All the Better to See You!

The picture has nothing to do with the post. I just couldn't resist. I feel badly for the poor olden-days child who had need of glasses like this!

And, now to the issue at hand...

Thank you so much for all of your comments, emails, well-wishes and prayers for my mom. Soon, I hope to respond to them personally, but since I am not sure when that will be, I want you to know that it means SO VERY MUCH!

My mom seems to be doing better. I'm not sure she knows exactly where she is, or why, but she certainly is being well taken care of!

The difference in just her looks is amazing. When my niece arrived yesterday my mom was at the 'beauty shop' getting her hair cut. She is getting physical and occupational therapy. They can get her to take her medications on schedule, something we were no longer able to do. Even when we thought we were doing it, she was hiding them all over the place. Her blood sugar is tested before each meal and she is given insulin as needed. We all are very aware that there isn't a 'cure', but for what ails her, she is in the best place for now, and improving.

Since that ride in the back of the police car, it has seemed like one loooooooooooong day.

I was telling Daughter this week how strange it was that it was my mother who taught me how to do this. I grew up watching her care for her parents. It was not easy. She had to make some very difficult decisions concerning my grandpa. My grandma was always embarrassing my mom by saying outlandish things in public. She once met a friend at a doctor's office. This friend was dying of cancer. My grandma was having ingrown toenail issues (she was diabetic, so it WAS serious) and announced to this dying woman "You don't know pain until you've had an ingrown toenail!" My mother wanted to crawl into a hole and die right on the spot (her words). But, my mother always treated her parents with respect and dignity and a wonderfully understanding kindness. Even when they drove her nuts.

And, my mom hasn't lost that part of herself. While in the hospital Monday evening, her nurse was a woman with an obvious disability. Yet, she did her job well and made it look effortless. She never left the room without my mom (who was extremely agitated most of the time) turning to me and saying 'I feel so sorry for that woman. She must be SO tired when she gets home'.

It was my mom who several years ago talked to each of her daughters individually and said she knew she was losing it. She told each of us that she knew that when the time came, she could trust us to make the right decisions. Her exact words to me were "I have never minded the thought of having to go to a home. I don't want to move in with any of you, and I know dad cannot take care of me." Part of the talk was that she knew when the time came that she probably wouldn't want to go, but that THIS her (the one talking to us then) was okay with it.

So, this week we did that.

So far, she seems to be adjusting better than any of us would ever have thought.

Please pray for God's peace to flood my mom's heart.