Scrap over Scrabble

I played a game of Scrabble with mom.  It has been a long time since we have played one on one.  When she was in my house she always had some task I needed to do for her and we had not "played" for over a year. Scrabble has always been a favorite for us.  Mom raised us on educational toys.  No collecting of action figures for us.  Maps, geography games. chemistry sets and hundreds of variations of word games comprised our rainy day pastimes.  When I was in High School, the English teachers from my school gathered in our dining room daily for intense Scrabble games.   We were "hard core"!
Just last week mom had bragged to me how she had 'won" scrabble as if it was the proof she was not demented like all those "old people". 

I noticed by fourth turn that she was not "getting it." I played less competitive and more cooperative to make it fun.  When she tried to play two words in one turn because she wanted to have it be that way, I had to notice. I helped her remember the rules.  When she insisted that "hooky" was Hokey, I let her have it.
When we finished she had lost to me for the first time.  I could not pretend to myself that she was not deteriorating mentally.  Luckily mom just thinks I "got all the good letters."  I heard that before. 
The good news? We had fun.  I will hang onto that.

May we always find the beauty in each encounter and let go of the "winning" so easily.
Amen, Amen and Amen.

Games

I was able to call Mom today and she answered the phone.  She sounded great to me.   We had a chat, so similar to what we used to do before she moved in, it was delightful.  She is having trouble making friends, but she is trying.  She is looking forward to having her new room which will be available in a couple of more weeks.  She told me about the ladies that could not play scrabble anymore who were mad at her for trying to help them.
She shared a conspiratorial giggle that J_ didn't remember how to make words but had all the good consonants.  Mom only had vowels.  Mom felt so superior because she still can play word games and enjoys being so smart.
We talked some more, about dinner and flu shots.  She reprimanded me on trying to do too much.  Just like before.  It was almost as if she were her old self!
I had not seen her nor spoken with her for over a week. I asked her if she had tried to call me while I was sick and I had missed it.  She told me that she doesn't do those phone things. Phones don't work for her.  She could not figure out how to make these "new ones" work. She could not remember what  or how many days I had been gone. She confused me with my sister trying to figure it out.

There are no numbers. Just words. No calendar. No clock. Just "then" and "you know".

I remembered why she moved in.

It will be ok.  I can do this.  She can do this. We will survive. Now to become grateful.

Amen.