Monday, 17 July, 2000 12:56:35 PM EDT
Visited the folks in Berwick yesterday. Dad and I had a great time working on his book of recipes and reminicences. He is coming along quite well at learning how to operate his computer. He is worried about Mum, though, and so am I. She is acting more and more like a person in the grip of senile dementia. He has put a lock on the door to keep her from wandering outside. [She resents it, too.] She scared him last month when she said she was going to help her father work in his garden. Her Pa died when I was about 7 years old, over 50 years ago. Dad is showing signs of stress. His physical state is fragile enough so's he is scared. He has been skipping physical therapy because he doesn't dare leave her alone, locked in the house. She forgets if she's put a pot on the stove. Also she gets scared of hallucinations, he believes. She clearly told me that her mother is lurking in the house,...that's the mother who used to terrify her with whips and frightening masks when she was a child.