Monday

A couple of carers were with Mum doing the post-lunch change when I arrived at The Home so about half the visit was spent loitering in the garden watching Mum’s room. I can tell when they’re done because they open the curtains again.

So having been disturbed, Mum was awake enough to know I was there and awake enough to confirm she was comfortable. Not awake enough to say anything though.

I offered to read and she nodded.

She stopped the slow-motion fidgeting by the end of the first chapter.

She started snoring in the middle of the second chapter.

She didn’t respond at all when I said I was leaving.

Bibliography

Tales from the Parish: 31 humorous short stories about community, family and village life, set in the English countryside

Kindle Edition

by Stefania Hartley

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