A couple of years ago, when my mother still lived alone and before it became evident that her dementia was worsening, I took my wife and two daughters for an overnight visit.
She lived about four hours from where we do, and we often planned visits that allowed us to spend two days or more with her.
If someone knocks at your door in the middle of the night, do NOT open the door, and ask them what they want. If they’re asking for help (red flag)“OK, I get that you need help, let me call the police right now, and they will be able to assist!”
My mother liked to sleep on the couch in the living room. She had this irrational fear of sleeping upstairs, afraid that a middle-of-the-night disaster or home invasion would go unnoticed if she slept on the upper floor.
My wife and I had gone to bed in a bedroom upstairs, while my kids were sleeping in yet another bedroom on the second floor.
In the middle of the night, I was awoken by the sound of my mom’s small dog barking and I heard my mother say, “What’s wrong, you want out?” I listened as she opened her front door and was suddenly surprised by a stranger standing on her stoop.
I assume the stranger’s knocking at the door had startled the dog and we had all slept through it. Or perhaps the dog heard this stranger, with no intention of knocking on the porch prowling around.
