I could not, not write about another client I had. I knew she was 79 and lived alone. I drove there that night, using the gps to guide me to her house. I rang the doorbell, the caregiver opened the door and told me, the woman is very pleasant, she was obviously delighted with her.

At that moment, the woman came wheeling herself in and asking in a loud voice who I was. The caregiver introduced us and left. She invited me to sit down and sat down herself, a very tall woman. We connected instantly. I soon learned W spent 30 years in Alaska.

She asked to see what I was reading, Apalachian trail. “I did it, it was boring,” she told me, “Nothing much happened on that trail.” Now the trek she took to the utmost limit of Alaska, that was something else. She and a few friend took that trek. They came to a place with nobody but Eskimos and heard a lound thumping noise. They soon learned those were icebergs, three storeys hight, bumping against each other. Isn’t that fascinating? She asked me.

I looked forward every night to being with her. She had her TV on, we watched it and chat animatedly. One evening when I arrived, she announced, “and here comes my favorite caregiver.” She liked that caregiver also and quickly explained she liked her also.

Another day I arrived to find the caregiver, a veteran in the field, driven beyond endurance. She did not want to say much, I could tell she had a hard day. W might give the day caregiver a hard time, she was all smiles and charm with me.

One evening she rummaged around for something to eat. That thing, no, not in the mood, chips? No not in the mood either. Every now and again she would move to the cupboard looking for something to eat. I brought some cheese crackers with me. It came to me I could share it with her. She ate one and was delighted, it was good, sooo good. We ate, talked and watched TV. She told me she will get some of those at the store tomorrow.

She was most intriguing. She had short term memory and knows it. To help herself, she scribbled notes on her calendar, a large table size calendar. She practically has to live for the moment in time, aware of that moment in time only, operating within that framework of time only.

My last shift with her, I came with a package of that cheese crackers she enjoyed so much. She saw it and exclaimed in delight. Moving to the cabinet, she dug out cookies and m ms. We sat down to eat and chat. I declined the cookies and was glad I did when she gobbled them up later, telling me those are fresh and very good from subway.

One night I arrived at her house and the house was in pitched darkness. I phoned and learned she fell that morning and was admitted to the hospital. With that ended my night shifts with her. It was a good lesson in detachment. I learned from it, clients could be gone any time, fell and get admitted or cancel and we are but caregivers. We move on to another client and though we never forget those we had, we still have to simply move on and get used to not knowing what happen to her next. Where would she be? Wherever she is, W would be loud.