Wednesday

“Hello Mum! It’s Nicholas.”

She did respond but not in any way that gave me confidence she knew who I was.

I wasn’t at all sure where Mum was either this evening. Hovering somewhere between Peak Active and Sleepy I think. She was laying diagonally across the bed, sheet and blankets in a ball in her lap but not intent on leaving. So signs of having been Active recently but she wasn’t by the time I got to her.

I started by remaking her bed.

“Come on Mum. Let’s get you decent.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

She wasn’t nearly as chatty as she was yesterday and she was really uncooperative.

“Would you like a drink Mum?”

“Yes”

“OK, here’s your squash… You’re going to have to open your mouth Mum…”

“No”

“Would you like me to read to you?”

“No”

She talked intermittently and unintelligibly but was only talking to one Other Person. She kept drifting off and sometimes was unable to finish a sentence.

Peaceful and comfortable was the best I could say about her. Even after being with her for 45 minutes I didn’t think she knew it was me there.

I could see she was getting increasingly unresponsive too. On a good day she’ll return a squeeze of her hand.

Not today though.

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