Nurse came in around 5:30 to prick Mother's finger and give her injection
Got up around 6:30, showered, dressed.
Went with Mother to the dining room. The staff were wearing scrubs, the residents were wearing jammies and robes. I was the only person in real clothes.
Had scrambled eggs and bacon. Have never eaten bacon in front of her before. My place in hell is now secure.
Came back from breakfast. Mother sat in her recliner. I got my tweezers and spent 10 minute pulling all the bristley whiskers from her chin and throat. Then removed months-old polish from her toes and gently tended to dead skin, gunk under toenails, and overgrowth for almost half an hour. Then she dozed for two hours. I knitted.
Sat for half an hour, then went to lunch.
Made the mistake of ordering the mashed potatoes. Mother couldn't keep her eyes off my mashed potatoes. Had to divide my portion in half and spoon it onto her plate. Ate the pork stew. My ticket to hell is in the mail. (Is pork so much less expensive than other meats? Why pig for every meal?)
Walked back to Mother's room, where she immediately climbed up onto her bed and slept until 4:30. I knitted. Finished the bag I was working on - to be felted when I get home.
She got up - half an hour 'til dinner. Walked outside, walked around side of building and back, then sat in porch rockers for 5 minutes, then time for dinner.
Hot dogs and baked beans for dinner. Ate the bacon in the beans. The hell monitors are on their way to get me!
Back to the room. Sat at the table outside her room and played two games of Scrabble, where she made up a couple of words and I let it ride. I won the first game; she won the second. (Okay, so I played like I do with Boston and Ridley.)
Back in the room, she went wordlessly into her bedroom, brushed her teeth, changed her clothes and got into bed. Not a word. Not even, "Good night, Jan." Ba-boom. Sound asleep. Nurse came in 20 minutes later with night meds. Took them, rolled over and went right back to sleep. I sat on couch and watched TV programs I've never seen and wished I had packed a second knitting project.
Went to sleep on the couch at 10:15. Woke at 4:30 with headache.
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I have looked at the weather forecast and decided to leave this afternoon to head back home. I don't want to drive in rain all day tomorrow. If I can get at least four hours under my tires tonight, that's four fewer hours I have to drive in rain tomorrow.
Today we go to the eye doctor to have the rest of the stitches (put in during last summer's Bell's Palsy episode when she couldn't close her eye) removed. She's dreading the appointment, as they inject her around the eyebrow and it's painful. When we're back from the doctor, I'll load my things in the car and leave.
I think I've spoken more to the nursing staff on this visit than to her.
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Last night at dinner, she said "This [might be/is probably] the last time I see you." I was shocked. So shocked I couldn't remember her exact choice of words, but I'm pretty sure it was "is probably".
I laughed it off and said, "Oh, we think you're going to live to 105."
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During dinner I asked if she missed Florida. She said no. "I told Daddy I'd marry him if I didn't have to live in Florida. I always wanted to live in North Carolina." I said, "But then you wouldn't have gotten me." No response. :) (My birthmother traveled from Gloucester, MA, to Orlando to give birth to me.)
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I am the mother and she is the child.
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I simply can't imagine living life this way.
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