Reality

1. 

   "Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Albert Einstein
   
   

   This seems like an interesting thing for one of the greatest scientific minds of all time to say, but it brings me comfort nowadays as I am with my loved one who spends less and less time in what we would consider reality.  Yesterday he was determined that we were driving to the other side of the state -- the site of his boyhood home.  Although in a wheelchair, he felt that he had to get out of bed so we could go.  I try just to observe his altered reality, because - after all - it is his reality.  Whose to say that what I think is reality is preferential to his view of reality?  His decline in just the last three weeks is shocking.  I look for comfort in the kind care he is receiving, in the way that the facility responds to my concerns (the bed rail was up as promised and they are reevaluating half dosage on the anti-anxiety medication if it is needed again for his agitation).  I also look for comfort in my circle of family and friends and in other serendipitous events:  like the great blue heron flying by my window this morning during my prayer time.