When did it start?

I keep wondering when Mom's mental decline really started?
A little over a year ago she called me at work, frazzled telling me she locked her house keys in the house. "No big deal," I said. "You have your car keys?"
"Yes, but I'm at the neighbor's calling you. I HAVE TO GET OFF THE PHONE."
"Yes, but Mom, you can drive over here to where I work and pick up my house keys. It will be fine." (I work very close to Mom's house.)
"How am I going to drive over to your work? I don'thavemykeysIhavetogoI'mattheneighbor's!"
"Mom, hold on. You just said you have your car keys."
"Oh. Yes. Ok. Bye."

When she got to my work I met her at the door, handed her my keys, and off she went.
I told my sisters about this and we all blew it off as a nervous reaction to an embarrassing moment. We've all locked our keys in the house. We've all been forgetful in a nervous moment, but this seemed like a bit more.

I stopped over at her house a few days later with a fake sprinkler head hide-a-key thing I've seen in a few geocaching hides. I told her to keep an extra set of house keys in the hide-a-key and maybe ask a neighbor if we could put it in their yard so as not to be too obvious to a potential thief.

Yesterday I found the hide-a-key in the back of the pantry, still in its packaging. She was too nervous to put it outside - convinced someone would figure out they were her keys. Oy.

Is this how it started? Was this an early sign of things to come?

I need to really up my yoga. I believe Mom's mental state has been worsened over the years by the stress she places on herself. One way I can keep this from happening to me is by doing yoga and remembering that there is barely anything in this world worth worrying over. This is easier said than done.

Things haven't always been easy for Mom. I get that. Her husband died when she was in her mid-50s. Her youngest daughter had just started college. She was suddenly grieving and on her own. She did alright with it for a while. As far as I know, she never dated, but she's always had friends until recently. Her closest friend, Betty, died about 3 years ago. I think this was a devastating loss for her even though she mostly complained about how nutty Betty was. (And she really was a spit-fire!)

So she's been alone for the most part for years. Her only social interaction was work. Ugh. That's the worst, right? I mean, my co-workers are pretty great, but I'm glad I have friends outside of work that I can relate to on a true personal level.

So here I am, alone in Mom's house. It's creaky and strangely quiet without her here. My parakeets have been pretty quiet lately. She would always sing to them and top off their food dish if it looked low. She always said they were too loud, too dirty, too whatever, but I think she really liked them.