Cognition comes and goes

It is strange how the mind can come and go. Tonight I had to run to the grocery store for some more peach preserves for the dessert I was making. I bundled Rick up and piled him into the car. It was 9 pm because Focus on the Family was coming on the radio. It is only 5 minutes to the store and I knew it would only take me 5 minutes in the store, so I asked Rick if he would stay in the car and wait for me. He was wide awake but didn’t make any response. Neither did he try to get out of the car. I hurried in and came right back out. He hadn’t moved. Stan Glover, from our church, parked right in front of us and he was waving to Rick. Stan said that Rick recognized him.

I got in the car and started for home. The lady who was speaking on Focus on the Family was talking about the Christmas traditions her family had. One of them was getting out the nativity scene. She walked by it and saw the baby Jesus was missing, so she yelled, “Have any of you seen Jesus?” No one answered. Then she saw her 3 year old with bulging cheeks. She asked him for a kiss and he couldn’t do it because his mouth was too full. So she told him to spit out Jesus. It was a cute story, but Rick just laughed at it. I knew he was laughing at the story, because his laugh was very appropriate.

It just goes to show that what I suspected is true. Rick does know and understand conversations that are taking place around him. Sometimes he is paying more attention than others. Sometimes he is completely out of it, in a fog, or sleeping. But there are times that he is very much in the know. And because he can’t talk, we don’t know when those times are.

So after my earlier post of him not feeding himself, this was an encouragement. Thank you Lord!