Caregiving: "a church moment"

     Yesterday was Sunday and I couldn’t help but reflect on how caregiving + Sunday + church + cognitive symptoms = some interesting experiences.

     One of my favorite such ‘church moments’ was several years ago and involved an intermittent episode of Multiple Sclerosis cognitive symptoms, in particular mental confusion.

     At the offering collection, a teen age girl came up our aisle with a beautiful silver plate which she dutifully handed to the person on the end of each pew who passed it along. Coming to our pew, she handed the plate to Patti, seated on the end.

     Startled and in grateful surprise Patti loudly exclaimed, “THANK YOU, THIS IS VERY NICE OF YOU”. Loudly is an understatement, yelled would be better. Patti cannot always control speaking volume and the more she tries the more opposite it can become.

     Patti balancing the plate on her lap begins going through her “gift” like an excited child might sort through a Halloween candy bag. The young volunteer is flabbergasted and turning red with embarrassment. She politely tries to whisper to Patti that the plate is supposed to be passed along to the next person. Unknown to the poor girl reasoning and such will have no effect on such symptoms.

     Trying to avoid laughing, I pried the plate away from Patti, “the cognitive pirate”, and continued its passage down the pew. I dismissed Patti’s glare of shocked incredulity with a shake of the head and a simple “No, it is not for you!”

     I suspect that young lady “wondered” for quite a while IF the next person she handed an offering plate to would pass it along. <grin>