1. After yesterday's standoff, this morning was very quiet by the time I arrived to see Mom at 11:45. She was lying down. Yes, her body twitched from time to time and she uttered things I couldn't understand, but she seemed to be getting some rest and, when Paul arrived at 1:00, Mom and I hadn't had any conversation. I'm not sure she knew I was there.
2. I returned to see Mom at 3:00. Carol had texted me that she might be in the dining area listening to accordion music. Sure enough, when I arrived, Mom and Paul were in the back of the room listening to Tom and Anton, a tuba and accordion duo playing very enjoyable polka music and other tunes. When the music ended, I offered to wheel Mom outside and she agreed and we looked at flowers and sat for a twenty minutes or so in the shade of the covered patio. Mom wasn't very conversational, but at one point she began to wonder where her purse was and soon we went back inside to her room and her purse.
It was a quiet time for the next hour and a half or so. Mom was at ease. She talked with me from time to time about this and that, but nothing was troubling her. She wasn't agitated. In her private room, she has online access through her television and I tuned into the Pandora station called "Relaxing Classical". It's difficult to hear the music over the sounds of Mom's oxygen compressor churning away and the fan we have on all the time. I don't know if the music helped calm Mom, but I sure enjoyed hearing Satie, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Dvorak, and felt especially relaxed and moved when the main theme from the movie Cinema Paradiso came on. If you'd like, take a listen, here.
3. The Deke marinated pork chops and Christy grilled them. The Deke made a fresh and tasty salad and a remarkable rice dish. Christy, Everett, the Deke, and I enjoyed the meal outside at Christy and Everett's as the day's heat gave way to the refreshment of cool North Idaho evening air.
While we were eating, Carol texted me that Mom had decided on the spur of the moment to take a spin in her wheelchair out into the hallways of Kindred, propelling herself with her own feet, barely needing Carol's help in going forward. She powered herself all the way to the main sitting room and back to her room, interrupted only by Carol stopping her before she left her room to switch from the oxygen source in the room to the source on her wheelchair.
Our hope was that by completing this odyssey, Mom might have tired herself out, leading to a more restful night's sleep.
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