It was a sunny day outside for it to be December in 2013. I remember the sunbeams hitting the glass on the window in front of my desk. My sister and nephew were in town to visit for the first time since his birth in mid-August. I was “beaming” myself waiting to finish the work day to see the baby. They were at our house waiting for Mom to come over to spend time with them during the day, and we were going to have dinner as a family that evening with plenty of fun and reminiscing on funny family stories. I was in deep concentration of spreadsheets in an anxious fit to meet an upcoming deadline at work. I received a call from my sister, Jennifer. She was concerned because Mom had not made it to the house. Mom was typically running behind whenever she had plans, so I was not concerned and expressed to Jenn that she was probably just running late and not to worry about it. She would probably be there soon.
My mother had a cell phone, so Jenn and I were both calling the house and her cell to no avail. I took another look at my watch about an hour later, and we still have not heard anything. Before GPS and Google, our mother was the one you called to get anywhere, so we KNEW she was not lost. At this point, we are overwhelmed, wondering if there had been an accident or did something happen to her! We continue calling, but no answer. I finally received a call from a random number, and it was our mother calling from a payphone. I thought that was odd, but just figured the cell phone battery was dead. I called my sister to let her know that Mom was on the way to the house, and we were both relieved. It is now ANOTHER hour later, and she still has not called back. My sister receives another call from Mom on her house phone. She stated that she got turned around and just went back home. At this point, we knew there was a problem. Initially, we thought when she was forgetting our names or losing her keys, it was just part of the aging process. At this point, my whole life changed…
