Wandering

     Before I realized the extent of brain changes that were going on, my Mom still attended church on her own. (She, a devout Catholic). We would drive her and then pick her up. She began to attempt to walk home if we weren't right at the door. She was walking in the right direction but the seed for fear was planted in me.
     She still attended church, but we were never late. When we moved and she was attending a new church, I was still able to drop her off, see her to the inside and wait to pick her up. You might ask why I didn't go in with her, but I don't want to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me.
      This was also the time I had gotten  her a "I've fallen and I can't get up" personal alarms. She was able to understand and repeat back to me how to use it. Fortunately, she never needed it. She did, however, press it accidentally and told me the Police were asking her very loudly if she was okay. It took me awhile, but I figured out it must have been the alert. (I was a detective in a previous life.) I called them and they informed me that they had, in fact, contacted her thru their receiver. My personal recommendation is anyone, at any age, who lives alone or spends a lot of time alone, should invest in one of these devices.

      When my mom was forgetting her way around the house, we attached a door alarm. We would set it at night, and if the door was opened without unlocking it, an extremely loud alarm would sound. She opened the door once and the noise severely upset her. We (my roommate and myself) have set it off multiple times because we have forgotten it was on. Ah, the vagaries of life.

         I looked into GPS systems, but what I was looking for has apparently not been invented yet. If only I was good with electronics. GPS is in cell phones, "Lo jack", "On star", SIRIUS radio but it is not in a pendant or bracelet. Nursing homes have electronic devices so if the resident walks out the front door, an alarm will sound. There are medic alert bracelets and pendants but they are only good after the person has wandered and then been found. (I have read too many stories of people with dementia or Alzheimer's who have wandered away and then been hit by a car.)
          I have spoken to several companies and their response is always the same, "she could carry a cell phone". If my mom could remember to carry a cell phone, she would not be wandering and would remember where she lives. You could own a fleet of cars and look on a computer and know where each car is, but they can't invent something to see where your parent or child is.
         
          My mom couldn't figure out a cell phone 15 years ago, never mind now. Her VCR flashed "12:00" forever (a sure sign that someone is not good with electronics and probably never will.)

          Today, we have signs on the doors to tell her what the door is for ie. Mom's Room, The Front Door, The Bathroom. It helps when she can't figure out which way to go. Also, rest assured, she watches "The Best in Catholic Television": the mass, the rosary spoken by a  priest and the rosary spoken by teenagers sitting cross legged on a Hawaiian beach each and every day.