Monday

Mum was on her way out of her sleepy phase today. Still extremely groggy and feeling low but reasonably lucid nevertheless. Christmas lunch was being served when I got there and there was a nice buzz about the place. Al told me that he’d just got Mum to eat some soup and that he’d started up Christmas Carols on her Alexa.

Mum was sitting up in bed when I got to her. We got her some new fleecy jimjams and she thought they were lovely. She wasn’t able to unwrap them herself though. She’s using her left arm less and less now. At long last I got her to have a small sherry. That bottle’s been sitting there for days.

Then Al arrived with her main course – the smallest slice of turkey you’ve ever seen, a spoonful of mash and a single sprout. He leaned over her and said “Iris? Please eat something”. I told him she’d had a small sherry and that she’d be up dancing soon. She smiled at that. 

I started with a morsel of turkey but she spat it out. She managed a couple of bits of mash but then turned her head away and said “Don’t want no more”

There was a small Christmas pud too. With custard. She spat out the pud but did eat all the custard.

Conversation was difficult as she was now drifting in and out of focus. I told her that she was looking better than she’d done for a few days as she’d been really sleepy.

I told her that Eldest Sister and the kids came yesterday.

“They said you were really sleepy then too.”

She gave me a blank look. No recollection at all. There was a bit more chat but it was increasingly one way and within minutes she was fast asleep again.

Author’s Note

My Mum is in a nursing home in a small village in the Thames Valley. The photo is not of the home. I used an AI image generator to give the reader some idea of the home she’s in.

All, some or maybe even none (you’ll never know!) of the names have been changed to protect privacy and hide real identities. If you think you recognise someone then let me know and I’ll edit the post or remove it entirely