(Un)True Confessions

Sometimes Mom's conversations are so cogent and so in-the-moment, that I wonder if her dementia went away. But then, it roars back in weird and wonderful ways.

She told me on the phone that she had just spoken with her dear old friend who has been her best friend for over 60 years. Let's call her "BF". BF is the one person alive who shares the most history with my mom, in terms of people and memories and feelings and, probably, secrets. Mom said she had a delightful long call with BF, reminiscing about old times, about their dead husbands who had been business partners, about their dinner parties and travels and their wild partying friends. And then Mom transitioned to a serious voice, saying, "Today, I told BF something that I had never told her. In fact, nobody knows it". With my curiosity piqued, I asked, "What did you tell her?" Mom replied, "I only have one breast". (WHAT?!?) I know for a fact that she has two. It's not a topic that is open for interpretation. She has never had any health issues or any problems with her very healthy and formerly, extremely ample breasts. Now, they are shrunken and shriveled down with the rest of her body. But in complete symmetry. At that point, she was spent, stopped talking and was finished with our conversation. I hung up, puzzled. 

I called BF, who has all of her marbles, and with whom I speak periodically. I asked how the conversation went with Mom. BF gave a similar report - - fun to reminisce, laugh about old times, compare experiences about the paths their lives have taken -- all in all, a lovely, animated chat. Then I asked if Mom had said anything strange. BF replied, "Well, now that you mention it, she did inform me that she only has one breast. All these years, and I've even seen her naked a few times, I never knew that". I told BF it simply is not true. BF jumped back in, "See! I knew I was right not to believe her". So, even Mom's friend of more than half a century also got led down the lane of faux reality. Mom lures us into thinking that she is lucid, but then in a flash, she veers off the road.