Searching for That Penny

My sister maintains three places for keeping her coins.  The milk bottle I sent her is used to store just pennies.  Her silver coins are stored in her Minnie Mouse and Cinderella banks.

Last week, she pulled out her Cinderella bank and was very concerned because she just knew that a single penny had gotten mixed in with the nickels, dimes and quarters.  She emptied out the bank and searched through, finding not one penny but two.  She was quite upset about this.  What was even more upsetting to her was that the penny she knew was supposed to be in there was not there.

Mom assured her that no one was around to mess with her coins and that the penny may be in one of the other two banks.  Lyn clearly didn't believe Mom on either account.  Without directly accusing Mom of telling a lie, Lyn stated that Mom was clearly mistaken on all accounts as she marched into her room to get the other coins.

She decided to look in the milk bottle first, pouring it out onto the table.  Fortunately, as she sorted through the pennies, she found the one for which she was looking.  She quickly calmed down once she was assured she had the penny she wanted and that it was in the milk jar where it belonged.

Believe it or not, this is common for Alzheimer's patients.  They frequently accuse others of stealing their money.  I thin it is interesting that money is such an issue for my sister.  While she's never had to maintain the finances of a household or worry about paying bills, she's had spending money available to her for at least the last two decades of her life.  She's paid her way into events or for her own meals at restaurants.  While the amounts she's concerned about are insignificant; to her they are meaningful.   Hopefully, future ventures into the lost coin realm will be this easily sorted out as well.

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