“Hi, Mom!”

At the sound of my voice, her gaze moved from the open window to me. A smile lit her face when she caught sight of the bouquet of irises in my hands. “They’re beautiful! Where did you find them?”

“They’re the first blooms from the bed at our house.”

“They’re so pretty.”

I arranged them in a vase where she could see them, and then we played Uno. When it was time for me to go she noticed them again.

“Oh, those are beautiful!” Her voice held the delight I used to hear when she called to tell me that her iris bed was blooming. “Where did you find them?”

This conversation confirmed two changes my siblings and I have witnessed in Mom lately. First, her dementia is becoming more noticeable. Second, her joy is also more noticeable. We’ve been expecting the first change ever since her diagnosis in 2008.

We attribute the second change to the power of an open window.

For years she insisted on having her window shades shut. But when my brother and I stayed with her during a recent hospital stay, we insisted on opening the shades. Mainly because we couldn’t stand sitting in the dark all day long. Soon she became more alert during the day and slept better at night. When she returned to her residential facility, we asked her team to add an item to her care plan.

Window shades are to remain open during the day.

The improvement in Mom’s mood has been phenomenal.

To read the rest of The Power of an Open Window visit the Key Ministry blog.

Image by agata822 from Pixabay

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