Mother in her natural element and reading a book. She loved hiking and being outdoors was what kept her sane. In her 70s she had some foot issues that needed surgery and between the surgeries and the recoveries, she was unable to go for her daily 6 mile walks around the lake in Mantua. When she was finally able to start walking again, she would get confused and be unable to find her way home. I really think that missing out on those daily walks pushed her into dementia sooner. The last time I went on a neighborhood walk with her, she did okay but after a few blocks, she started leaning and ended up walking in a circle instead of a straight line. It wasn't too much time after that that she pretty much gave up voluntarily walking. I love picturing her up in heaven, wandering around to her heart's content and hopefully finding some good poetry to read along the way.
