Sunday

Yet another long day for Lesley at her dad’s today. There were more final preparations to be one before her sister arrives and the negotiations to get Dad to accept more help at home got off to a promising start.

Reggie told me that Mum’s designated carer had said he’d never known Mum talk so much. It sounded like she’d been at her Peak Active phase so I had been right to be dubious yesterday.

Unfortunately, not getting to The Home until much later than I’d hoped meant I’d missed it all. By the time I got there, Mum was sound asleep. She did stir a little when I told her I was there but I don’t think she was aware that it was me who was talking to her.

I sat with her for a few minutes to give her a chance to come round even a little bit but it was clear that she was just going more and more deeply asleep.

I got spotted on my way out past the lounge.

“Coo-ee! Hello!”

“Hello Eleanor! How are you?”

I went into the lounge and sat next to her. I can’t remember the last time I saw her smile. She proudly showed me yet another of her soft toys.

“They’ve done a good job of this new lounge haven’t they?” she said.

“I think so. It seems very comfortable and I like the views from the window. The fields look nice and you can see cows sometimes. And the river is just behind those trees. I think it’s very nice here.”

“Yes. It is nice here.”

“What about the gardens? Have you been out there yet? I think they’re lovely.”

“No, not yet.”

“We should go out there one day. When the weather’s nice.”

“That would be nice.”

It was the first time I’d heard Eleanor say anything positive about The Home. It was nice to feel that the journey hadn’t been wasted.

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