German visitor

Mom had a very flat, difficult day yesterday. She spent several hours with us, but was never quite "with it" and had a hard time interacting with the family. It was just "one of those days" for her. We had hoped the excitement of Matt speaking in Church would have motivated her, but she was very eager to get home and get to bed.

Today turned out to be dramatically better. Much to my surprise, she was more awake and alert, and very interactive. We decided to go through with plans for a trip to SLC. She enjoyed going to Siegfried's Delicatessen, the little German store where she used to work; we had a nice dinner of spaetzle and red cabbage, which she absolutely loved. However, she was astonished at the prices for chocolate and other things in the store (as were we...). The store has moved locations since she worked in it, so not much was familiar. But she was very excited about the food.

The real motivation for our trip was to visit an old friend from Germany. Several weeks ago I received an email from Eberhard Rauschenberger asking if we could arrange to meet. Mom was close friends with Eberhard Senior (whom we called "Ebbie") and we got to know his son and family through that contact. They visited us in Utah, and we visited them in Germany. When Mom had her first stroke and I flew to Germany to help, the Rauschenbergers were incredibly helpful for us. We've kept contact with them even after Ebbie passed away three years ago.

Eberhard came to Salt Lake for a week-long ski vacation, and asked if it would be possible to see us and Mom. Bonnie and I planned this trip tentatively, based on Mom's condition. When she was so strong today, the trip worked well and was lots of fun. We visited for about 45 minutes before the drive back. Mom converses so well in German; it was good for her to have the interaction.