Next week I'm taking three days off to help my sister at her home while she plays hostess to my mother, my mother's sisters, and three of my cousins. My Aunt Mayme and my Aunt Sister Loyola are coming to town. They're coming with my cousins Virgie, Shari and Mickey. My aunties are 89 and 90 years old and my mother is 93. This is going to be the last time they'll all be together.
While I anticipate that this visit will be fun and there will be some laughs, it will also be bittersweet knowing that these three great ladies - North Dakota farm raised - will be seeing each other for the last time. They haven't seen my mom since she had her stroke last Christmas. She's significantly worse than she was, even immediately following the stroke. She tires easily, cannot do anything for herself, is wheel chair bound, and, try as she might, she cannot hold a conversation because her words mix up to the point of frustration. Deep down, I know she is looking forward to seeing them but she shakes her head, "no", when asked about the visit. She says no to almost everything now.
My sister is an amazing woman taking all of this on. She's been a rock - a dedicated care giver to my mom since even before the stroke. There's not anything that could repay her for all of the time and effort she's expended for her sake. She bathes her, feeds her, takes her to all of her appointments, lifts her, repositions her and keeps her spirits up every day. She even renovated her house to accommodate her.
I fully expect that one day, me and my sisters will be in our 80s and 90s and gathering together somewhere for our last visit too. It will be fun. We will have some laughs. And it will be as bittersweet as the days next week are bound to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment