A Short Post but a Wonderful Day

The Ridge

Tuesday, Oct. 6^th it was a go-go day from beginning to supper time. I left the Suite before Bill to clean the Mat and then after picking up some items at Foodland, had a quick turnaround at home before driving over to Mitch’s. I worked steady for 3 hours, sanding, taping and papering. Brian was working in the other shop but I don’t know what he was doing. My mind was preoccupied. I left at noon, went home for lunch and drove to Durham.  Now, I’ll tell you about Donna’s call yesterday.

What? What are you looking at?

She’d received a call from Rockwood Terrace, Mom’s residence. She’d fallen – again. This is happening a lot but they are usually just soft ‘crumbles’ rather than falls that do any harm. Thank goodness. She informed Donna (us) that Mom has not eaten for 4 days and isn’t consuming liquids. These are the means for the staff to get Mom’s meds into her. Her aggressiveness/agitation has warranted a calming medication. She is not getting her meds and yet has no energy to be aggressive either. 

This little guy obviously had something on his mind
but I just thought he was cute

Long story short, they feel that Mom is in the last stages, calling it ‘End of Life’ rather than Palliative. The reasoning for that designation is that Mom has proved pretty miraculous before and bounced right back. With the exception of her mind, I mean. Although this is very sad for all of us, at 94 ½ we have been expecting it a few times. The ‘blessing’ in the whole news ☹ is that we, her children, can visit as often as we like, at any time of day, one at a time, WITHOUT a Covid test.

So far, we’ve taken turns, three of us. We’ve been greeted upon entry by staff, we've had our temperature taken, we've been gowned and masked, and (the good part) we’ve sat with her in her room for an hour. We can actually stay as long as we wish to. Mom, isn’t Mom. Some of you know this experience, this existence, but my visit today meant the world to me. I touched her, talked to her, sang to her, watched her take drinks from a straw (for the first time in 3 days), and enjoyed her chatter and frequent toothless grins. Oh my, it was fulfilling.

Rockwood Terrace

I left there with a smile on my face knowing I’ll be back often, as will my other siblings. I spent the afternoon in Hanover. Before leaving home, I'd made a list of places to go and things to look for. I was in and out of Mark’s, Walmart, Independent grocers and pulled into The Ridge at 4:30 within minutes of Bill returning home from work. He had stopped on the way hoe so had a full propane tank in the back of the truck.

I skipped dessert but maybe popcorn is in order later

Inside, I emailed my sisters and brother to let them know about my visit. They were anxious to hear. Bill and I sat together for an hour before supper. I warmed up meatloaf in the microwave, cooked cauliflower for me and mixed veggies for Bill. We had a nice meal and had dishes done by 7. It’s another day without many pictures but there just weren’t any ‘candid’ moments, I guess. Mom is beautiful, no matter how she is right now, but not for the camera.

An almost duplicate sunset to last nights

This was a very good day and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m just happy that I was strong enough to bear the tears and that Mom couldn’t see them.

A picture of my lovely Mom 2 years ago
She still has that smile, just without the teeth!
Good night!

Thank you for your visit today!