Every time we see the Leaf Filters commercial on TV or Jim sees the ad in the paper, he wonders aloud how much they’d cost. They’ve been doing an advertising blitz with off-season discounts. Honestly, I’ve been torn because having  them come in to work on our house will be expensive but having the gutters along the roof re-stabilized and a protective covering put on them will also increase our property value. Given Jim’s health, I’ll probably have to sell the house over the next few years, so this is a valid consideration.

So, when Jim came to me Monday morning with yet another ad torn from the paper I agreed we should call. He rushed out to the phone. I listened in to hear how he handled himself. He ended up coming to get me because their customer rep didn’t notice we were calling from Canada and asked Jim for our Zip Code instead of a Canadian Postal Code. Honestly I was impressed he made it that far because he hasn’t been able to remember our phone number lately, so that’s a win. I was able to make the appointment for an estimate for that same night at 5 pm.

We finished booking the appointment before 10am. Jim paced back and forth through the house for most of the day. Watching out the window for them to arrive.

Once the fellow arrived, we showed him where the gutters were located and as he measured (they charge by the foot) Jim came to me three separate times laughing at himself because he couldn’t remember why the fellow was there. He knew we’d arranged for a quote, that it was something he wanted to do, but he couldn’t remember what work was getting done to the house.

It’s important to note for this next bit. He was there for the whole assessment appointment, he did his best to focus on what the salesman was telling us.

After we agreed to the quote, we came back inside and the next twenty minutes while I cooked supper passed with:

“When are they going to be here?” Jim asked.
“Wednesday”
He looks at the Dementia Clock on the wall to see what day today is. “How Much is it going to be?”
“Just shy of $5000.”
He wandered to the windows and came back. “When are they coming?”
“Wednesday. The day after tomorrow.”
He looks at the clock again. “We paid them today?”
“No, we’ll pay them Wednesday.”
“When are they coming?”
“Wednesday.”
He looks at the clock again. “So tomorrow?”
“No Babe, the day after tomorrow.”
“How much do we have to pay them?”
“$5000”
“When are they coming?”…

We had a variation of this conversation again after supper and again first thing this morning. I watched him closely to see if he was growing frustrated with his inability to remember the information. Instead, his face was blank, it was as if he didn’t realize he was repeatedly asking the questions.

Each day has a different ‘theme’ but that’s how most of our conversations go these days.