on the side the door is on so I wasn't paying attention. She had picked up a couple items and turned out the lights then went out the door without me knowing anything about it. In a few minutes I got off the computer and noticed the apartment was dark not an exceptional condition. But then I started looking around for Kay and she had left the apartment. I immediately put my shoes and shirt on and went around the block. The apartment complex that is. As I didn't see her I figured maybe it was time to call the cops and ask if they had picked up a lost woman. It had probably been 15 or 20 minutes since she left. Plenty of time to go a long ways as any parent knows with young children.
As I was near the office I stopped in and told the nice lady Debbie. She immediately closed the office and I found out later told the maintenance man, and an off duty policeman. I was going to call the PD but then thought I'd just take one short look around on our street we frequent when going to Starbucks or Fred Meyer. I found her about 3 blocks away just past the new Covington Place apartments.
She seemed to be just looking around at the various things like what ever is on the side of the road and so on. I got out and led her to the car and we came home by way of the office to let them know. I dont think she was yet aware of the fact she was lost.
When we got back to the apartment she was very subdued. As if she was aware that something was seriously wrong. She seems to have that capability at times. That is the hard part knowing she has problems and not knowing what it is or what to do about it. It leaves your stomach tied in knots with the uncertain future. She still knows all her kids and old friends so when I am with her it means a lot to me
Dementia sucks
I had taken Kay over to Starbucks to watch the traffic and pedestrians when while we were sitting outside on the deck when we heard a huge explosion. I looked back and saw black smoke coming up from something across the street near the carwash. Within the next 3 or 4 minutes there were several other loud explosions but not as loud as the first one. But the surprising thing other than the ongoing fire was something Kay said in the ensuing video you will hear Kay say something about them blocking off the street without any hesitation. This is astounding because she gets so frustrated trying to say something that is in her mind but usually has to give up in frustration. This has been especially bad today before and after we went to Starbucks. But yesterday she brought something out without a moments hesitation. I've noticed in other instances where she almost holds a normal conversation.
What had happened across the street was a minivan trying to gas up his propane tank. Today I went over and looked at just exactly where it was on fire and looks like it might have been within about 15 or 29 feet from the above ground supply tank. If that had blown we would have been in a dangerous position in relation to the explosion. I haven't check the time line on my video I took but it seems like it must have been about eight or ten minutes for the fire department to get to the fire. This hard to understand unless the trucks were on a call somewhere or perhaps everyone expected someone else to call 911. The fire station is only about half or three quarters of a mile away. I never even gave it a thought to call. So the first huge explosion was the propane tank and the second was no doubt the gasoline tank. The others, who knows. Each scene of the fire was listed in sequence. There were three scenes right at the height of the fire that were missing so I don't know what happened to them. That's unfortunate because once in a life time an event comes to you right at your front door. My one good eye is so bad that I could not see details on the camera monitor because of the sun . Then the little viewer didn't zoom in sync with the monitor so when I tried to zoom what I was aiming at was just a guess more or less. The scene of the burnt up van shows this as I only got a picture of the top half of the van. It looked like there were some suitcases so apparently it was someones vacation going up in flames. Gassing up a vehicle or filling a propane tank in this hot dry weather is a dangerous business so take care. I myself treat these instances as if I was handling dynamite. For several years I was head operator at the Union Oil refinery in Edmonds WA so I have a healthy respect for petroleum products. Especially propane and gasoline. But someones vacation is a disaster plus their loss that will take a lot of money to get over. I really feel sorry for whomever owned the van. I don't think anyone was hurt. Two aid cars came to the scene but didn't hurry off with sirens going.
This video is not that great but it is worth only so much time and effort to put up on this blog. Especially since I lost the best video.
Bill Sheldon June 17, 1920. April 4, 2001. Four years in the 3rd Infantry Division WW2 His story. Find it at Four years in the 3rd Inf in WW2
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Kay came into the living room this morning and asked me where was she. She said she could see the surroundings but could not tell where they were. It is hard for her to get these things out. It is hard to know what to say under these circumstances. But it was clear she is very confused and does not know what to make of it. Under these circumstances it is hard to know what to say so usually I just tell her her memory is bad. Later I came and put my hand on her to comfort her and she told me she was afraid. I think her mind is clear enough to recognize the fact that there is something terribly wrong with her and her future is in serious trouble. That is a sad thing to be in this condition and know you have trouble and cant understand what it is. I will stay as close to her as I can to keep her mind off her condition.
Later when she settled down we were going to go to Starbucks and watch the traffic and pedestrians go by. But as I was a little hungry we went to Fred Mayer's and had a bowl of soup. This was enough so afterwards we came home and she went to bed for a nap.
Bill Sheldon June 17, 1920. April 4, 2001. Four years in the 3rd Infantry Division WW2 His story. Find it at Four years in the 3rd Inf in WW2
If you can't wait to get new posting to this web page get on the list of automatic mail when something new is posted ................KE7PLR......................
I had a real scare yesterday. I went into the living room yesterday and Kay looked very bored. Just looking out the door at the parking lot which has a lot of traffic as it is also a public street. She looked so bored I asked her if she wanted to do something which I cant remember what it was right now. She said she did so I went to another room to prepare to do what ever she would do. When I got back she had gone somewhere. I looked around the apartment double checked to be sure she was not in the apartment. It was definite so this concerned me as I was afraid she had gone for a walk. If she got out of sight of the apartment she probably could not find her way back. As it had been several minutes since she had disappeared she could have gone a long distance making the search distance a lot bigger than if she had been gone just a minute or two. Then I had to decide whether to call the cops or Tom or take a look around the area before calling for help. I decided I should take a quick look myself and got the electric two wheeled scooter out. The last time I looked for her on it when I found her I had to come back at a speed I could not maintain equilibrium easily so I decided I'd better take the car. I went to the car and got in and there she was just sitting there. What a relief. So I asked her if she wanted to go to Starbucks and watch traffic from the outside which she indicated she would like that. I could then start using the card Robin, I think it was had given me, for fathers day. She cant drink coffee but I would get her tea if Starbucks sold it which they do I found out. So we went over to Starbucks and she had so much fun watching traffic, commenting on the pretty cars that struck her fancy or wondering what was in trucks going here and there. She had so much fun we must have spent an hour watching traffic and people going by. I promised her we would come back today and do it again. The weather is cloudy right now but it is warm enough to go back and sit outside again. So maybe in the early afternoon we will go back and do it again.
Bill Sheldon June 17, 1920. April 4, 2001. Four years in the 3rd Infantry Division WW2 His story. Find it at Four years in the 3rd Inf in WW2
If you can't wait to get new posting to this web page get on the list of automatic mail when something new is posted ................KE7PLR......................
