Today my dad picked me up and we went together to the nursing home.
We got there just in time for the weekly Hymn Sing.
For a couple of years now I have been amazed at how my mom can still sing every verse to every hymn, even obscure Christmas Carols. She still has a strong alto voice, too.
I, of course, had a WONDERFUL time.
It was just what I needed. To sit around a table in a room full of saints in various degrees of ill-health singing "God Will Take Care of You" and "Under His Wing".
It need not be said that I was about to roll under the table in a fetal position and sob, but then the music switched to Christmas Carols and, suddenly, Joy came to the World.
All of these activities occur in the late afternoon, which is a difficult time for my mom. But, considering what the past two weeks were like, she is doing MUCH better than I even dared to dream.
More than anyone, my dad knows how bad things were getting. We were all only seeing glimpses, he was seeing her decline on a 24/7 basis. No one knows better than he that she is in the right place, and at the right time.
In the picture above, I am trying to get her interested in the activity of the birds outside her window. She couldn't concentrate on that. She needed to get home to get her work done.
This makes me think about how I will be when I am old; what will it be that I will want to get home to? My mom was ALWAYS 'getting her work done'. Being a homemaker was her full time job and she took that job very seriously.
I, on the other hand, am a homemaker who has grown fond of the 'less is more' approach to homemaking.
Can't begin to tell you how many times THGGM has walked in on me setting up a 'corners of my home' photo-shoot and turned to me and said 'Why don't you turn around and take a picture of what's behind you?'
He's a funny guy.
Now, excuse me while I go mess things up around here so it will look REALLY lived-in when Jonge and Famke arrive in the morning.
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7 comments:
I have sometimes wondered the what will I be like question. I have never been fond of the answers.
The Hymn Sing. I would have been right with you under the table. The memories of my Hymn Sing experiences over the years would fill at least one journal entry...but the remembering was a pleasant thing amidst my life's current unpleasantness...thank you!
Outside of Dear Hubby's dad's dementia sending him into a vegetative state at this stage in his life I haven't dealt with Alzheimer's but I've seen how strokes affect the brain firsthand. My Dad was from New England and after his stroke his old New England accent came back full-force after living out here since 1946. A friend's dad could no longer speak but still had the ability to sing hymns at church...if he wanted to communicate, he'd 'sing' a couple words from a hymn to get his point across. And during prayer time after church services, his "AMEN"'s were the most resounding in the whole building! "Amen", btw, was the only 'spoken' word left to him. Strange how the mind works, isn't it? And my housework has gotten to the same stage too, Judy, after being an anal housekeeper for years. When I said something to my daughter the other day about not caring if things are spotless anymore now that I'm taking care of Dylan full time she responded, "How come HE'S so lucky?!?" Hmmmmm...makes me wonder why I ever felt it needed to be spotless in the first place, sigh. The things we waste our time on in our youth, eh????
"God will take care of you"...He has, he does, and He will. Find great comfort in that song, God's ways are higher then our ways. After my experience with Mom and her passing, I have learned to trust in a wonderful new way. I guess it's true, with age (hopefully!) comes wisdom.
Praying for you.
I am glad to hear that your mom is doing better. I am sure that it is hard to walk through this, but i do know that, whether or not she understands your care, it is helping and nurturing her.
Somehow I think that if your mom was a homemaker and had a computer, she would be a blogger. She had lots of corners to show off, didn't she? ;)
It must be such a relief to see your mom in a safe place where she is well cared for.
In our church we don't sing hymns but I too appreciate a well sung hymn.
Singing with the old folks is a wonderful, surreal thing. It seems to be the last thing they forget.
I am glad to know I am not the only one who edits the appearance of my home. ;)
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