This Time Last Year

Recently, I have found myself playing the game of "This Time Last Year".  Perhaps it has been because of the recent Canada holiday, and I was thinking of Canada Day's past.  It then reminded me of something that happened about this time last year.  I had been doing errands around town, and on a whim, thought I would stop in and see dad.  He was not in when I arrived; his walker missing also.  I had forgotten something in the car, so headed back down in the elevator to get it.  Upon arriving in the lobby, who should I literally run into getting onto the elevator but dad.  Without his walker.  The poor man was very flustered and agitated.
When I asked where his walker was, he said he had left it on the 5th floor of the other building.  Confused, I asked him how he got in there (all buildings had key FOB security) and then left his walker behind.  In the end, from what I could deduce, living in a complex of four similar buildings, he got confused as to which one he lived in.  Entering into another building, he must have told someone he lived on the 5th floor, and they used their FOB key to get him up there.  Once up there, he would not have been able to get into an apartment, got flustered, left his walker behind and went in search of his real apartment. It so happened that I ran into him waiting for the elevator just as I stepped out into the lobby. If I had not been there, the missing walker would have been a mystery.

As it was, I did not believe his story about the walker being on the 5th floor; it made no sense.  I retraced his probable footsteps all over White Rock; the lost and found in the mall, the customer service desk in the grocery store, the barber... everywhere.  No walker  to be found. 
In speaking with dad's building manager, he recommended putting up flyer's on the bulletin boards in all the parkade elevator vestibules.  Fortunately, my habit of taking pictures of everything proved fortuitous.  I had a picture of the very walker, so made up "Missing" posters and splattered them up everywhere I could.  The walker showed up a couple of days later; dad had indeed left in on the 5th floor of the other building.
I think of how lucky we were that I was there when he came home without the walker, and was able to take care of the situation.  That was the only time that dad had troubles finding his way home.  I have heard, as I am sure many others have heard as well, of dementia patients leaving their home and not being able to find their way home.  That seemed to be the realization point as to the extent of the dementia; and that I was going to have to take action soon.
I do not know why I remembered this story now, or why I feel the need to share it!  Guess I am thinking of how many changes have taken place in the past year.  Again, I am so thankful that dad is in full care, with all eyes on him.  Try as he might, he cannot pull a runner anymore!