I just received the following email from my sister:
Oh, I haven’t been able to figure out Mom’s mental deal. [name redacted] suggested it could be a thyroid thing which she says docs are discovering affects a lot of women, causing weight gain and depression, etc. Not all of it, but it could be part of it. Also, Mom will be going along fine and then something about money comes up – like a bill in the mail, or she will ask me again about your plan – and it seems awhile after that she has a “meltdown” of mental functioning, i.e. inability to comprehend a recipe. Really, twice she has just not been able to follow the directions. She gets all flustered and proceeds downhill. (My frustration probably does not help.) But I told her I think it gets worse the more stress she starts feeling about making a mistake, or not remembering, or whatever. Trying to get her to re-focus and calm herself. I don’t know. Not too thrilled with her driving but, then again, I am not a big fan of my other roommate’s driving either (I find some similarities between them that at times that is disturbing). I told mom she has made idols out of money, you, and me, and that none of us will ever provide her true joy. I think she likes the church we attended. They also have groups that meet during the week. Help me encourage her to keep going. It is pretty small; a woman that introduced herself to us the first visit, came back up to mom on our second visit two weeks later. It might be hard for her to go unnoticed for too long, and the people seemd very warm and welcoming.