Morris and his wife did everything together until . . .
Morris had not seen his wife Cecile in 10 months due to the pandemic. He was aching to see her. On a ride to an appointment with Cassandra, VVCC driver and fleet supervisor, Morris shared all about his situation and asked if VVCC could provide a ride to Phoenix so he could see his wife. Cassandra said yes and the visit to see Cecile was scheduled. Cecile's son by a previous marriage would be on hand to re-introduce them because Cecile suffers from dementia.
Morris and Cecile bought a house in Cottonwood decades ago because they felt that was where they would live out their lives. They did everything together. But his wife was gradually losing her memory and when the dementia became too great, she was moved to a facility in Phoenix.
In the early days of their marriage Morris was in the military. He said Cecile sent him a photo of herself, reminding him to look at the photo every night before he went to bed. Morris still keeps the photo next to his bed and looks at it to remind him of the wife he loved so much.
On the appointed day, volunteer driver, Jena, drove Morris to Cecile in Phoenix. On the ride to the appointment, he told Jena he just wanted to see her even if she did not remember him. Her son and several other people would be on hand for the visit. But it was still a shock. Cecile did not remember him. He came out of the visit crying and told Jena, “I could never do this again.”
On the way home Morris talked about his military experiences, which took his mind off missing his wife. Morris had spent 20 years in the Army, then 26 years in the Minneapolis Police Force where he received a Commendation for Outstanding Service in 1972. He also told Jena about the collection of model planes that he built and painted which is housed in his garage.
Morris resents dementia when he thinks how he and Cecile could be living together but reflects on happier times, reads books by Flynn, and works on his model airplanes.
