Funny/sad encounter at the Waffle House.

[trof]

As we sat down I noticed an elderly woman with a look of concern on her face, talking to one of the waitresses.
The waitress turned and spoke to a couple of construction workers who were paying their bill.
I couldn't hear any of the conversation, but the lady walked out with the men.

The waitress came to take our order.
"That poor lady. Her husband left her."

"You mean he walked out on her right here in the Waffle House? Jeez."

"No, I think he forgot she was here. I just know he has Alzheimer's. They been coming in here pretty regular for a couple of years. He's getting worse and worse. He gets mad at her and yells at her."

"So he just walked off?"

"Well, they had about finished breakfast and he got up and went to the men's room. A few minutes later I glanced up and he was driving out the parking lot. She was still in the booth and I had to go tell her I saw him leave. I guess in the time he was in the restroom he just forgot she was with him. I knew those two boys who were just leaving and asked them to take her home. They don't live far from here."

Interesting morning in the Waffle House.
Oh...the pecan waffles are great.
;-)

[LisaM]

1. If he has Alzheimer's, he should not have access to car keys

and he should not have a driver's license.

[bleedingheart]

2. I second that...

sad story...what an awful disease.

[trof]

3. That was my first thought. "He's DRIVING?!"

Hafta say the lady looked and acted like the ultra-meek type.
Sometimes the standard southern situation in that generation.
They came along way before women's lib and pa ruled the roost with an iron hand. Now pa's non compos mentis and she has no control over him at all.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

4. How'd your procedure go? That was today, right?

You and the Mrs. OK?

[trof]

5. No. Sweat.

See thread on this forum.
Thanks.

[sui generis]

6. I had a gent and his wife walk into a business of mine

(on edit, in 1991) ask some questions, and then when I came out the husband had wandered off (also Alzheimers).

His wife had Alzheimers too, and said that he had gone to the car, and I said I'd go see if I could find him (it was over 100 that day) and make sure he was okay.

I asked her what kind of car it was / color / make and she couldn't remember if it was blue or white, but she gave me the keys. So I asked what street she parked on (you could see out the window) and she couldn't remember, but burst into tears.

Finally got her to calm down and sit down and went out - I wandered around for eight blocks before I found him sitting on a curb between two parked cars with his mouth hanging open completely oblivious - I thought maybe he'd had a petit mal seizure or a TIA, but got him to stand up. He didn't recognize me, didn't know why he was there and started yelling at me and refused to follow me back to the building (this was before cell phones), so I got someone on the sidewalk to stay there with him, ran back to the office and arrived there in a lather, told the woman I'd found her husband but he refused to come back with me, and got her bundled into my car and drove over to where he was (by now sitting on a bus stop bench).

Just about the time she got out of the car someone else came up in their car, screeched to a halt and got out - turns out they were supposed to meet their daughter there at a completely different business and it was only by the luckiest chance that she even saw them - and this was almost an hour after I first saw them!

I don't think I would be driving (or letting them drive) if things were starting to get that bad -

I just can't imagine watching the lights dim like that - families with Alzheimers definitely have my strongest sympathy and support.

[trof]

7. Whoa. Both with Alzheimers. Dangerous.