My dad will turn 95 in April. A little over a year ago he moved out of his house and into a residence in Cornwall, about 90 minutes west of Montreal.
Unfortunately his memory has been declining and confusion increasing. Physically he is still in good shape, attending exercise classes five days a week and easily getting around with his cane
He was happy he was able to take the bus to go to the mall, have lunch and come back. He did this every day except Sunday when the bus doesn't run.
Two weeks ago I got a call from the residence saying that he had gone out as usual the day before, around 11:30 AM, but he had been brought home a little after 11:30 at night. It was -16 C (3 F) and his leather winter jacket is not that thick.
We'll never know exactly what happened, he had a few different stories.. He might've fallen asleep at the mall, it got dark, he got confused, he couldn't find his bus. It seems eventually a bus driver picked him up, kept him on his route until the end of his shift and then drove him home.
Now I know the true meaning of the expression "worried sick."
My stress went through the roof as all of a sudden he wasn't safe anymore. The main door is always open at the residence where he lives and there's no one at the front desk between 8 PM and 8 AM. They had seen him come in on the security camera.
He probably wouldn't wander out at night, but who knows.... he still insists he wants to go to the mall every day. He's very set in his ways. :) All of a sudden we need to find a new safer place for him to live, preferably in Montreal close to where my sister and I live. There are doctors appointments to arrange, assessments to be done, and constantly checking in on him to encourage him to stay in. Not to mention the communication going back
and forth and yes, my family is as dis-functional as anyone else's!
