Today, we visited my brother in Fort Myers. After all these years, I finally saw his condo. Even though I didn't know what to expect, I wasn't surprised by what I saw. Dick and Sally are very theme-based in their decorating. God only knows what they think of my mis-matched house. This condo is all about Florida beach. Distressed white wood, navy, yellow and white painted walls, beachy lighthouse pictures, etc... I would say that it is very well put together yet comfortable - not an easy achievement, and the perfect balance for a vacation home.
Dick took us to Sanibel Island and we took a long walk on the beach before going to lunch, where I stuffed my face with...... what else?.... seafood.... at a kitschy little place called the "Island Cow". After lunch, we went back over to Fort Myers Beach for another beach walk.
We did a lot of talking about dementia, something that all of us were experiencing or had recently experienced. It seems that, even though Mom is in another world, she doesn't talk to Dick about the same things that she talks to me and Bill about. That is fascinating to me. On some subconscious level, she knows enough to match up what she wants to talk about to the people with whom she is talking.
I found out that Dick and Sally's original plan when they bought the condo was for Dick to spend January through March in Florida every year, with Sally spending the entire month of February there working from home. This was supposed to have started happening two years ago, and I had a flash of what it would have been like dealing with my Mom by myself. The plan stalled out when Sally's boss left the company and the replacement put the kibosh on everything. I guess someones bad luck is someone else's gift from God.
As I type this, my face, neck and chest are beet red with sunburn. For me, sunburn has always been a "hurts so good" feeling. Yes, I know I should be more concerned about skin cancer, but I can't help it. I just love the way I look after I've been in the sun for a few hours. Just think of it as a big dose of vitamin D.
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