Sunday Lunch with Mom

It was my day to go visit Mom today. When I got there she was lying down in her wheel chair and she was sleeping. She has one of those chairs that reclines all the way back sort of like a lazy boy. She looked so cold with her two hands curled up into fists and tucked in under her chin.

I wheeled her out of the living room, away from the noise of the TV’s and into her bedroom. I took her little lap blanket, put it on her and wrapped her hands in it to try and warm her up.

Sometimes her hands are so cold I have to wrap them in a hot face cloth to unthaw them before tucking them under a blanket. One of the ladies at the home has a big furry tube which I believe is called a “muff” to put her hands in when she’s cold. I wish I knew where to find one of those for Mom.

After a while of talking to her and fussing over her she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling for a while. Then she said. “I’m going to have to paint those walls soon.” “It’s okay Mom,” I said. “You don’t have to paint anymore. Someone else will do it. All you have to do now is to take it easy and rest.” “Green,” she said. “I’m going to paint the wall green.”

I sat her up, gave her a drink of water for her parched throat and asked her if she wanted me to fix her hair. While I was brushing and fixing her hair with the curling iron, her eyes closed and she drifted off again. Even when she’s awake, she often doesn’t have her eyes open now. As time goes by, her eyes seem to be more and more sensitive to the light. Her eyes often tear-up and leave traces of salt as they run down her cheeks.

Mom is down to pureed foods now. It’s become too difficult for her to chew and swallow solids. When it comes to desserts though, she can still eat soft stuff like fruit cocktail or something like that, which doesn’t require too much chewing. Today she had ice cream and that went down the hatch no problem.

Once I was done feeding her the ice cream I told her I was going to go home now and come back to visit her another day. “Where’s your horse?” she asked. “Outside,” I answered. “Did you see it?” “Yes,” came the reply. “And what color is it? I asked. “Brown and beige,” she said. “That’s the one,” I said, as I kissed her and said goodbye.