Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Like a book between bookends
The other day, my mother and I were having a chat. She tells her stories as she remembers them and we laugh. My mother as you know has mobility issues and a form of dementia. Some days she is spot on and other days not so much. But I called to make sure my almost 90 year old parents were safe and snug and had everything they needed to weather the snow storm. In the conversation my mother told me, "You are a saintly person." Probably not true, as helpful as I can be at times, I periodically feel resentment and anger. I can be so patient with my mother and father and have made some progress with acting patiently toward my 70 year old husband. In early December, I was dealing with feelings of anger about my husband, but now I realize that he has many of the elderly type symptoms exhibited by my parents. He's forgetful, tired, achy, hearing impaired. I focus on his helpful ways--working 5 days a week, grocery shopping, paying the bills and taking care of the yard in summer. The yard is his pride and joy. But I have to do all the rest. Cooking, serving, cleaning up afterwards, laundry, cleaning the house. Yesterday afternoon, I went to help care for my mother for a couple hours, so I made sure there was a prominent note so my husband would know where I was. Sometimes he jumps to conclusions. I called his store one time recently and he hurried home sure that something terrible had happened. I thank the universe that I can do things. On Super Bowl Sunday, I had splurged on hot chocolate and cookies. The next morning I woke up dizzy and nauseous. Once I had eaten and my blood sugar stabilized, I felt fine. But the branch store manager has pain in her knee from a tear, one owner has a serious respiratory infection and another store colleague blacked out at the grocery store from low blood pressure and also has some kidney issues and colitis. I need to take care of myself, my husband and my parents and feel like walls are closing on me, like a book between two bookends.
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