One funny thing

I'm trying to write down one funny thing that happened today for which to be thankful. Well, okay, I'm trying to recall something funny enough to tell, that you'll waste your time reading it. This is pretty tough work, but here goes.

We're in Donwood Manor in Winnipeg. That's where my Dad and Margaret (my stepmom) live. He's 90. She's 92. Talk of Alzheimers is in the air, especially from them! We've just had our visit, and they're off to the dining room for their supper. We head out to the car and Margruite says that she forgot her bag inside their apartment. So I head back in to the dining room, get the key from Dad, head up to the apartment, find the bag, relock the apartment, and take the key back to Dad in the dining room. All's fine. Then I head out down a windowed hallway, the windows line an inner courtyard, and a woman wearing blue polyester slacks and a white ribbed mock turtleneck short-sleeved sweater is ahead of me, and she's stopped at one of the windows waving at someone. Her hair is nearly completely white. She looks like she's in her middle late 70s. As I pass her I note that there's no one on the other side of the windows. She sees me slow up, so she turns to me and says "Is that my husband out there? Cause if it is I should know about it." To which I reply, "I don't know, I don't recognize him. But I think that's fair. You probably should." And she smiles and keeps walking. I'm ahead of her now, but conscious of the doorways I'm opening and closing and a little concerned about whether or not she's going to follow me out, and whether or not that would be a good thing to have happen. But I reassure myself that if she's an escape risk she'll have one of those electronic units on her that will cause an alarm at the door to go off, and one or both of us will not be able to open the door until someone on staff shows up. I keep going, through one set of doors (I push the "Push to Open" button to hopefully activate any alarm that should go off) and there's no warning. I arrive at the next set of doors just ahead of another lady who looks like she's been visiting and it about to go, so I feel a little less than totally responsible for what happens next, so I push the next "Push to Open" button and head through. She (the visitor) follows me. And so does the woman who sees her husband (she thinks) when there's no one there. Well okay, I think to myself; no alarm, no concern from the other woman (who, to be fair, has not seen the lady wave at nothing, and ask about her husband), I'm in the clear. Right?

I don't know. You know what? I left the building. I said to myself that that woman perhaps needs a little fresh air. Maybe a little walk will do her good. So I walk through the parking lot to our car. I look back to the entrance I've just walked out of, and I don't see her anywhere. I tell myself that she didn't come out after all. I tell myself that if I was old and had Alzheimers, or dementia, I'd just want to do what I'd want to do. Is that fair? I don't know.