My mother has early onset dementia.
She was having trouble remembering small things, however with reminders, she could still live on her own.
Last week, I was thinking her living alone was no longer viable. She called me and told me the HVAC worker bamboozled her. I thought he may have overcharged her, or done something that made the bill higher than she expected. She told me he replaced the HVAC system and she hadn’t been told. I frowned, because no one had said she needed to have a new HVAC system, however mom often forgot to give me these details. I called her HVAC company and asked what had happened. I knew Daphne, the owner’s partner, and she told me she hadn’t sent an HVAC worker to my mom’s house. I trusted Daphne because we had been friends since second grade. I told her I would call her back once I got to mom’s and checked to see what she was talking about. Mom seemed surprised to see me there and welcomed me like she hadn’t seen me in months, when it had only been about eighteen hours. I asked her what was wrong with the HVAC system. She told me they sent the wrong HVAC worker to the house, and he replaced the a/c and the boiler for her. When she showed me the paperwork, I had no words. The paper was for the HVAC system she had installed nearly ten years ago, and she was trying to pay the bill. I had to explain it wasn’t a bamboozle, however just confusion.