There are many methods of figuring out you have dementia, but there is a time when you realize it's true. In my case, that time was in July when we had relatives here: I was fixing dinner and suddenly didn't know what to do... about anything! I'm being very careful about cooking these days, because I have a few times left a very important ingredient out of the recipe. For instance, forgetting the bananas in banana bread.
Every morning before Cliff, the dog, and the cats are awake, I go into another room, read a portion of the Bible, and pray. I pray for Keith across the highway, who is in a wheelchair due to a stroke. I pray for Janice, and her daughter who is probably in her sixties and has had several strokes and is in bed most of the day: Imagine being a caretaker for a child of yours when you are 86 years old. I pray for friends taking care of foster children, and pray for anyone else who is a good foster parent; so many of those children are broken vessels. I couldn't do it! When I'm done praying for others, I ask God to help me with my day, things like: Help me that I don't make anybody sad today. Help me in the kitchen, especially when I'm cooking, so I don't leave the oven on or forget to check the timer. This morning I told him I was going to make a pumpkin pie, and asked Jesus to help me do it right. Now, I'm not preaching to anyone here, or trying to sound "holy". That's one reason I don't say a lot about my faith. But I am not embarrassed to mention my walk with Him.
I went directly to the kitchen and made the crust, then started mixing the pie filling. I consider pumpkin pie the easiest pie to make, because you just put all the ingredients in and stir them up. (By the way, it took me three tries before I spelled "easiest" properly; that's why it takes me so long to do a blog entry any more.)
Yesterday I mentioned the eggs I got from the Amish last weekend and told Cliff I still had a few store-bought eggs to use before I used the good ones. Cliff really likes fresh eggs, and asked if the yolks were a bright orange. I told him we'd have bacon and eggs for breakfast and see! All these eggs are very small, so instead of putting two eggs in the pie, I put two of the Amish eggs and the last one of the store eggs. I put them in a cup, then thought, "I'll take a picture for Cliff, to let him see the difference."
And that's how easy it is for me to make a mistake when I'm cooking. I put the pie in the oven and started the timer. About three minutes later, my eyes landed on the cup with three eggs in it, and I felt like crying. I had done it again! Then I wondered if I could just pour it out of the crust, since it really hadn't started cooking; I knew it would be a messy situation, but I figured it shouldn't ruin anything too much... just the outside edge on half the pie.
I got the ingredients out and started pouring everything back in the bowl, mixed in the eggs, and poured it all back into the crust.
And believe it or not, I said, "Thank You Jesus".
