Monday

I was fairly confident Mum knew it was me there today. To start with anyway.

She was very chatty. Mostly clear and totally surreal. I deliberately didn’t put her memory to the test and said “So you had a right crowd in here yesterday then!”. She remembered that Eldest Sister, all her kids and nephew’s girlfriend had been there with a little prompting.

I don’t think she remembered speaking to Brother and his wife on the video call on Saturday until I mentioned the dog.

Then she said nobody had been to see her.

I got to give her her afternoon meds – they’re dissolved and come in a cup. She hated it but drank the lot. Shortly after that her Weetabix and milkshake arrived. Then a cup of tea and a small tub of ice-cream. Her carer offered to do the feeding but like an idiot I said I could handle it.

Never again. Lesley did point out that she’s now far more used to them feeding her and she doesn’t mess about with them.

Mum was far more concerned that all the Other People in the room got their share than she was about eating any herself. She kept trying to take the spoon off me as I was doing such a poor job of sharing her food properly.

And she didn’t stop talking.

The last two times I’ve been there when the staff fed her they got the job done in 5 minutes flat. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. And it was me who ate the ice-cream.

“Right Mum. I’ve got to go and give the dog her dinner now.”

“Alright… Don’t be long”

Bloody hell

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