Questions

My dad spent most of yesterday constantly asking questions of my mum. He was going over the same subjects again and again, about how she might be a duplicate (“the other wife”) or that we couldn’t prove to him, no matter what we said, that there wasn’t 2 versions of the same person. There is some kind of sanity in his questioning, that how can we prove our existence, singular or duplicate or not. It feels a bit like when you are tripping on LSD, ypur brain makes connections between things that normally wouldn’t be linked togther. You start to see patterns that aren’t usually there (or perhaps they are but you can’t appreciate them without the chemical intervention).

My mum had a feeling that he would be bad overnight based on the way he was in the afternoon and evening. She said that he was sitting with her in bed, asking why they got divorced (they didn’t) or split up. I guess he was either thinking that he was in bed with “the other wife” or that he wasn’t speaking to her as if she was there, perhaps she only existed in his mind like a memory.

He did end up sleeping ok, but was up before 6AM and got dressed, put some clothes into a bag and came to my mum and said he was going and goodbye. She had prempted him getting ready and was dressed herself too (but hidden under the duvet) and offered to come with him, which he allowed her to do. She had also sent me a message and I got up just before 6 and headed down to meet them.

I met them and we pretended I was out for an early walk. He said he was coming up to my house so I could help him get away, talking about getting a train to somewhere although he didn’t know where. So we all walked back to my house and he came in for tea, still continually questioning us about 2 versions of the same person and how long we had known about it.

I wasn’t sure if he was asking how long we had known (or he had been telling us) that he was seeing/experiencing 2 people, or how long we had also been seeing the same. How can we be sure there isn’t duplicates of people and what a pain the inheritance will be when there are 2 people laying claim. It almost seemed like he would think something or have a thought and then try to vocalise it to us, no matter how mixed up it was to both him and us.

After more tea and some toast and marmalade, he dropped off to sleep for 10 minutes. After he awoke, he started to seem more lucid, not asking questions. My wife also got up and was chatting with him and she is quite bubbly (even though she isn’t a morning person) so he got distracted with what she was talking about.

He eventually agreed to walk back home and we went with him, stopping for a coffee and he seemed very with it and quite normal. So we shall see how he gets on through the day, and hopefully the meeting with the Parkinsons nurse tomorrow will help us move forwards, even if its just waiting for another appointment with someone else who can look at him from a mental health perspective.

I feel really sorry for my mum. She is running on empty already, having to deal with the constant questions all the time and late nights/early mornings. She does appreciate me being there as he seems to be better with other people around him when he is feeling strange.

This afternoon is a local music festival, so we are going down to have lunch there and I might get a beer in too. I can’t get drunk (not that I would anyway) just in case I am needed to go and see my dad, or get up early tomorrow morning to help him “escape” to my house.

Lets see what tomorrow brings.