Three Beautiful Things 07/04/17: Mom Update, Dinner Prep, Mom Wants to Look Good and Celebration Pictures

1. I arrived to see Mom around 11:30.  Christy had been there quite a while and she went home to take care of things.  Mom and I talked about things from the past. Mom was pretty sure that she was with Carol and Paul's family on the 4th of July the year they moved from Meridian to Kellogg and helped them get their move organized. I don't know if that happened, but I don't doubt that it's true. Before long, Mom's lunch arrived, a grilled shrimp and vegetable skewer, and she ate it all. Mom started to fade after she ate and asked to lie down and we agreed I'd leave her alone for an hour or so. It was 1:30.  I went over to Christy and Everett's and visited for a while.

At 2:30, Christy walked her Springer Spaniel, Annie, over to Mom's room. I peeked in and Mom had been sleeping and didn't really wake up to see Annie. I didn't really come in the room, but Christy later reported that Mom didn't have much of a response to Annie's visit.

I came back to Mom's house and fell asleep. I woke up disoriented. I didn't know how long I'd slept, if I had slept through a commitment I'd made to go back to see Mom, or if I'd left Christy in a lurch. I went next door and Everett told me Christy was napping -- that made me feel better, that she wasn't at Kindred wondering why I hadn't returned.  My mind was playing tricks on me, exploiting my desire to do the right thing and my fear I had let Mom or Christy down.

2. I got a grip on myself and decided to stretch the fried potato, green bean, and bacon dish I'd made the night before. I fried more bacon, fried corn in the grease, fried a little more bacon, and fried up a few potatoes in it and now one of my contributions to dinner over at Paul's was set.

3. I returned to see Mom and we talked about who lived on the hill on the Silver King School side of the road leading to the Zinc Plant. She remembered how she used to watch those kids who lived up there file home every day after school. We also talked about who used to live up Smelter Heights and about where Ed and Carol Whitley lived on McKinley Avenue.

This was all relaxing, but Mom was also agitated by all the people who were walking by her door in the hallway. Her room is near the nurses station and there's often a lot of activity.

Why was Mom agitated? She didn't think she looked very presentable, or "very nice", if all these people walking by were seeing her. Mom's always been very concerned with how she looks and always worked diligently to look nice, especially in public, no matter what she was doing -- going to the bank, meeting a doctor's appointment, going out to lunch or dinner, everything.

Mom was having trouble pinpointing where she was. She thought she was near her shower at her house. She wanted me to get out the bath towels -- and there are no bath towels in her room at Kindred. Once she understood she couldn't shower, she wanted to at least go to the sink in her room and clean up.

I buzzed for assistance.  Merissa came in and when Mom explained what she wanted, Merissa offered her a bed bath. That sounded good to Mom. I left Mom and joined Zoe, Jason, Paul, and Christy for a grilled chicken, pasta salad, and fruit cobbler Independence Day dinner.

Here is a picture from July 3rd and one from July 4th.

Toasting Everett on his 87th Birthday, July 3rd

Christy and I on the 4th of July