Recognition, a hoped for reality

My wife's mother is in a nursing home in Bentonville, Arkansas.  She and the family are having to deal with her Alzheimer's disease.  It is a difficult reality when one's physical capacity out lives one's mental capacity. It has been two months since we have been able to make the trip from Kentucky so we could visit with her. When we walked into the nursing home, she looked at us for a brief time with a puzzled look, then smiled and said, "Hello."  She knew our names.  When we said that we had traveled from Kentucky, she was confused.  She didn't understand why we were in Kentucky, even though we have lived in Kentucky since 1965.  Nevertheless, she recognized us and was able to recall a few details about our family, work, etc.  Not only is it important that we're recognized, but it is also important that we are able to recognize others.  The tag line for one of my favorite television shows, was "Where everybody knows your name."