Mom stares, emotionless, as I tell her about going back to the trailer. But I can tell. There are thoughts back there behind her eyes. Stoic as always, she just won’t express them. Or, perhaps they are too vague to explain. I ask but get no answer. I shouldn’t have mentioned it this far from […]
“Enjoyed having your mother back in church yesterday.” What? Mom hasn’t been to church in months. I‘m gone for five days, leaving Mom in my sister’s care and suddenly Mom is up and about, perfectly lucid and is off for church. Suddenly, knows she used to go to church, knows where her church is (which […]
Have you ever looked at the back of someone’s head when they have been sitting in a recliner for any length of time? A little like grass that a dog has circled in several times before lying down. Hair splayed out every which way. It is a condition in which Mom finds herself all the […]
How can people afford to stay at a high-priced Residential Facility? Lady D makes pretty bead jewelry and sells it to other residents at their annual fair. Lady M, Mom’s neighbor across the hall, paints pictures to sell. Others feel fortunate to have families that are willing to help with payments. Still others, a very […]
The halls are empty. I wonder if that is what makes the residents at Mom’s retirement home feel lonely. No one to talk to. No one to listen to. Each resident closeted in their rooms. I made the mistaken assumption that all of the elderly are lonely. Turns out it is true for some, not […]
“Why don’t you smile?” I never intended it as a reprimand. I had asked the question of one of the young women who wait tables and serve the residents at Mom’s Residential Facility. The girl was looking particularly unsmiling as she set plates of breakfast down in front of the residents in the dining room. […]
Who knew French Panorama Wallpaper would make a connection? During the early decades of the 1900s, the wallpaper business had grown into a highly lucrative and profit-making endeavor. Since the time of the Egyptians, walls have been covered in wallpaper to decorate rooms. For centuries, however, only the wealthy could afford the flocked and ornate […]
Lady B is back, and more determined than ever. Elegantly coiffed, beautifully attired, matching jewelry, nails perfectly manicured. Has it been more than a month? She’s been gone six weeks in rehab for her hip surgery at nearby #CreekSide Retirement Community. Of course, she had expected to be back and walking within the week of […]
It would confuse a dedicated genealogist. Two sons. Two daughters. Four spouses. Two grandsons. Each with a spouse. Three great grandsons in their teens. Another grandson and wife on Skype with another grandson on the way. All the hubbub swirling around Mom left her bewildered and confused, but happy, as she sat in the activity […]
I spent the day yesterday “hunkered down” as those of us in Hurricane country call it with my 98-year-old mother in the safety and comfort of @CarriageInnHuntsville. I had not thought about the safety of the elderly until now. Mom’s Residential Facility sits high on one of Huntsville’s seven hills, secure and safe from flooding. […]