Mother Held On

“They said they wished they had video taped me, so they could send it to Funniest Home Videos and make a fortune,” I told mom. “Ha, Ha, Ha.”

Mom laughed, and it was good to see her smile. I had just returned from the post office where I'd gone to mail a package for her. The wind was blowing, and it started to rain just before I got there. I tried to open my car door with the umbrella outside, so I could get out without getting the package wet, but the wind blew the umbrella inside out. I struggled for quite awhile, trying to get out of the car with a wet umbrella and the package under one arm. When I finally made it into the Post office, I found the Post Master and one of the clerks laughing their heads off at me. Their window looked right out on the parking lot, and they had watched the whole unfortunate incident.

“Seeing as how the Post Master is a friend, you would think he could have come out to help me,” I ended my story, and mom chortled again. Maybe it was worth the embarrassment as long as it made her smile.

Mom was sure having a rough time. About all she could do was sit and watch TV, since everything else was too strenuous.

Kami loved keeping mom company at night. They watched old movies and TV shows together, and Grandma really appreciated the company, but Kami had to go to school during the day, and time sure went slowly for her then.

That spring Russell asked Mary to be his wife, and they began planning their wedding. It gave me even more to do, but mom felt bad that she couldn't help. The wedding was planned for the end of April, but by the middle of the month mom was having attacks every few days. One evening just helping her out of her wheelchair and into bed caused her to get sick. I helped her into the bathroom, but mom passed out there. All I could do was kneel by her side and keep her from falling over until she came to, then help her back to bed.

“My chest hurts,” mom told me the next morning, “so I think I'm going to just stay in my bathrobe today.”

I was glad. Getting dressed and undressed was really too much for her. I got into the habit of going into mom's room when she was ready to go to bed, help her into the bathroom, then sit in her chair until she was ready for me to help her into bed. If we took it slowly enough I could usually get her into bed without making her sick, but each night was an adventure.

Russell and Mary's wedding was lovely. Mom didn't try to go, but she assured me that she would be alright by herself while the rest of us were gone. As long as she stayed in bed, or sitting in her easy chair once I helped her up, she was OK.

“Don't worry about me,” she told me every few days when I worried about leaving her to take the girls to school. “I don't get to sleep until so late that I like sleeping in. You just go run your errands or do whatever you need to do in the mornings. I'll wait to get up until you get home.”

That was nice. It gave me time to go out to the place and dig in my pond, which was a lot of fun, and made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile. Plus, I was getting into shape. Of course, I knew it was going to take forever to dig the whole thing out, but then, I had forever to do it. If only I didn't have to leave mom home alone.